A Curse Dark As Gold

By: Elizabeth C. Bunce

Narrated by: Charlotte Perry

Gold thread promises Charlotte Miller a chance to save her family's beloved woolen mill. It promises a future for her sister, jobs for her townsfolk, security against her grasping uncle - maybe even true love. To get the thread, however, Charlotte must strike a bargain with its maker, the mysterious Jack Spinner. But the gleam of gold conjures a shadowy past - secrets ensnaring generations of Millers. And Charlotte's mill, her family, her love - what do those matter to a stranger who can spin straw into gold?

This is an award-winning and wholly original retelling of "Rumplestiltskin."

©2010 Elizabeth Bunce (P)2010 Scholastic, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A rich opening to Jane Austen's world for teens." (School Library Journal)

Great story!

This was a different take on Rumpelstiltskin than I’ve ever heard. I really liked how the tale came together, however.

Critiques first: It got off to a bit of a slow start. I think we were halfway through the story before Jack Spinner even showed up. Also, in a trend I’ve been noticing often, the blurb is vastly different from the actual story.

The blurb says, “Gold thread promises Charlotte Miller a chance to save her family's beloved woolen mill. It promises a future for her sister, jobs for her townsfolk, security against her grasping uncle - maybe even true love. To get the thread, however, Charlotte must strike a bargain with its maker, the mysterious Jack Spinner. But the gleam of gold conjures a shadowy past - secrets ensnaring generations of Millers. And Charlotte's mill, her family, her love - what do those matter to a stranger who can spin straw into gold?”

The gold thread literally only comes up one time. Unlike the original tale, Jack only spins the straw into gold the first time they meet him. The second time he shows up, he does something else entirely (though still related to the wool trade) and the third time he appears he doesn’t even craft anything.

Now: What I liked…

The characters were multidimensional. They weren’t just flat characters. Jack wasn’t just an evil spirit who was filled with magic and striking bargains and making people pay a price. He was that, but he was also the spirit of a man to whom a terrible wrong had been done. He was someone who was so filled with pain that it had turned to anger and madness.

Randell… I liked him from the moment he appeared on the scene and, by the end of the story… I loved the guy. Here he was looking for all the world like a city banker and the last person you would expect to know about country magic and… he’s the one who ultimately helped Charlotte break the curse.

I loved how much research the author put into the story. The author’s note at the end of the book was so very informative!

All in all, it was a fun story. Once we got going, things moved along at a good clip. I’ll definitely recommend it to some of my friends.

I listened to an audiobook, just because it’s easier to do that these days. The narrator, coincidentally having the same given name as the main character, Charlotte Parry, did an amazing job. She gave each character their own voice. She read in an engaging manner that kept my attention on the story – no matter whatever else I might be doing.

Complex Retelling of Rumpelstilskin

Only knowing it was a fairy tale kept me going at times, that, in spite of one misfortune and betrayal after another, in spite of mistakes and poor choices by the main characters, all would work out in the end. This story was entertaining on so many levels: a mostly authentic glimpse of history, delightful names of characters (that meant people's occupations, as our family names once did), romance and adventure with some witchcraft and supernatural occurrences woven in. It was fun to work out how the original fairy tale was interpreted as I listened. The narrator disappeared into the story, as the very best narrators do. Characters were easily identified. I want to read more from this author and listen to more from this narrator. Well done!

My favorite fairytale retelling

A Curse as Dark as Gold is a richly imagined and historically immersed retelling of Rumplestiltskin. Elizabeth Bunce does an excellent job of bringing the reader into Charlotte's world of old England, woolen mills and superstition whilst simultaneously weaving a ghostly fairytale into the warp and weft. Highly recommended read!

A must read

This audio was entertaining, very well written and delightful to listen to. Interesting take and twists on Rumpelstiltskin theme. It's my top book I've read this year

Old but Gold

After Charlotte’s father dies, it’s up to her to take on the family legacy. Running a shearing mill is a lot of work for 17 year old Charlotte and her little sister Rosie. With bad luck happening in every direction it’s no wonder Charlotte strikes a desperate deal with a mysterious man in order to keep her mill afloat. Every deal comes with a price though. When bad luck strikes the man seems to be always there waiting to strike another deal. The price keeps getting steeper each time. Are the rumors true? Is the mill really cursed ? Is that why bad luck seems to haunt Charlotte? Will the day come when Charlotte has to make a choice between the mill or her precious family?