Author Sarah Arthur is no stranger to NarniaFans, or for that matter fans of fantasy, having already contributed some delightful YA devotional books on CS Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, and JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings as well as serving as a founding board member of the annual C. S. Lewis Festival in northern Michigan, and co-director of the Madeleine L’Engle Writing Retreats. We are delighted to share with our readers an official press release about her brand new YA Fantasy Novel, Once a Queen.
Bestselling Nonfiction Author’s Fantasy Debut Kicks Off WaterBrook’s New YA Trilogy — With Nods to ClassicFairytales, Doses of Cozy Magic, and Masterful World Weaving.
Nearly a decade ago, during National Novel Writing Month, bestselling nonfiction author Sarah Arthur let her imagination run free when she began writing Once a Queen, a novel that had been living in her imagination since the early 2000s. On January 30, 2024, her sparkling YA fantasy will be published by WaterBrook, the Penguin Random House imprint behind the Wingfeather Saga, the bestselling middle grade series which has sold more than one million copies.
Arthur’s first venture into the world of fantasy makes sense, as her extensive knowledge of Lord of the Rings and active involvement in the C.S. Lewis Festival and Madeleine L’Engle Writing Retreats can be felt with the flip of every page — the story is richly woven, atmospheric, and captures the cozy magic akin to classics like The Secret Garden, The Chronicles of Narnia, and A Wrinkle in Time, while also telling a fresh and delightful world-weaving tale for wonder-hungry young minds.
Readers are transported to the English countryside alongside Eva, the American teenage protagonist who secretly wishes fairy tales were true. Nevertheless, while spending the summer at her grandmother’s mysterious English manor, unusual happenings in the gardens at night lead Eva to wonder if portals to alternate universes exist…and if her grandmother was once a queen in one of those worlds. Arthur was working through grief while writing this novel, and she hopes the intricate themes of generational wounds, redemption, and imagination will ease the young minds that pick up Once a Queen.
For more information, visit onceaqueen.com.ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Arthur is a fun-loving speaker and the author of a dozen books for teens and adults, including Once a Queen and the bestselling Walking with Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through The Lord of the Rings. Among other nerdy adventures, she has served as preliminary fiction judge for Christianity Today’s Book Awards, was a founding board member of the annual C. S. Lewis Festival in northern Michigan, and co-directs the Madeleine L’Engle Writing Retreats. Sarah lives in Lansing, Michigan with her husband and two preteen sons, who have Very Important Things to Say About books, and apparently Once a Queen passed muster.
Check out a sample chapter here.
Order the book from Penguin RandomHouse, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.
Check back later for our interview with Sarah and look for our review of her book, coming soon.