The Castle Behind Thorns

Apprentice blacksmith Sand finds himself in the Sundered Castle--so called because everything is broken in two. Sand begins mending things; when he finds the corpse of Perrotte, a princess, he straightens her limbs, restoring her to life. Subtle parallels to "Sleeping Beauty" are omnipresent, but Sand and Perrotte's work of restoring the castle and avenging old wrongs takes its own, novel course.

After a fight with his father, apprentice blacksmith Sand throws a nail into the wishing well of Saint Melor and wakes up the next morning in the Sundered Castle -- so called because everything in the castle, from bedsheets to anvils, is broken or torn in two. Unable to breach the wall of vicious thorns surrounding the castle, Sand begins mending things simply to survive -- a bucket to draw well water and a rope to pull it up with are two early priorities. But bolstered by the saint's power, Sand's mending goes far beyond the ordinary: when he finds a girl's corpse thrown from her crypt, Sand straightens her limbs, restoring her to life in the process. Perrotte is a princess whose murder at the hands of her stepmother and Sand's own father twenty-five years earlier catalyzed the destruction and sealing-off of the castle. The relationship between princess and blacksmith is rocky at first, but when their efforts toward survival and escape begin to bear fruit, the two develop a deeper trust. Haskell effortlessly weaves together internal and external forces, leading to a tense climax, though the fairy-tale setting and inherent gratification of mending broken things keep the story cozy. Subtle parallels to "Sleeping Beauty" are omnipresent, but Sand and Perrotte's work of restoring the castle, avenging old wrongs, and forgiving once-bitter enemies takes its own, novel course. anita l. burkam