Toads and Diamonds - Heather Tomlinson

When two stepsisters meet a goddess at a well, one girl is cursed to drop flowers and jewels every time she speaks – the other, snakes and toads. The first girl’s jewels catch the eye of a prince, while her sister’s snakes drive her from her home. In the classic fairytale by Charles Perrault, the story stops there, but Heather Tomlinson takes it step farther by translating the tale to pre-colonial India. There, the sisters find themselves swept up into a tangled web of political intrigue and religious division – and romance.
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