Winterkeep

by Kristin Cashore

  Hava: A Graceling, Graced with the ability to change what people see when they look at her. A spy for Queen Bitterblue and secretly Bitterblue’s half sister.

  Helda: The caretaker of Queen Bitterblue’s domestic affairs and her spymaster.

  Joff: A lord from southern Estill.

  Katsa: The founder of the Council. A Graceling, Graced with survival. From the Middluns. A friend and mentor of Queen Bitterblue.

  Leck: The father of Bitterblue and the previous King of Monsea. A Graceling, Graced with the ability to tell lies that people believe. A psychopath. Deceased.

  Lovejoy: A cat.

  Mikka: The previous Monsean envoy to Winterkeep. He drowned in Winterkeep with Brek.

  Pella: A lord from central Monsea who had an affair with Queen Bitterblue.

  Periwinkle (Perry): The Lienid envoy to Winterkeep.

  Skye: A Lienid prince, the sixth son of King Ror and Queen Zinnober of Lienid. A cousin of Queen Bitterblue.

  Trina: A Graceling, Graced with finding things. Originally Estillan, she escaped to Monsea with Giddon’s help.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you, Kathy Dawson, for your keen guidance and insight.

  Thank you, Faye Bender, for your tremendous help and support.

  Thank you, Jen Loja and Lauri Hornik, for making me safe under your wings.

  Thank you, Catherine Cashore, Dorothy Cashore, Laura Chandra, Hannah Gómez, Margo Rabb, Alix Reid, and Marie Rutkoski, for your feedback on early drafts that nudged me toward the book I was trying to write. Thank you, Regina Castillo, for your copyediting magic.

  Thank you, Theresa Evangelista, Kuri Huang, Jessica Jenkins, Jennifer Kelly, Dana Li, and Ian Schoenherr, for creating an object of beauty.

  Thank you, Elyse Marshall, Emily Romero, Felicia Frazier, Debra Polansky, and the entire team at Penguin Young Readers Group, for everything each of you does, adeptly and tirelessly, to connect me and my book with readers.

  Thank you, Judy Blundell, Laura Chandra, Eve Goldfarb, Deb Heiligman, Marthe Jocelyn, Barb Kerley, Kevin Lin, Betsy Partridge, Margo Rabb, Marie Rutkoski, Natalie Standiford, Rebecca Stead, and Tui Sutherland, for conversation after conversation that kept me grounded and helped me untangle the knots.

  Thank you, Kevin Lin, for every single thing.

  About the Author

  Kristin Cashore grew up in the northeast Pennsylvania countryside as the second of four daughters. She received a bachelor's degree from Williams College and a master's from the Center for the Study of Children's Literature at Simmons College, and she has worked as a dog runner, a packer in a candy factory, an editorial assistant, a legal assistant, and a freelance writer. She has lived in many places (including Sydney, New York City, Boston, London, Austin, and Jacksonville, Florida), and she currently lives in the Boston area. Her epic fantasy novels set in the Graceling Realm--Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue--have won many awards and much high praise, including picks as ALA Best Books for Young Adults, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Booklist Editors Choice, and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. In addition, Graceling was shortlisted for the William C. Morris Debut Award and Fire is an Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Winner.

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