by Alex Flinn
The stories adapted in this book were Little Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and The Ugly Duckling. For the historical versions of each, I recommend the website www.surlalunefairytales.com.
The text of Ann Putnam’s apology follows. She read it in church in 1706.
“I desire to be humbled before God for that sad and humbling providence that befell my father’s family in the year about ’92; that I, then being in my childhood, should, by such a providence of God, be made an instrument for the accusing of several persons of a grievous crime, whereby their lives were taken away from them, whom now I have just grounds and good reason to believe they were innocent persons; and that it was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time, whereby I justly fear I have been instrumental, with others, though ignorantly and unwittingly, to bring upon myself and this land the guilt of innocent blood; though what was said or done by me against any person I can truly and uprightly say, before God and man, I did it not out of any anger, malice, or ill-will to any person, for I had no such thing against one of them; but what I did was ignorantly, being deluded by Satan. And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing of Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters, I desire to lie in the dust, and to be humbled for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a calamity to them and their families; for which cause I desire to lie in the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offence, whose relations were taken away or accused.”
Acknowledgments
Thanks so much to my editor, Antonia Markiet. I often feel lucky to have you as an editor because you (along with my late agent, George Nicholson) connect me to a lovely bygone era in publishing when the reader and the beauty of the story reigned supreme. Also, to her assistant, Abbe Goldberg.
Thanks also to my agent, Erica Silverman.
My critique group, Christina Diaz Gonzalez, Stephanie Hairston, Alexandra Jorge, Danielle Cohen Joseph, and Gaby Triana, are there, sometimes for advice, sometimes for cookies. Mostly cookies.
I always appreciate the Florida SCBWI and Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld for making it happen. Special thanks to Debbie Reed Fischer and Marjetta Geerling for being Patty and Maxene to my LaVerne—Andrews Sisters forever!
Thanks to my family, Gene, Katherine, and Meredith, for putting up with the, um, clutter while I’m writing.
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About the Author
Photo credit Gene Flinn
ALEX FLINN loves fairy tales and is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Beastly, a spin on Beauty and the Beast that was named a VOYA Editor’s Choice and an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Beastly is now a major motion picture starring Vanessa Hudgens. Alex also wrote A Kiss in Time, a modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty; Cloaked, a humorous fairy-tale mash-up; Bewitching, a reimagining of fairy-tale favorites, including Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, and The Little Mermaid, all told by Kendra, the witch from Beastly; Towering, a darkly romantic take on Rapunzel; and Mirrored, a fresh spin on Snow White. Her other books for teens include Breathing Underwater, Breaking Point, Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black, and Diva. She lives in Miami with her family. Visit her online at www.alexflinn.com.
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Books by Alex Flinn
BEASTLY
A KISS IN TIME
CLOAKED
BEWITCHING
TOWERING
MIRRORED
BREATHING UNDERWATER
DIVA
FADE TO BLACK
NOTHING TO LOSE
BREAKING POINT
BEHELD
Credits
Cover art © 2017 by Colin Anderson
Cover design by Heather Daugherty
Copyright
HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
BEHELD. Copyright © 2017 by Alexandra Flinn. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016938971
ISBN 978-0-06-213455-4
EPub Edition © December 2016 ISBN 9780062134578
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16 17 18 19 20 PC/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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