We chat with author Katy Rose Pool about her latest release Garden of the Cursed, which follows cursebreaker Marlow Briggs who reluctantly pretends to be in love with one of the most powerful nobles in Caraza City to gain entry into an illustrious—and deadly—society that holds clues to her mother’s disappearance.
Hi, Katy! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m Katy Rose Pool, author of The Age of Darkness series and, most recently, Garden of the Cursed. I’m originally from Los Angeles and now live in Oakland, California with my incredibly orange cat Curry (named for the basketball player, not the food). When I’m not writing about curses and magical speakeasies, I enjoy cooking, hiking in the redwoods, and browsing the shelves of the Bay Area’s many excellent bookstores.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Very, very early on in my life I knew that creating worlds and making up stories was something I was going to do for the rest of my life. I used to make up elaborate pretend games with my sister and friends, transforming our backyard into a prehistoric jungle, our bunkbeds into a spaceship bound for new galaxies, our family vacations into a quest for magic items and hidden treasures. It was just always something I was doing, wherever I was, and it wasn’t long before I started trying to commit those fantastical daydreams to paper.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
The first real book I ever remember reading was Nancy Drew (there’s that mystery influence!). The book that made me want to become an author was KA Applegate’s Animorphs series—I loved how imaginative and immersive it was, and how it didn’t shy away from difficult topics just because it was a “kid’s series”. I still think about the ending to that series on like, a monthly basis. The book I haven’t stopped thinking about since I read it is Piranesi by Susanna Clarke—for how short a book it is, it definitely made a huge impact. The narrative voice is so lovely and it’s one of those books that feels magical, like it’s casting a spell on you with every page.
Your latest novel, Garden of the Cursed, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Magic, mystery, grit, glamor, romance.
What can readers expect?
A crackling romance. A fantastical city steeped in magic and danger. A hard-boiled mystery with secrets and schemes around every corner. There are two mysteries at the heart of this book–one revolves around what happened to Marlow’s mother, whose disappearance upended her entire life. And the other is the mystery of who cursed Adrius Falcrest, the scion of the most powerful family in the city—and the boy who once broke Marlow’s heart. Unraveling these mysteries means navigating a world filled with dark curses, enchanted speakeasies, and spells that can be bought, sold, and traded on the black market.
Garden of the Cursed is a book about the truth, and what it’s worth. It’s about the human cost of capitalism and how greed begets greed. Mostly, though, it’s about a girl who refuses to give in to a worth that wants her to feel powerless. Marlow is one of my favorite character’s I’ve ever written—she’s tough, tenacious, hates being vulnerable, and is absolutely relentless when it comes to finding the truth. This book was a lot of fun to write, and I hope it’s a lot of fun to read!
Where did the inspiration for Garden of the Cursed come from?
Honestly, as with most of my books, I couldn’t really tell you! I definitely drew a lot of inspiration from hardboiled mysteries and the noir genre. I really loved Veronica Mars as a teen, and that idea of a cynical, teen girl detective always stuck with me as a really interesting character to explore. I also think a lot of times the projects I feel most drawn to are kind of a rebellion against the book I was most recently ensconced in. So while my first series was epic and almost cosmic in scope, Garden is much more intimate, dealing with the politics and workings of a single city. While The Age of Darkness trilogy was pure, high fantasy, Garden has a bit of an urban fantasy feel and noir elements. I like to challenge myself in a new way with every project, and I definitely did that with this book.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Oh man, so much of this book was just a blast to write. But I definitely really enjoyed getting to play around with the fake dating trope—Marlow and Adrius have a really fun push and pull relationship to begin with. Add to that the layers of trying to convince the rest of the world that they’re in love while desperately trying to convince themselves that they aren’t—it made for some very fun, dynamic scenes. A lot of this book deals with the cost of secrets and façades, but it’s the moments when the truth bursts out that end up being the most devastating.
Can you give us a little teaser for book two?
Without spoiling too much, I will say that Marlow and Adrius are in a very different situation in book two than they are in book one. I’ll also say there are a few new players in Caraza that are definitely going to cause more trouble for both of them.
Someone—and I’m blanking on who it was—once told me that the structure of a duology should really be that the first book poses a question that the second book answers. That’s how I approached this series. If the first book is all about solving these mysteries, then the second book is about how solving a mystery doesn’t necessarily mean justice has been served—in fact, sometimes solving the mystery creates even bigger problems.
What’s next for you?
Right now I’m hard at work on the sequel to Garden of the Cursed. After that, we’ll see! I definitely have a few ideas I’m eager to explore, but nothing has been set in stone yet. I always think that’s kind of a fun place to be in though, and I trust that the right idea will grab hold of me when the time is right—after all, that’s exactly what happened with Garden of the Cursed.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Some recent reads I’ve enjoyed immensely are The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi and The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez. Both are more on the adult side but are incredibly immersive and beautifully written. I also want to shout out The Grimoire of Grave Fates anthology, which is perfect for anyone who likes fantasy mysteries and also has an incredibly cool structure—each chapter is written by a different contributor, but they all form one cohesive story.
