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.
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
I knew I would love Indigo forever. I didn’t know what it would cost.
A marriage between a scholar and an enigmatic heiress collapses under the weight of her dark secrets in Roshani Chokshi’s lushly imagined gothic fantasy, THE LAST TALE OF THE FLOWER BRIDE.
We meet an unnamed Bridegroom, who falls fast and hard for the beautiful and mysterious Indigo Maxwell-Castañeda. They fall in love in a tempest of mythical stories and rapturous promises, swept away by their own fairytale. In exchange for a life together, Indigo forces the Bridegroom to promise he would never pry into her past.
Years later, when Indigo’s estranged aunt falls ill, the Bridegroom must accompany her to her childhood home—the House of Dreams—and step into the once-extravagant manor and the crumbling walls which hide her dark secrets. There, he learns more about Azure, Indigo’s best friend, who vanished when they were teens.
Slowly, but with an urgency that can’t be denied, the house begins to whisper of transgressions past, unearthing what once transpired between two young girls who forged a world glimmering with magic, promises and play.
Chokshi’s story reads like a dark and haunting fairytale, and I was swept away from the beginning. Vivified by her lyrical prose, the narrative felt like a mesmeric and dazzling fever dream in which reality and fantasy blur, drawing you into a story darker than the light you expect.
Roshani Chokshi’s mastery of words is extraordinary, and I love how each page ripples with the seduction of an otherworldly magic. This must-read gothic tale of love and friendship is an immediate 2023 favorite, and a story (like all her stories), that will long linger with me.
If you pry, you’ll destroy our marriage. But oh, my love, you lied.
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