Faeries disappeared over one hundred years ago, as suddenly as slipping through a doorway. It was only the very foolish, or the very determined, who held out hope for their return.
THISTLEMARSH
by Moorea Corrigan
Berkley, Winter 2026
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)
In the wake of World War I, the world is a decidedly unmagical place for Misneach “Mouse” Dunne. Mouse once dreamed of becoming a Faerie anthropologist, but with one telegram, her world shattered. At the Somme, her cousin Bertie’s body disappeared into the mud, and her brother Roger came home with devastating shell shock. It was time, she knew, to put aside childish dreams.
When Mouse receives news that her uncle, Lord Dewhurst, has left her Thistlemarsh Hall, a dilapidated manor in the English countryside, she has to return to her childhood home and claim her birthright. Thistlemarsh was blessed by the Faerie King himself before the Faeries left England for good. But there is a catch in Lord Dewhurst’s offer: if Mouse does not rehabilitate the crumbling house in one month’s time, Mouse will forfeit her inheritance and any hope of caring for her brother.
It quickly becomes clear it’s impossible to repair the manor in the allotted time, until a mysterious Faerie appears with a proposition. He offers to restore Thistlemarsh…for only the price of a pinky finger. Mouse knows better than to trust a Faerie—especially one so insufferably handsome and arrogant—but she is out of options. There are dark and magical forces at work in the house, and Mouse must confront the ghosts of her past and the secrets of her heart or lose Thistlemarsh, and herself, in the process.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries meets Divine Rivals with a dash of The House in the Cerulean Sea, in this endlessly charming, poignant, romantic, cozy-historical fantasy that will make you happy when you turn the final page.
Moorea Corrigan holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh and a Master of Publishing degree from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. She currently works at Lynne Rienner Publishers, an academic press in Boulder, Colorado. When she is not writing, you can find her singing, spending time with her menagerie of pets, or attending Jane Austen conventions in full Regency regalia. Thistlemarsh is her debut adult fantasy novel.
For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry. When Sciona finally achieves her ambition and becomes a Highmage, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues are determined to make her feel unwelcome, and instead of a qualified lab assistant they give her a janitor. What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was not always a janitor. Ten years ago he was a nomadic hunter who lost his family on their perilous journey from the wild plains to the city. But now he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the privileged in power. At first, mage and outsider have a fractious relationship. But working together they uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first.
Book #1: CITY OF GODS AND MONSTERS
Book #2: CITY OF SOULS AND SINNERS
Book #3: CITY OF LIES AND LEGENDS
Amelia Sand is a student at Ainsworth Academy, where nonhumans are taught to be “civilized.” But for the rulers of Umbra—humans who came through a world-gate from Earth and now sit upon the thrones—that’s not enough. When Amelia discovers their plans to use magic to force her and her fellow monsters into blind obedience, she sets out to stop them.
Though the western wood is rumored to be home to wicked faeries, fifteen-year-old Roisin forages without fear, until the night she saves a red fox from a bear, and that bear turns on her. Ro and her sister survive the attack, but the forest isn’t finished with them yet, for the seemingly ordinary bear is truly a boy who’s been cursed by faeries and forced to partake in a deadly competition.