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The Last Tale of the Flower Bride

Pages
304
Published
2023
Language
English

Synopsis

A sumptuous, gothic-infused story about a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets, a friendship cursed to end in tragedy, and the danger of believing in fairy tales—the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi. Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever after—and in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past. But when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is dying and the couple is forced to return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom will soon find himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor’s extravagant rooms and musty halls, there lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo’s dearest childhood friend who suddenly disappeared. As the house slowly reveals his wife’s secrets, the bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage . . . or their lives. Combining the lush, haunting atmosphere of Mexican Gothic with the dreamy enchantment of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a spellbinding and darkly romantic page-turner about love and lies, secrets and betrayal, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

About the author

R
Roshani Chokshi

Roshani Chokshi is an American author of fantasy for young adult, middle grade and adult readers, drawing on Hindu mythology, Filipino folklore and fairy tales. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a Gujarati father and a Filipino mother, and left law school to write after selling her first novel. Her debut, The Star-Touched Queen (2016), was followed by A Crown of Wishes, the Gilded Wolves trilogy (2019 to 2021) and the middle-grade Pandava Quintet that begins with Aru Shah and the End of Ti...

Characters

Indigo Maxwell-CasteñadaProtagonist

A wealthy, enigmatic heiress who lives by the logic of the fairy tales she and Azure invented as children, and who extracts a promise from her new husband never to ask about her past.

Azure (The Last Tale of the Flower Bride)Supporting

Indigo's childhood best friend and the co-author of the private mythology the two girls built together; her disappearance years earlier haunts the present-day story.

Hippolyta (The Last Tale of the Flower Bride)Supporting

Indigo's estranged, dying aunt, known to the family as Tati, whose failing health forces the couple back to Indigo's childhood home, the House of Dreams.

All characters in The Last Tale of the Flower Bride

Frequently asked questions

  • Is The Last Tale of the Flower Bride part of a series?

    No. It is a standalone novel and Roshani Chokshi's first book written for an adult audience, published in 2023.

  • Has The Last Tale of the Flower Bride won any awards?

    It was a finalist for the 2023 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy; it did not win.