A novel about deception, lies, and the motivations behind the stories we tell ourselves, Gilded is full of satisfying surprises, and its propulsive pace will make its rather extended length pass by in a blink. The atmosphere is dark and foreboding, with liberal splashes of curses, revenge, and lonely ghosts who can’t remember anything about their pasts. Meyer’s book folds in all sorts of interesting German folklore, from the Erlking and the Wild Hunt to nachtrapp and the Shrub Grandmother. She’s despondent, naturally, until a strange red-headed poltergeist named Gild appears suddenly, and offers to complete her seemingly impossible task, for a price.Īs you’ve probably guessed by now, Gilded is more than simply the story of Rumpelstiltskin retold. Kidnapping her and dragging her back to his castle, he locks Serilda in a cell, vowing to kill her if she doesn’t turn the straw waiting inside into gold. To save the moss maidens, Serilda tells a lie about harvesting straw to spin into gold, one that the Erlking believes so thoroughly that he returns in a month’s time, eager to see if her claims prove true.

One full moon, Serilda rescues a pair of moss maidens from the sadistic Erlking, the undead leader of the magical Wild Hunt who crosses into the mortal realm once a month to chase magical creatures and tempt unwary humans into following after them. (They think they mean she’s bad luck, and are quick to blame her when anything goes wrong in town.)

A chosen child of Wyrdith, the god of lies and stories – for what is a story if not an especially well-told lie? – Serilda loves telling tales (tall or otherwise) and sports gold wheels in her irises that make her neighbors uncomfortable. Like the original tale, Gilded does follow the story of a miller’s daughter, though here her name is Serilda, and she’s been blessed – or cursed, depending on how you look at it – by a literal god. And in her latest novel, Gilded, she turns the story of Rumpelstiltskin on its head, crafting a propulsive tale of ghosts, revenge, and star-crossed love.

Heartless reimagined the origin story of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. Her Lunar Chronicles series dropped several traditional fairytales heroines like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White into a futuristic world where humans, androids, and cyborgs all exist. Though author Marissa Meyer’s latest efforts have been contemporary YA romances and dystopian superhero tales, she’s still best known for her fairytale retellings.

Gilded marissa meyers