The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin" (Once upon a Time Series) »

Suzanne Weyn is a New York Times bestselling author with more than 50 titles to her credit, including The Bar Code Tattoo and novelizations of the Scooby-Doo movies and Ice Princess.

"Once upon a Time" Is Timeless

The year is 1880, and Bertie, having just arrived in New York with her family, is grateful to be given work as a seamstress in the home of textile tycoon J. P. Wellington. When the Wellington family fortune is threatened, Bertie's father boasts that Bertie will save the business, that she is so skillful she can "practically spin straw into gold."

Amazingly, in the course of one night, Bertie creates exquisite evening gowns — with the help of Ray Stalls, a man from her tenement who uses an old spinning wheel to create dresses that are woven with crimson thread and look as though they are spun with real gold. Indebted to Ray, Bertie asks how she can repay him. When Ray asks for her firstborn child, Bertie agrees, never dreaming that he is serious....

Children's Literature

When the O'Malley family arrives on the shores of America, they are blissfully unaware of the tests they will undergo as Irish people in the masses of immigrants streaming into New York City in search of a new life. Without a mother, caring for three-year-old Eileen, the three O'Malley sons, and the patriarch of the family falls to Bridget, who is only seventeen. In the squalor of a tenement apartment, Bridget struggles to hold her family together, and every time she feels particularly downtrodden or in need, a dark young man who goes only by the name of Ray magically comes to her rescue. His genius becomes evident when one night, Bridget's father promises his boss, textile tycoon J.P. Wellington, that his daughter is so skilled a seamstress that she can transform dull cloth into beautiful fashions and save his fortune. Ray's skills as a weaver and tailor prevent Bridget from losing her job but land her in an even more difficult predicament. As she discovers her own skills and strengths she is also faced with harsh realities and must decide what she values most. A compelling story of the plight of immigrants in late nineteenth century America, Suzanne Weyn's contribution to the "Once Upon a Time" series balances historical fact with emotional drama to transport readers back in time, where they will discover the stark differences in the lives of the wealthy and the poor and the grueling challenges of immigration. Weyn delicately navigates the conflicting philosophies of hiding their heritage to survive and the desire to remain loyal to their homeland, while demonstrating the benefits of friendships with people of different cultures. While the ending feels somewhat rushed, the fun twiston the original "Rumpelstiltskin" will appeal to teens' romantic sensibilities. Reviewer: Keri Collins Lewis