Upon a Starlit Tide

By Kell Woods

Book Overview

WINNER OF THE AUREALIS AWARD FOR BEST FANTASY NOVEL - SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH FANTASY AWARD FOR BEST FANTASY NOVEL - A BOOKPAGE BEST FANTASY BOOK OF THE YEAR

Upon a Starlit Tide is a dark and enchanting historical fantasy combining elements of "The Little Mermaid" and "Cinderella" into a wholly original tale of love, power, and betrayal.

*The hardcover edition features beautiful custom endpapers.*

Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1758. To Lucinde L on, the youngest daughter of a wealthy French shipowner, the high walls of Saint-Malo are more hindrance than haven.

While her sisters are busy trying to secure advantageous marriages, Luce spends her days secretly being taught to sail by Samuel, her best friend--and an English smuggler. Only he understands how the waves call to her. Then one stormy morning, Luce rescues a drowning man from the sea.

Immediately drawn in by the stranger's charm, Luce is plunged into a world of glittering balls and faerie magic, seduction and brutality. Secrets that have long been lost in the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise to the surface, but as Luce wrestles with warring desires, she finds that her own power is growing brighter and brighter, shining like a sea-glass slipper.

Or the scales of a seamaid's tail.

"Magnificent. This is a must-read "--Juliet Marillier, award-winning author of the Sevenwaters and Blackthorn & Grim series

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 125085251X
• ISBN13: 9781250852519
• Release Date: February 2025
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.8" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A masterful faerie tale!

Masterly weaving two tales, The Little Mermaid and Cinderella, into a new fascinating story about a strong character finding out the truth of her past so that she can make the future she wants! I absolutely love Lucinde who is sweet, loves her family, helps others (including one handsome smuggler) but still wishes for the freedom of the sea for some mysterious reason. The parts that are reminiscent of Cinderella are softened (like she loves her sisters and they love her too, though they still fight like sisters do normally) though she does still get to go to the ball, helped by the mysterious tide woman. The Little Mermaid bits are the darker, feet damaged and ache when she is on land, and rescuing a shipwrecked young man. But then the story heads off into lands unknown with the fae leaving, storm stones, being at war with the English, and the mystery of how her father found Lucinde so long ago. There are very dark bits (especially with a certain awful man who deserves the worst fate ever for what he does!), but they are balanced by the strong relationships between the characters (like Samuel, and Luce's sisters) and a touch of hope for Luce when she finds out the truth and comes into her powers. Yes, there is fantasy but this book is also nicely layered with historical fiction, making it really come to life. Such a wonderful novel! And it works really well as an audiobook too with the narrator giving depth and life to all the characters. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to listen to this audiobook!