Thank you so much for visiting by Bibliophilia, Please for my third and final date of the fun 2016 Debut Author Bash! Today, I'll be featuring Bridget Hodder and her debut novel, The Rat Prince.
Title: The Rat Prince
Author: Bridget Hodder
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Macmillan)
Release Date: August 23, 2016
Cinderella thinks she must work alone to save her noble family from the ruin and disgrace her stepmother has brought to Lancastyr Manor. She has an ailing father, a sweet, innocent little stepsister and dependent servants to protect from the wicked Wilhemina–and no way to call attention to their plight unless she figures out how to attend the royal ball.
But Cinderella knows nothing of the ancient pact between the House of Lancastyr and the rats who live within the walls of her ancestral home.
Nor is she aware that the sleek black rat she thinks is her pet is actually the Rat Prince...
and she is not alone.
Author Interview
Kayla: What made you choose the Prince of the Rats as the hero in The Rat Prince?
Bridget Hodder: Because sometimes, being an outsider is an advantage--it allows you the freedom to think and act the way no one else dares. And no one's more of an outsider than an actual rat!
In my story, Cinderella has a real problem, and she's tried again and again to seek justice and aid through traditional channels. But it just isn't working. So the time has come to turn it all upside down. And Prince Char--The Rat Prince--is just the one to help her do it.
In Silicon Valley tech terms, the rat in this story is a "disruptive innovation". And by that I mean, once Prince Char shows up, the game changes forever in the Kingdom of Angland. (There's more to this metaphor, but you'll have to read the book to figure it out!) The Rat Prince's vision isn't bound by the ordinary human conventions; and once the fairy goddess makes him human for the night, Cinderella doesn't know where the evening will end up, but she knows things will never be the same!
Kayla: Who would you be in this fairy tale world that you've created?
Bridget: Well, I know I'm not the Wicked Stepmother...
Maybe I could add a character to the story, just for the purposes of this interview.
How about...I'd be Cinderella's long-lost best friend, who turns up the day before the big ball and climbs the back wall of the gardens of Lancastyr Manor. I'd sneak into Cinderella's cold attic bedroom and convince her to come home with me, where my parents would step in and make sure everything gets sorted out at her house. There would be no need for her to suffer anymore. In fact, she doesn't need to attend the ball at all, and she doesn't need the Rat Prince's help, and the fairy goddess never appears, and...
...say, wait a minute.
Kayla: Imagine if you were a librarian for a day – it can be public or school. What books would you like to see more of on the shelf and/or what books would you give to patrons looking for something to read?
Bridget: As you might expect from the author of a fairytale retelling, if I were Librarian for a Day, I'd be pushing fairytales and fantasy on everyone who walked through the door.
They would come in for a book on gluten-free diets, but leave with MarcyKate Connolly's Ravenous instead, or Rosamund Hodge's Cruel Beauty.
They'd ask me for a manual on how to prune trees, and they would slink out, confused yet oddly hopeful, with a copy of Naomi Novik's Uprooted.
Patrons who want GAME OF THRONES stuff will be told it's waitlisted, and find themselves helplessly enthralled instead by the female-empowering volumes of everything Tamora Pierce ever wrote.
Students looking for astronomy works for their research reports will kindly be given what they need, but I'll sneak Roshani Chokshi's The Star-Touched Queen into the stack, too.
I know, I'm bad. But it's so much fun. And as you said, it's just for a day...
Kayla: Thank you so much for your time, and congratulations on The Rat Prince!
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Fishpond
Google Play | Kobo
About the Author
Bridget Hodder was previously an archeologist and currently works to help families who struggle with autism. The Rat Prince is her debut novel. She lives with her family in New England.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
2016 Debut Author Bash
http://www.yareads.com/2016-debut-authors-bash-schedule/blog-tour-2/15532
Giveaway
Thanks to Bridget Hodder, we have a Rat Prince-themed Swarovski necklace for one lucky winner!
US Only
Ends at 12:01am CST on July 10th
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for joining the #16DABash!
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This sounds really cute and fun and I love the cover. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeletelooks interesting
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