Tor.com Publishing has bought The Woman at the Tower Window, a radical retelling of a classic damsel in distress fairytale from one of the genre’s luminaries that upends the idea of the sheltered princess waiting for her prince. Here, Rapunzel is a young woman who has retreated from the world by choice. Her older lover, a female professor of anthropology, is a witch only in the eyes of her suitor, a man who feverishly misreads the situation.
Rachel Swirsky received an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers Workshop, and has been nominated for the Hugo, Locus and World Fantasy Awards, and twice won the Nebula Award. She recently moved to Portland, Oregon where she is currently in love with the rain (though aware she might not be later). Follow her on Twitter, visit her website, or support her Patreon.
From acquiring editor Jonathan Strahan:
I have adored Rachel Swirsky’s smart, savvy, and powerful stories since I stumbled across her novelette, “Eros, Philia, Agape”. It was a beautiful piece of fiction, and she only seemed to grow as storyteller over the following years. Probably my very favourite story of hers is the magnificent novella The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window, which won the Nebula Award and was nominated for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. When I first started acquiring new novellas for Tor.com Publishing, Rachel’s name was at the very top of the list of people I wanted to work with, so I’m beyond delighted that we’ll be publishing The Woman at the Tower Window. I think it’s going to be incredible and from what I’ve already seen, I think Tor.com’s readers will too.
Said Rachel Swirsky:
I’m thrilled to be working with Tor.com to bring out this project which is something I’ve been thinking of and playing around with for a long time. I love fairy tale retellings, and I’m fascinated by the way these stories resonate with our culture, and persist through a kaleidoscope of interpretations. I’m excited to bring this take on Rapunzel to readers.
The Woman at the Tower Window will be released in trade paperback and ebook formats from Tor.com Publishing in 2019.
