The award-winning YA author weaves “an unsettling tapestry of ugly secrets, violence, suspense, twisted motives and love’s unfathomable ways” (Kirkus).

Anna and Abel couldn't be more different. They are both seventeen and in their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a grim tower block at the edge of town. Anna naturally keeps her distance from Abel. But when she discovers that he is the only one caring for his six-year-old sister, her fear turns to fascination.

Anna follows the two, listening as Abel tells little Micha the story of a tiny queen assailed by dark forces. It's a beautiful fairy tale that lets Anna see Abel’s reality. Unable to make ends meet, he’s in danger of losing Micha to their abusive father. Anna gradually falls in love with Abel, but when his "enemies" begin to turn up dead, she fears she has fallen for a murderer.

Antonia Michaelis, the Batchelder Honor Award-winning author of Tiger Moon, moves in a bold new direction with her latest novel: a dark, haunting, contemporary story that is part mystery, part melodrama, and part dark romance.