The Redwood Bargain, the sophomore novel by Markelle Grabo (Call Forth a Fox), is a sapphic, gothic take on "Hurleburlebutz" or "The Dwarf, the Fox, and the Princess" as collected by the Brothers Grimm.
When Lord Elwood Barras returns alone from a hunt horseless and covered in blood, Katrien and the other manor employees know something concerning is afoot. They're correct: the lord has promised his 17-year-old stepdaughter, Zaviera, to the Redwood Man, a supernatural forest creature "with branch-like limbs" and "needled hair." Zaviera's sisters refuse to surrender her and instead try to (unsuccessfully) trick the Redwood Man. The first corpse "has evergreen needles stuffed down her throat"; the second a "tree branch through her middle"; and the last "is missing her eyes." As the Redwood Man's impatience grows, the forest begins to take over the manor, killing inhabitants. Katrien makes a desperate attempt to save her indentured cousin, Helsa, by agreeing to be girl number four. But as Lord Barras's daughters train Katrien, she and Zaviera fall for each other. Now, Katrien must succeed at tricking the Redwood Man to save both her family and her love.
Grabo's story is divided into three parts, the first from Katrien's perspective, the second from Helsa's, and the third switches between Katrien and Helsa as they grapple with the supernatural creature's threats. Readers get a thorough idea of goings-on at the manor from the viewpoints of two young women who are expected to be quiet and invisible. The Redwood Bargain is a delightfully dark and at times frightening interpretation that feels true to the Grimms' source material, even as it reinvents the fairy tale in a wholly unexpected way. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer