A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

When Charlotte's father died leaving the wool mill and her younger sister Rosie to care for, Charlotte thought the world should be ending. As the elder and more practical and stubborn sister, Charlotte was used to running the finances for the wool mill that kept the tiny town of Stirwaters afloat. She was aware of the curse on Stirwaters that was tied inexplicably to the mill and her family but didn't really believe it until catastrophe after catastrophe began to assail her and Rosie.

When it is brought to her attention by her father's friendly out of town banker that her father had borrowed 1000 pounds that Charlotte knew he could never repay and that 600 of that was due immediately Charlotte knew she was going to have to combat the curse or lose Stirwaters and her mill family of workers.

Rosie, young and beautiful and impulsive, calls on the Fae to help and a man introducing himself only as Jack Spinner comes to their aid to spin straw into gold.

The plot is familiar but new with many complicated twists and turns. Charlotte finds and nearly loses love, her family and her mill but remains strong and true to her desire to save those around her even if she doesn't always go about it in the correct way.

Parts of the story were chilling but just like most modern fairy tales end happily.