The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel by Alyssa Palombo

As in ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’, Katrina is the beautiful daughter of the wealthiest man in the eerie town of Sleepy Hollow, located in the woods of northern New York where every rock and tree seem to have a ghost story attached to it. In The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel, Alyssa Palombo seeks to rectify this lack of emphasis on Katrina through her elegantly told story of friendship and love. Other works have fleshed these characters out, but most, like Tim Burton’s 1999 film, Sleepy Hollow, or the 2013 TV show of the same name, focus on Ichabod Crane. For all its fame, though, the original tale is fairly short, its characters flat and lacking any real depth beyond “geeky schoolteacher”, “young, pretty girl” and “arrogant jock”. Though it has its roots in German folklore, Washington Irving’s story, ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’, has become quintessentially American, moving away from the realm of fairy tales and into that of ghost stories. In Alyssa Palombo’s The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel nothing is as it seems, and love is a thing even death won’t erase. What they find forces Katrina to question everything she once knew, and to wonder if the Headless Horseman is perhaps more than just a story after all.

That is, until All Hallows’s Eve, when Ichabod suddenly disappears, leaving Katrina alone and in a perilous position.Įnlisting the help of her friend – and rumored witch – Charlotte Jansen, Katrina seeks the truth of Ichabod Crane’s disappearance, investigating the forest around Sleepy Hollow using unconventional – often magical – means. Ichabod knows that as an itinerant schoolteacher of little social standing, he has nothing to offer the wealthy Katrina – unlike her childhood friend-turned-enemy, Brom Van Brunt, who is the suitor Katrina’s father favors.īut when romance gives way to passion, Ichabod and Katrina embark on a secret love affair, sneaking away into the woods after dark to be together – all while praying they do not catch sight of Sleepy Hollow’s legendary Headless Horseman.

Through their shared love of books and music, they form a friendship that quickly develops into romance. Martin’s Griffinįrom Goodreads: When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly drawn to him. Expected Publication: October 2nd, 2018 by St.

The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel by Alyssa Palombo