Fans of fairy tale retellings will rejoice at the publication of Amy Trent’s new novella, Curses, Diamonds, & Toads. Trent reworks the fairy tales in the Kind and Unkind Girls cycle (popularly known as “Diamonds and Toads”), giving readers a new rendition that speaks to the pain of language and the beauty of true love.
The novella begins with the protagonist, Astrid Lucia, who is desperately trying to sell her strange wares of toads, lizards, and snakes in order to survive. Cursed by a fairy to vomit the animals every time she speaks, Astrid Lucia has forced herself to be silent in public to avoid being thought a monster. She must communicate with gestures and expressions, and many customers shun her even though her products are valuable in chasing vermin away from homes and gardens. When a clay-covered potter named Bernard begins buying her snakes and lizards to recreate the animals in his pottery, Astrid Lucia is given a new chance at life and love.
Astrid’s sister, Violet, is cursed as well, though in keeping with the fairy tale tradition, it is diamonds, gems, and flowers that emerge from her lips whenever she speaks. Although at first glance this access to endless wealth seems a blessing, Violet's greedy mother makes her life just as dismal as her sister’s. Astrid Lucia must face her fears of speaking out in an attempt to save her sister from persecution and find her own happily-ever-after.
Trent’s novella is a brilliant reworking of the traditional “Diamonds and Toads” fairy tale. Trent teaches readers to look beneath the surface of blessings and curses. Her settings are rich with solstice markets, fairies, and witches, and the slow-burn romance between Astrid Lucia and Bernard showcases the strength of true devotion and the beauty of practical romance. The characters in the novella are all painfully human, and Astrid Lucia must learn that sharing the truth matters because “marriage is not a union of bits and pieces, but of whole selves.” Amy Trent’s reworking of a lesser-known fairy tale will delight those who enjoy stories about the love people carry for their families, their partners, and themselves.
Be sure to check out Trent's full-length fairy tale retellings Smoke, Steele and Ivy (a “Twelve Dancing Princesses” novel) and Clever, Cursed, & Storied (which reworks “Kate Crackernuts”). You can find Amy's books here.
Kelly Jarvis is the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine. Her work has also been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Baseball Bard, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Eternal Haunted Summer, Forget Me Not Press, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and the World Weaver Press Anthology Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her first novella, Selkie Moon, comes out in 2025. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/
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