Synopsis

In a world where magic, desire, and duty collide, it is beauty who is fated to kill the beast in a lush historical fantasy of secrets and star-crossed love by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr.

Two young women. Heirs to altogether different hereditary burdens. Yet bound by a monstrous threat to their village.

Gabrielle is the first woman in Alveus to carry the mantle of Hunter, which comes with an obligation to kill the faery beasts murdering travelers in Brimmond Wood. Wary of the power she wields as guardian of her people, Gabrielle is summoned by her first love, a seductress who shattered her heart into pieces a decade ago.

Isabeau is the rarest of nobility—a lady duke. She is also afflicted by a curse that leaves her in a deep sleep between the gloaming and daylight. How can she begin her tenure as protector when she can’t keep her village safe from whatever stalks its darkest hours? For that, she needs the help of the Hunter.

Against her will, Gabrielle is falling in love all over again. But what new threats will arise when Gabrielle and Isabeau’s star-crossed destinies collide with the beast of Brimmond Wood?

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Interview with Melissa Marr

How does it feel to “go back to your roots” with A TREASON OF MAGIC, your new historical fantasy novel, almost 20 years after your first novel Wicked Lovely was published?

Folklore is what I read (and write) for pleasure, but getting to build a whole new faery world—one where the faeries are closer to what I wrote in my first novel—felt delicious. In fairness, I also think I picked up and finished this novel because of the 2024 and 2025 re-issue and Illumicrate Special Edition of my Wicked Lovely series. Those meant re-reading all six of those books, thinking about folklore and faeries, and this was the result. A TREASON OF MAGIC was giving myself permission to be where I prefer to be.

I think I always ponder folklore. It’s what I read for joy (non-fiction academic books on folklore), so I tend to gravitate to the fictional application of that. And as a person who grew up thinking faeries—this sort in both the Wicked Lovely series and in A TREASON OF MAGIC —were real, there’s something alluring about lingering in that one thought: what is it was real? The rest of the story is just pulling that one change forward.

What about historical fantasy appeals to you as a writer?

Removing modern technology. Phones and laptops and instant communication are super, but they make the long waits for answers less believable. And, of course, historical weapons. Bring me the swords, the knives, the staff, the glaive!  And horses! Bring me horses! (I have a book of photography, Wild Horses, that grew out of my horse love.) So . . . umm, I just want to write about sharp things and horses.

In fairness, I also like to think about travel time, food options, the limits of fighting in layers, the class and gender rules. History is fascinating to me. Some things modern (phones) are so incredibly different, and others (insecurity about love) feel timeless. I like pondering that. We have so many changes in the word over centuries, but sometimes, there are constants. That’s what a study of history—or reading historical fiction—offers. I was standing at a Maeshowe, a Neolithic burial chamber in Scotland with Norse graffiti on it. There are many lines, but the two that stood out were “[I] was here” and “Ingigerth is the most beautiful of all women.” We are no different in our hearts than we were 5,000 years ago. That’s part of what historic fiction and study remind us. People are people.

You’ve also been writing queer fiction throughout your career. How has your ability to center queer leads changed?

My second ever novel (Ink Exchange, 2008 and re-issued 2025) centered on a young woman caught in a romantic triangle with two male faeries who had a romantic past. My next YA, Carnival of Secrets, had a gay male character. My first middle grade (co-authored!) series had gay uncles. So while I’ve always included queer characters, I tended to only add gay male characters. In 2022, I shifted to writing lesbian or bi cis protagonists.

What surprised me is that publishing is now receptive. Years ago, I had written a book with a lesbian relationship at the center. It was my first novel not to sell. I revised it, changed the character to a man, & it sold. Selling A TREASON OF MAGIC (and recent releases like Remedial Magic and Greta Gets the Girl) feels exciting to know that as the industry evolved, I can successfully publish characters like me too!

Does A TREASON OF MAGIC challenge, expand, or revisit themes you explored in your other books?

I suspect if you write long enough your patterns are clear. I write a lot of characters who have complicated feelings about duty. Wicked Lovely was about one young woman’s desire to plan her future vs her fated future as a faery queen.  If you look at my books across genre and demographic, you’ll see that question of carving your own path show up. I never intend it to be there, but afterwards, I can often see it.

And I am a romantic at heart, so you’ll see examples where love is strengthening. I believe vehemently that love is a thing that makes you a better version of who you are truly. If being with a person makes you “act ugly” rather than cherish one another, that’s something else, but not love.

What inspired you to write A TREASON OF MAGIC?

Folklore? Missing Scotland? I started this during the pandemic, and for many years, I go to Scotland, but that year, we were all on lockdown. My two sons and I were all wretchedly sick with covid. And all I could think was “what if I can’t get back to Scotland?” (Spoiler: I did.) The landscape here was the first part. The folklore next. So mostly . . . this book is because of Scotland.

Discuss how you develop your characters in general, and specifically Gabrielle and Isabeau.

I think I always start with the world. So here we have a world where being the Hunter is an inherited duty. Who would find that the hardest? Ah, a woman in a time period where she was wearing garments that made fighting extra hard. So that makes it historical. What else? What if her duty was a secret? And typically inherited by sons?

As I answer the world/character questions, I start to see the answer. Initially, I wrote the book with two POVs.  I wanted to write Beauty and the Beast. I wanted the beast to not remember being a beast because . . . again . . . that makes it harder.  So my initial prompt ended up being “what if you were told you had to kiss, marry, kill the same person?”

About the Author

Melissa Marr is a former university literature instructor who writes fiction for adults, teens, and children. Her books have been translated into twenty-eight languages and have been bestsellers internationally as well as domestically (NY Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal).

Accolades include YALSA Popular Paperbacks, IRA Notable Book Pick, Book Sense Pick, Good Morning America Summer Pick for Teens, Scottish Book Trust, Red Maple finalist (in both Ontario and Manitoba), and Goodreads Good Choice Award (Horror), RWA RITA award (YA). She is best known for the Wicked Lovely series for teens, the Graveminder for adults, and her debut picture book Bunny Roo, I Love You. She currently lives with her family in Arizona.

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