by Moorea Corrigan
Faeries disappeared over one hundred years ago, as suddenly as slipping through a doorway. It was only the very foolish, or the very determined, who held out hope for their return.
Welcome to Thistlemarsh—a ramshackle estate where an impoverished orphan and a beguiling Faerie collide in an enchanting novel of love, revenge, and ruin.
In the wake of The Great War, the world is a decidedly unmagical place for Mouse Dunne. She once dreamed of becoming a Faerie anthropologist, but with one telegram, her world shattered. At the Battle of the Somme, her cousin's body disappeared into the mud, and her brother was left with debilitating shell shock. It was time, she knew, to put aside childish dreams.
When Mouse receives news that her uncle has left her the Faerie-blessed Thistlemarsh Hall, a dilapidated manor in the English countryside, she must leave her brother's side and return to her childhood home to claim her birthright. But there is a catch in her uncle's offer: If Mouse does not rehabilitate the crumbling house in one month's time, she will forfeit her inheritance and any hope of caring for her brother.
It quickly becomes clear it's impossible to repair the manor in the allotted time, until a mysterious Faerie appears with a proposition. He offers to restore Thistlemarsh...for a price. Mouse knows better than to trust a Faerie—especially one so insufferably handsome and arrogant—but she is out of options. There are dark and magical forces at work in the house, and Mouse must confront the ghosts of her past and the secrets of her heart or lose Thistlemarsh, and herself, in the process.
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (1/22/2026)
This week I got my ARC copy of Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan. Got hooked and read it in one sitting. Will be posting for First Impressions this weekend while staying in for the big storm. Started reading The Go...
-Marilyn_M
"Readers will lose themselves in dreamy prose and a cozy narrative…the book feels both comfortingly familiar and refreshingly unique, much like the fairytales sprinkled throughout. Corrigan's debut is one to savor." —Library Journal (starred review)
"A sense of isolation, stemming from a lack of interaction with the surrounding town of Tithe, makes the world of the novel feel somewhat limited and flat but gives the small cast more time to shine. H.G. Parry and Heather Fawcett fans should take a chance on this one." —Publishers Weekly
"The perfect escape for A Court of Thorns and Roses and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue fans.... Thistlemarsh is perfect for all genre lovers." —Parade
"Completely and wonderfully enchanting! The kind of book you immediately want to read again! I loved it!" —Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop
"An enchanting interwar fairy tale, where magic slips through the cracks of modernity, adventure waits behind locked doors, and charming faerie lords lay sleeping in stone. Like the fae themselves, Corrigan's debut brims with whimsy, danger, and deceit. I adored it!" —Allison Saft, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Dark and Drowning Tide
This information about Thistlemarsh was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Moorea Corrigan holds a bachelor's degree with honors in English literature from the University of Edinburgh and a master of publishing degree from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. She works at an academic press in Boulder, Colorado. When she is not writing, you can find her singing, spending time with her menagerie of pets, or attending Jane Austen conventions in full Regency regalia. Thistlemarsh is her debut novel.

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