A Smugglerific Cover: THE NINETY-NINTH BRIDE by Catherine Faris King

In which we reveal the cover for our new novel, THE NINETY-NINTH BRIDE by Catherine Faris King! The novel, based on the author’s short story “The Ninety-Ninth Bride”, is out tomorrow, June 19.

Behold the smugglerific cover:

About the Novel

“Sister, would you please tell me a story?”

Dunya is fifteen when her father, the Grand Vizier, gives her over to the mad Sultan for his bride. Ninety-eight Sultanas before Dunya have been executed, slaughtered at the break of dawn following their first night with their new husband. But on her own wedding night, the ninety-ninth bride finds help from the mysterious and beautiful Zahra, who proposes to tell the Sultan a story…

The Ninety-Ninth Bride is a story of sisters and magic, and a kingdom on the brink of disaster.

A Word From Your Friendly Neighborhood Editors (and Book Smugglers)

A long, long time ago, there was a wonderful collection of folk tales which we came to know as
One Thousand and One Nights or, as it is more commonly known in English, Arabian Nights. For readers such as us, its stories within stories within stories have been a source of delight. Scheherazade herself, a master storyteller, someone we came to admire.

But then there is its frame story – which appears in pretty much all renditions of the collection: a Sultan, upon discovering his wife’s betrayal, kills her. Not satisfied, he marries a new wife every day and kills each of them the morning after – and on he goes, killing dozens of innocent women until Scheherazade comes along. She tells him these wonderful stories that all end on a cliff-hanger, effectively putting off her execution for one thousand and one nights. In many recountings, the Sultan and Scheherazade fall in love and they have children and it’s a happily ever after.

But what about those other women? The innocent women who were killed? How is it that the Sultan is forgiven for their murders? WHY is he forgiven?

We always wondered about that. How those women were forgotten.

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Once upon a time, two bloggers became publishers and in their first open call for short stories, under the theme of Fairy Tale Retellings, there was one beautifully written submission by a debut storyteller of Lebanese descent called Catherine Fairs King whose tale was a new rendition of Arabian Nights.

It was a retelling that not only focused on the women, on Scheherazade and her sister as well as the other women, the women who came before; but one that also engaged with the question of whether the Sultan can (or should) be forgiven.

It was a wonderful story and we (surprise, we are the aforementioned blogger-publishers) acquired the story and published it.

The Ninety-Ninth Bride was about Dunya, a young, quiet girl who is forced by her father to marry the Sultan after ninety-eight women have been killed. On their wedding night, a mysterious woman walks in – and everybody thinks SHE is the one who just got married.  Dunya becomes entangled in the wonderful stories her “sister” tells, many of them reframed to centre on new characters, all named after the women who died before.

It was a clever, beautiful, subversive short story and we wanted more of it. We wanted a whole novel.

So we asked Catherine to write it.

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The result is even more precious than we could have ever hoped: a YA novel full of wonderful stories of subversion, of quiet power, of magic, and above all, of women. Women as friends, allies, lovers and survivors.

About the Author: Catherine Faris King

Catherine Faris King is a Lebanese-Irish-American writer. She would like to thank her parents and friends for their endless support. This is her first book.

About the Artist: Reiko Murakami

Reiko Murakami, also known as Raqmo, is a U.S. based fantasy illustrator. Her work focuses on depicting emotions through surreal abstraction on a subject. Her art has been published in Spectrum, Infected by Art, ArtOrder Invitational: The Journal, Exposé, 2D Artist and many others.

How to Get the Novel

The Ninety-Ninth Bride will be published officially tomorrow, June 19, 2018. You can purchase the paperback or the DRM-free ebook (EPUB, MOBI) that contains the story as well as an essay from the author available for purchase on all major online retail sites.

Preorder the Ebook Today

Amazon US ¦ Amazon UK ¦ B&N ¦ Smashwords ¦ Kobo

Buy the Paperback Today

Amazon US ¦ Amazon UK

Add the book on Goodreads.