The Unsought Light: A Japanese Fairytale Retelling with a Gothic Twist

By K.A. Wiggins

Daughters don't get to choose their fates. But there's one choice no one can deny her.
Hana dreams of floating away on the breeze like the cherry blossoms.
But when an otherworldly stranger offers a chance at escape from the stifling bonds of impending arranged marriage, duty and desire collide in a war that threatens to bring down her family, her clan, and her village.
Freedom. Passion. Family. Fate. What do you do when there are no good choices left?
A Gothic NA Fantasy retelling of the ancient Japanese folktale The Maiden of Unai, this short story explores the untold perspective of a young woman destined for an arranged political marriage in a time and place where family fortunes mattered more than individual happiness or choice.
Historical tragic romance in the vein of Rome & Juliet with a supernatural twist and a lightly poetic seasonal framing device, this folktale is part of the Shinjū/"lover's suicide"/suicide pact genre in Japanese literature, and includes reader advisories on depictions of misogyny, parental abuse (emotional/non-physical), suicidal ideation, kidnapping, arson, murder, suicide, drowning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Snowmelt & Stumps
• Release date: Mar 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781777517441

K.A. Wiggins

K.A. Wiggins is a Vancouver-born Canadian speculative fiction author, speaker, and creative writing coach known for the acclaimed "climate crisis + monsters" YA series Threads of Dreams. Her debut, Blind the Eyes, was a 2020 Page Turner Awards "Book Spotlight Prize" winner and Barnes & Noble Press "20 Favorite Indie Books of 2018." Her short fiction has been published by Enchanted Conversation: A Fairytale Magazine, Frozen Wavelets by The Earthian Hivemind, Fiction-Atlas Press, and Virgibooks (in translation). Join her newsletter at kawiggins.com to get bimonthly updates and bonus short reads and sneak peeks including a free copy of Threads of Dreams series prequel novella, Under.

Book preview

The Unsought Light

A Japanese Fairytale Retelling

with a Gothic Twist

K.A. Wiggins

Snowmelt & Stumps

Content Advisory: this is a retelling of a traditional lovers' suicide tale and includes parental abuse (emotional/nonphysical/nonsexual), misogyny, suicidal ideation, self harm, kidnapping, arson, murder, suicide, drowning.

Copyright © 2019 by K.A. Wiggins

A Snowmelt & Stumps book

This book has been published in Canada and adheres to Canadian grammar and spelling rules.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not be circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale.

This is a work of fiction based on the Japanese folktale The Maiden of Unai. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and other places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.

Requests for information should be addressed to [e-mail].

ISBN: 978-1-7775174-4-1

First Edition: March 2019

Second Edition: December 2022 in Seasons Unceasing (Worldsmyths Publishing)

Third Edition: March 2024

Published in Canada.

Source Images: Woman Drowning Underwater by Enging Akyurt, "Tree