The Thorn and the Blossom
A Two-Sided Love Story
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3.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
One enchanting romance. Two lovers keeping secrets. And a uniquely crafted book that binds their stories forever.
When Evelyn Morgan walked into the village bookstore, she didn’t know she would meet the love of her life. When Brendan Thorne handed her a medieval romance, he didn’t know it would change the course of his future. It was almost as if they were the cursed lovers in the old book itself . . .
The Thorn and the Blossom is a remarkable literary artifact: You can open the book in either direction to decide whether you’ll first read Brendan’s, or Evelyn’s account of the mysterious love affair. Choose a side, read it like a regular novel—and when you get to the end, you’ll find yourself at a whole new beginning.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Evelyn Morgan is a university student struggling to lead her own life despite others' expectations; Brendan Thorne's troubles begin when he loses his wife to heart failure and subsequently quits his job. A chance meeting leads to their falling in love around the centerpiece of a medieval Cornish version of the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and from then on their lives and relationship seem to be a modern-day parallel of the frustrated romance between Gawan and his beloved, Elowen. But Goss (In the Forest of Forgetting) presents no ordinary linear tale: the reader is treated to both characters' stories in parallel on alternate sides of an accordion-style book, letting the reader decide which story to begin with. The fantasy elements are light, revolving mostly around Gawan's story and Evelyn's visions of fairies and trolls. Overall this makes the tale align more with old-fashioned romance than pure speculative fiction, but Goss' appealing characters and modern magic atmosphere will continue to attract a following. Illus.
Customer Reviews
Could we see more of this couple, with later challenges?
An epilogue would have been nice.
For some unknown reason, I put off reading this for months. It’s a sweet set of stories.
I think Evelyn wasn’t hallucinating, but seeing Faerie, seeing that which the mundane world cannot or will not see, nor acknowledge it for what it is if they do. Why wouldn’t a poet of a Celtic line see Faerie? I suppose the pdoc thought she might be schizophrenic, which is sad.
Brendan, being the son of an antiquarian bookseller and occasional storyteller, interested in medieval literature, fits with a poet quite snugly, complementing Evelyn. It’s too bad that her visions of Faerie interrupted her relationship with Brendan twice.
I could see Evelyn struggling with, and learning from, her visions. What will Brendan write next? Will they have only one home, and in which country, or spend time in each? I know Evelyn’s birth family will disapprove of such a union (not practical nor wealthy enough?) even if they like Brendan. Of course, what they each write might just take off to bestsellers and awards, as happened with Beatrix Potter . . .
Must get other works by Theodora Goss!