A curse for the homesick

On a remote island, a deadly curse looms. Tess reluctantly returns to her island home, Stenland, to attend her friend Linnea's wedding. Stenland is gripped by a seasonal threat known as skeld season, when women may wake marked by three black lines that give them a lethal gaze capable of turning others to stone. Tess and Soren, who should be sworn enemies after Tess' mother turned Soren's parents to stone, are instead drawn into a romance that tests their deepest fears. Tess yearns to escape Stenland and its dangers, while Soren feels bound to the only home he has known. Robson's (The Sea Knows My Name, 2022) writing brings the island's fog-laden landscapes vividly to life, balancing a sense of doom with poetic melancholy. With the skeld curse as a backdrop, Robson deftly examines the emotional costs of family, love, and loyalty. Fans of literary fantasy and bittersweet romance will find this an enthralling read that lingers like a half-forgotten memory.

Robson's darkly enchanting debut centers on a small Northern European country, Stenland, whose female citizens live under threat of a curse. It's impossible to predict when a new Skeld season will begin or which women will be affected, but those who are marked by the curse will spend three months unable to look others in the eye without turning them to stone. Kitty Sjöberg, Linnea Sundstrom, and Tess Eriksson grow up with the rules to mitigate potential harm drilled into their heads, including always waking up alone and checking the mirror for the marks before leaving the house. One morning, Tess's mother fails to check the mirror, and, not realizing she's been marked, unwittingly turns two people to stone. Robson teases out the consequences of those tragic deaths as Tess and her friends find and lose love and try to run from the magic that's been nipping at their heels since they were born. The author infuses their coming-of-age with a fairy tale quality and makes the bonds between them feel believable and robust. This is sure to win fans. Agent: Andrea Somberg, Harvey Klinger Literary. (Feb.)