Excerpt from Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

I bent over, gathered my skirts in my hands, and tied a practiced knot between my legs. There were no logs or rocks to use, so, after a running start, I leapt across the water and landed in the soft mud on the other side. The jump soaked my hem and splattered my shins with black slurry. I looked around. The forest has eyes but cannot speak. It had no way of telling on me.

Excerpted from Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser. Copyright © 2026 by Rachel Hochhauser. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.