Melissa Albert burst onto the YA scene in 2018 with THE HAZEL WOOD, which was followed by two companion novels, as well as a couple of stand-alone titles. They often probed the darker side of fantasy and fairy tales, as well as the sometimes fraught or mysterious connections between generations and the power of stories. These themes are also interwoven throughout Albert's much-anticipated adult debut, THE CHILDREN. 

The central figure here is Guinevere (Guin) Sharpe, who is now in her early 30s and just days away from the publication of her ghostwritten memoir based on her famous but somewhat secretive childhood. Guin and her older brother, Ennis, were raised (or, more precisely, raised themselves) in a ramshackle house deep in the Vermont woods. Known as "The Farmhouse," the place was frequented by artists, writers and creatives of all kinds, drawn there by the kids' young mother, Edith, who burst onto the literary scene with a children's fantasy novel, The Ninth City, which kicked off what would become the world's bestselling fantasy series. The protagonists of those books? Two children named Guinevere and Ennis.

"THE CHILDREN is a perfect next step for those who grew up with Albert’s YA novels, as well as readers of creative family sagas and dark fantasy who will appreciate this introduction to her considerable storytelling talents."

Twenty years after the tragic deaths of her parents in a fire, Guin's name is still a household one, even if she herself has shunned the spotlight until now. She has kept her mother's literary legacy alive, and her memoir is an attempt to cast a rosy-hued light on her upbringing in the face of rumors that not everything was quite as idyllic as the novels might have readers believe.

Just as Guin embarks on an aggressive publicity campaign, her past starts to come back to haunt her. She hasn't spoken to Ennis since they were children. But now she has received word that her brother, who has become a famous but often reclusive artist, is about to launch a new exhibition in New York City titled “Mother.” What might this mean? And does it threaten to unveil everything that Guin's memoir is designed to disguise?

THE CHILDREN unfolds in parallel narratives, both from Guin's point of view. One takes place in the present day, as she navigates a potential PR nightmare while also trying desperately to reconnect with Ennis and uncover his intentions. The other starts with the family's arrival in Vermont before Edith ever became famous and traces her childhood. It was marked by neglect and the often mysterious behavior of Guin's parents --- not only Edith's increasingly erratic behavior but also her father Llewelyn's descent from one of the world's leading Shakespearean actors to a somewhat pathetic, untalented painter.

Readers will start to detect something rotten at the core of these childhood years, but the extent of its creepiness is only revealed in the book’s final pages. That central mystery --- as well as the vexing questions about the circumstances of their parents' deaths and the abrupt cessation of communication between Guin and Ennis, who were once so close --- will keep you turning pages amid rising feelings of dread. 

THE CHILDREN is a perfect next step for those who grew up with Albert’s YA novels, as well as readers of creative family sagas and dark fantasy who will appreciate this introduction to her considerable storytelling talents.