Upon a Frosted Star by M.A. Kuzniar

Our top reviewer, Sophie, shares why she enjoyed this book so much…

As a general rule, I do not like romances. Yet Upon a Frosted Star is more than a romance. It is a jewel of beautiful description, frosted winter parties, summers of longing and soulful tragedy – a true fairytale painted in sharp-edged colour. The mystery that Forster undertakes to solve after attending a glittering event in a seemingly abandoned manor is a heartfelt one – dark and melancholy, through glimpses of Detta’s past and scraps of newspaper reviews, the truth of the manor and the cursed woman who lives there, with whom Forster has fallen deeply in love, is revealed. Fans of Kuzniar’s previous adult novel Midnight in Everwood will be delighted by the hints about Marietta’s fate and the links between the books, while lovers of fairytales are certain to be entranced by the story at the heart of this book, The Wild Swans. Exploring the changing times of the 1920s and English life after the Great War, the role of art and culture in society and all the ways a heart can be broken, Kuzniar paints a vivid picture of Forster’s struggle to save Detta from her curse and the damage his consuming love wreaks in the lives of those around him.