A fairy tale called "Bluebeard" is what inspired Marissa Meyer to write "The House Saphir."
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
"The House Saphir" is inspired by the fairy tale "Bluebeard" - which is a story about a girl who marries a charming aristocrat, only to later discover that he is a serial killer who has murdered all of his former wives. The story captivated me from the first time I read it, in part because it's so dark and macabre compared to the fairy tales that most of us grew up with, and it's been on my mind to write my own take on the story for many years now.
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
To me, Reading Rainbow is about celebrating the diversity of storytelling and storytellers, and willingly being a part of a larger conversation, one that goes beyond our own small reality and narrow experiences. Books can act as a powerful bridge between people, building empathy and encouraging kindness and understanding. I think these are some of the greatest gifts stories can give us.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
The world is a big, diverse place, in which we all have our unique stories, backgrounds, opinions, and ideas. For our books to represent only a small portion of those stories is not only narrow-minded, it also does an enormous disservice to both the voices that are being left out of the conversation and the readers who would benefit to hear from them. We are the heroes of our stories in real life, we should be able to see ourselves in our fictional heroes as well.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
"The House Saphir" takes place a hundred years after the death of Bluebeard. The murderer's ghost has returned and is haunting his ancestral home, and so his descendant, a young and handsome count, decides to seek help from Mallory Fontaine and her sister. Mallory happens to be the foremost expert on Le Bleu's murders, and she and her sister are renowned witches who surely will be able to exorcise the ghost from the house. Except . . . she is not a real witch, but a con artist, who quickly finds herself in over her head.
I love playing with fairy tales and asking questions that the original stories never answered. In this case, I began to wonder what became of the Bluebeard's last wife - the one who got away - and what might happen if his ghost was still wandering the halls of his mansion. I love a good gothic romance, and enjoyed writing the haunting atmospheric details. I also wanted to write a romance in which the heroine can't help falling for the lord of the manor, even while secretly suspecting that he might be a murderer like his ancestor. It felt like it would be a fun challenge.
What can fans expect from your book?
Gothic vibes, snarky ghosts, a headstrong protagonist, monsters inspired by French folklore, kissing, and a dash of murder.
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
My first murder mystery, THE ESCAPE GAME, cowritten with Tamara Moss, will be out in April. It follows four teens through an escape room reality tv show competition in which one of last season's contestants wound up dead. I'm very excited about it, and am hard at work on both its sequel and also a spin-off to THE HOUSE SAPHIR that will be based on the fairy tale "Puss in Boots."
