Little Thieves

Cover designed by M.S. Corley

*Little Thieves* is a retelling of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale "The Goose Girl," but told from the perspective of the princess' wicked maid who stole her identity. It is a Young Adult fantasy novel first published in 2021, and was written and illustrated by Margaret Owen.

It is a stand-alone novel, but Vanja's story continues in the Painted Devils duology.

## Synopsis

*Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl...*

*Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love. The adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, Vanja has long made her own way in the world as the dutiful servant of Princess Gisele. Until a year ago, when her otherworldly mothers demanded payment for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back... by stealing Gisele's life.*

*With the help of an enchanted string of pearls, Vanja transformed into her former mistress and took her place, leaving the real Gisele a penniless nobody. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming the nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Until, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to turn into jewels, stone by stone.*

*With a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on her tail, Vanja has just two weeks to pull off her biggest grift yet, or she risks losing more than just her freedom — she could lose her life.*

*In this delightfully irreverent retelling of 'The Goose Girl', Margaret Owen crafts an unputdownable tale about stolen lives, thorny truths, and the wicked girls at the heart of both.*

### Proverb behind the title

"The little thief steals gold, but the great one steals kingdoms; and only one goes to the gallows." — Almanic proverb

## Characters

* **Vanja Schmidt** – the thief and pretender
* **Gisele-Berthilde Ludwila von Falbirg** –The Princess of the Sovabin Principality, margravine-to-be
* **Ragne** –Daughter of Eiswald
* **Emeric Conrad**  –junior prefect on the *Pfennigeist*s tail
* **Joniza Ardîm** –bard, Vanja's friend
* **Adalbrecht von Reigenbach** –margrave of Bóern
* **Irmgard von Hirsching** –daughter of Count von Hirsching
* **Death** –Low God, Vanja's godmother
* **Fortune** –Low God, Vanja's godmother
* **Eiswald** –Low God who cursed Vanja
* **Hubert Klemens** – Prefect
* **Yannec** –Former cook of the von Falbirgs
* **Barthl** –the castle steward
* **Poldi** –Castle Reigenbach's *kobold*

## Locations

Much of the story takes place in the fictional city of Minkja, which is the capital of Bóern and a part of the Blessed Empire of Almandy. But other visited and/or referenced locations include:

* **Sovabin Principality** (where the von Falbirg family ruled)
* **Eiswald's Forest** (where Vanja was cursed by Eiswald)
* **Eisendorf Manor** (located outside of Minkja, near Eiswald's Forest)
* **Free Imperial State of Okzberg** (one of the neighboring Free Imperial States to Bóern)
* **Court of the Low Gods** (where trials are held)
* **Rabenheim** (in the Free Imperial State where Emeric was born)

## Publication

*Little Thieves* was published by Henry Holt & Co. (US) and Hodder & Stoughton (UK) on October 19, 2021. It was released in hardcover, ebook, audiobook, and audio cd (narrated by Saskia Maarleveld and published by Macmillan Audio). Trade Paperback editions release October 4, 2022 (UK) and March 28, 2023 (US). The novel has also been translated and published in French and Spanish.

### Reception

*Little Thieves* was picked for Kids' Indie Next list for November/December 2021, and got five starred reviews.

"Part heist, part adventure, with a slow-burning romance at its heart...a story to savor."—Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review

"Packed with heists, gods, and monsters...readers will love rooting for Owen's clever antiheroine with ambition....Highly recommended and not to be missed."—School Library Journal, Starred Review

"A lush and lively adventure replete with romance, revenge, and robbery."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"A breathlessly inventive, never-a-dull-moment adventure of found family and second (or fourth or fifth) chances. If you're not careful, it'll steal your heart, too."—Booklist, Starred Review

"An endlessly entertaining fantasy tale about characters on their worst behavior learning to be their best selves." —BookPage, Starred Review

### Editions

**LITTLE THIEVES - US/UK (English) Edition**

Published by Henry Holt & Company (US), Hodder & Stoughton (UK)

Cover designed by M.S. Corley

Released October 19, 2021

US Hardcover: 978-1250191908 (512 pages) 🌙 UK Hardcover: 978-1529381696

US Paperback: 978-1250853530 (releases Mar. 28, 2023) 🌙 UK Paperback: 978-1529381733 (releases Oct. 4, 2022)

US eBook: 978-1250191915 (352 pages) 🌙 UK eBook: 978-1529381719

US Audiobook: 978-1250795434 (15 hrs) 🌙 UK Audiobook: 978-1529381726

(Audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld, published by Macmillan Young Listeners)

**LITTLE THIEVES - Illumicrate Edition (English UK)**

Published by Hodder & Stoughton

Released November 2021 as part of Illumicrate's monthly subscription box

Hardcover: 978-1529395310 (504 pages)

Exclusive cover illustration drawn by Margaret Owen. Book has red sprayed edges with black stenciling and a foil dust jacket with the US/UK cover design by M.S. Corley

**VANJA ET LE LOUP - French Edition**

Published by Pocket Jeunesse (Twitter) and translated by Cécile Chartres

Uses the US/UK cover design by M.S. Corley

Released March 17, 2022

Paperback: 978-2266320702 (608 or 592 pages)

Also available as eBook

Vanja et le Loup translates to "Vanja and the Wolf"

**MUERTE Y FORTUNA - Spanish Edition**

Published by Puck (Twitter) and translated by Carla Bataller Estruch

Cover designed by Sebastian Giacobino

Released June 21, 2022

Paperback: 978-8417854539 (544 pages)

Also available as eBook

Muerte Y Fortuna translates to "Death and Fortune"

(Due to translation challenges, Puck and Margaret Owen decided to go with this title instead.)

**Hoți Mărunți - Romanian Edition**

Published by Storia Books (Instagram) and translated by Simona Ștefana Stoica

Uses the US/UK cover design by M.S. Corley

Released (end of November 2022?)

Paperback: 978-6069072981 (600 pages)

Hoți mărunți translates to "Petty Thieves"(?)

## Promotional Content

### Advanced Reader Copies

*Little Thieves* digital ARCs were made available for request on Netgalley and Edelweiss+ on March 19, 2021, and notably used an earlier version of the script before certain changes were made, including using "Greta" for the character Marthe the maid. In the UK, paperback ARCs were limited available for review, and three copies were given away in the US by the author.

### Preorder Campaigns

A number of promotional art was made by Margaret Owen as incentives for readers to preorder *Little Thieves*.

#### Color Prints of the Seven Book Illustrations (2021)

Those in the US and Canada who preordered *Little Thieves* and sent their receipts to FierceReads before October 18, 2021 could receive all seven color prints of the novel's Seven Tales illustrations. A follow-up promotion was made a month later for those who purchased *Little Thieves* between November 26 and December 13, 2021 and submitted their receipt to her publisher. It was limited to 150 sets and only available to those in the US and Canada.

#### Emeric and Vanja Character Cards (2021)

Two full-color prints featuring Emeric and Vanja were exclusively included with every preorder of *Little Thieves* that was made with independent bookstore Third Place Books. Cards were drawn by the author Margaret Owen.

#### Comic: Rubies and Pearls (2021)

An 11-page comic preview of a scene from Chapter 3 of *Little Thieves* where Vanja (as Princess Gisele) encounters the forest god Eiswald was printed as a preorder gift for the first 200 preorders from Third Place Books. It was adapted and written/illustrated by the author Margaret Owen.

#### Handmade Linocut Print (2022)

To celebrate the release of the *Little Thieves* US paperback edition Margaret Owen created handmade 6" x 8" linocut relief prints of a scene featuring Vanja and Emeric, and distributed them to participating independent bookstores for those who preordered the book.
The prints were done with black ink, but a limited number were hand-printed in exclusive ruby red for those attending YallFest 2022 and visited Claribel A. Ortega's signing table.

### Weekly Teaser Quotes

In the nine-month lead-up to *Little Thieves'* release date, Margaret Owen made weekly images highlighting quotes from the book. These quotes focused on settings, characters, relationships, and worldbuilding. These were then posted to her Twitter and Instagram accounts. For Valentine's Day 2021 she posted three special slides featuring dialogue between Vanja and Emeric.

### Fun Extras

Margaret Owen also made a number of fun extras for readers to enjoy (and to help promote the book), including character profiles, a character alignment quiz, character-themed valentines, and drawings of the characters. These can all be found in the Little Thieves Gallery.

## Book Illustrations

To add to the fairy tale atmosphere, the *Little Thieves* novel is interspersed with seven fairy tale-like segments, which portray significant moments in Vanja's life and how they relate to her current situation. These are each combined with a full-page illustration, drawn by the author Margaret Owen. In the book these illustrations are printed in black and white, but color versions were made as promotional gifts for preordering the book.

## Image Gallery

All images and videos related to *Little Thieves* can be found in the Little Thieves Gallery.

## Author Commentary

On July 23, 2022 after participating on an author panel on BookTalk Event 2022, Margaret Owen went on Twitter to elaborate on the curses in Little Thieves, as well as the reception to Ace-spec romances in books.

### How do you develop rules for magic, curses, etc.?

"I talked a bit about Vanja's curse in Little Thieves, and how it's very deliberate that she is cursed to turn into rubies and pearls unless she can make up for what she's taken. First, an underlying theme of the book is the real nature of greed—that it comes from fear. In the villain's case, his greed is coming from a fear of powerlessness, which is understandable—but he is not satisfied with achieving autonomy and independence, he wants to become a tyrant with absolute power. In Vanja's case, her greed is also coming from a place of trauma and insecurity. (Mild spoilers for LT here.) She is afraid she will be betrayed again, like when her best friend saw her framed for stealing a ruby ring, and said nothing... ...and she is acutely aware that when she wears the pearls that give her the appearance of the "beautiful princess," the world is much, much kinder to her than when she is her normal plain self. So when Vanja is cursed for her greed, what she's \*really\* cursed to do is face both of those fears, and the only way to break it is to reach a place with that fear where she is capable of caring for something or someone \*else\* more. That said, there are moments when Vanja is also clearly aggravating the curse! And those are when she's acting badly from a place of trauma. So this is the fun part: the rubies show up when she's feeling cornered, lashing out from the ruby ring trauma. And when pearls happen, though it's a bit more oblique, it's tied to her anxiety about her appearance—first her weaponizing the illusion of Gisele, then her insecurity about being plain. The curse also grows organically; it’s very zero sum, either Vanja breaks it by the full moon or she dies. But the degree to which she slows or hastens the progression is tied to her facing her trauma."

### With both the Main Character and the Love Interest on the ace spectrum, do you feel like there is room for more ace-identity love stories in publishing?

"The short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is yes, but... we are not at a place where everyone's going to \*get\* it, not yet. And that can hurt and be invalidating at times, so my recommendation would be, try to emotionally prepare for that. It's not just going to be the readers who are thrown off because the story doesn't follow traditional romance plot beats; the one trade review I felt meh about called it "disappointing when [Vanja's] villainy is so easily softened by the interest of a handsome guy." First of all, how dare anyone call Emeric handsome 😂 but the larger point is, that's unfortunately shoehorning the story into a fairly normal romance beat. The real crack in the Vanja Glacier is \*Ragne,\* hundreds of pages before Vanja and Emeric can even stand each other. It's not uncommon for romance stories to focus on someone changing for the better because of love, and that's great! But that expectation meant a pretty significant misread of the story, rather than Vanja struggling with vulnerability vs self-preservation. I think it's important to keep in mind that thanks to heteronormative narrative prevalence, having an ace-spec cis guy and an ace-spec cis girl romance means it may not register for everyone. I've seen readers interpret it as the characters being childish/immature because they get flustered about sex, as them not having a "real" connection, a lot of stuff ace-spec folks are used to. And it's a bummer! I wish I could say "it'll be fine" but that's not where we are. But I've also had a \*lot\* of messages saying this was the first time a reader felt seen and represented in a book. And so far, that has \*vastly\* outweighed the bad. So yes, there's room for ace love stories. And the more there are, the less that'll even be a question. 💜🤍🖤"

## Trivia

* Before the book had an official title, author Margaret Owen referred to the project as Untitled Goose Girl. This is in reference both to it being a Goose Girl retelling, and the 2019 video game Untitled Goose Game.
* Vanja's alter ego "Marthe the maid" was originally named Greta. This can still be seen in the e-galley/e-ARC edition of Little Thieves, which used a version of the script before it was changed.
* In response to the question: "if your book/wip were a scented candle, what would it smell like? 👀✨," Margaret Owen responded that *Little Thieves* would smell like "orange peel, juniper, spiced wine"
* Minkja has nods to the real German city of Munich and its history, including the salt trade regulations, its origins as a monastery, and the blue-and-white theme of the royal family.

## External Links

* Little Thieves on Goodreads
* Little Thieves on StoryGraph
* Little Thieves on TV Tropes

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1453045789224103938 Margaret Owen on Twitter - October 26, 2021 - "For folks who are wondering how this will work: LITTLE THIEVES was written as a standalone, and it will still work as a standalone! If you are happy with where it ended, that's great. Think of it like the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie!"
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1453046817071845378 Margaret Owen on Twitter - October 26, 2021 - "The next two books are also going to function as... not QUITE standalones, because character growth, but each will have its own standalone central conflict. Rather than one epic stretched over three books, it's more like three seasons of a show that may or may not get renewed! 😂"
3. ↑ https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250191908 US Macmillan - Little Thieves listing. *Accessed June 17 2022*
https://twitter.com/pocket\_jeunesse/status/1504369804710342663 Pocket Jeunesse on Twitter - March 16, 2022 - Vanja et le Loup now on sale
5. ↑ https://twitter.com/pucklatam/status/1483801421615140864 Mundo Puck on Twitter - January 19, 2022 - Muerta Y Fortuna reveal
6. ↑ https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250853530/littlethieves US Macmillan listing for Little Thieves Paperback edition. *Accessed June 17 2022*
7. ↑ https://www.hodder.co.uk/titles/margaret-owen/little-thieves/9781529381733/ Hodder & Stoughton listing for Little Thieves Paperback edition. *Accessed June 17 2022*
8. ↑ https://www.illumicrate.com/past-boxes/death-and-fortune Illumicrate.com Past Boxes: Death and Fortune - November 2021
9. ↑ https://www.lisez.com/livre-grand-format/vanja-et-le-loup/9782266320702 - Lisez: Pocket Jeunesse listing for Vanja et le Loup
https://www.mundopuck.com/muerte-y-fortuna Mundo Puck listing for Muerte Y Fortuna
11. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CbYnsLfrgQZ/ - Sebastian Giacobino on Instagram - March 21, 2022 - Cover art for Muerte y Fortuna
12. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1483842770963877893 Margaret Owen on Twitter - January 19, 2022 - "Yes! The original title had some translation challenges, so we went with this instead. 🖤💛"
13. ↑ https://storiabooks.ro/carti/young-adult/hoti-marunti/ - Storia Books: Listing for Hoți mărunți
14. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CkxoTT-LXk4/ - Storia.books on Instagram - November 9, 2022 - Hoți mărunți announcement
15. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CMnmOrAL70B/ Margaret Owen on Instagram - March 19, 2021 - "You can now request LITTLE THIEVES on Netgalley and Edelweiss+! Links in bio. 🖤💎🩸✨"
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 https://www.instagram.com/p/CNAZbaXLBjJ/ Margaret Owen on Instagram - March 29, 2021 - "Fun story: the e-galley went up before the name change, but ‘Greta’ is now ‘Marthe’! And it’s not the only change for the final book... 🤐"
17. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1502708633791983617 Margaret Owen on Twitter - March 12, 2022 - "My US pub did digital galleys only for LT, but my UK pub also did limited physical ARCS"
18. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CR9TQ\_xla\_N/ Margaret Owen on Instagram - July 30, 2021 - "I am giving away three of the UK ARCs of #LittleThieves! It's limited to the US"
19. ↑ https://terriblenerd.tumblr.com/post/659240178724012032/little-thieves-preorder-campaign-the Margaret Owen on Tumblr - August 11, 2021 - Preorder receipts campaign with FierceReads to get the Seven Tales color prints
20. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CW6B0H-P-YN/ Margaret Owen on Instagram - November 30, 2021 - Holiday promotion for Little Thieves color prints
21. ↑ https://terriblenerd.tumblr.com/post/663052291939647488/this-is-pretty-much-the-last-of-the-planned-art Margaret Owen on Tumblr - September 22, 2021 - Exclusive preorder prints of Emeric and Vanja
22. ↑ https://terriblenerd.tumblr.com/post/662953585806606336/terriblenerd-terriblenerd-hey-everyone-you-may Margaret Owen on Tumblr - September 21, 2021 - Little Thieves comic Rubies and Pearls
23. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/ClB6h7XPXDU/ - Margaret Owen on Instagram - November 16, 2022 - Little Thieves Holiday Prints
24. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CkwuDAPpM3Q/ - Margaret Owen on Instagram - November 9, 2022 - Exclusive ruby red holiday linocut prints for YallFest
25. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CKCCO2wgCWK/ Margaret Owen on Instagram - January 14, 2021 - "Over on Twitter, every Monday between now and October 5th, I'll be sharing a quote from LITTLE THIEVES as a fun sneak peek! "
26. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CLSZ3dKgAez/ Margaret Owen on Instagram - February 14, 2021 - "Why hello, it’s Valentines Day, so please have some fine selections from the main relationship in my next book, LITTLE THIEVES. 💕💐✨ after all, nothing screams romance like throwing the boy off a waterfall~"
27. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550954569198292992 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - "There are two things from today's amazing event I want to talk about real quick! One is elaborating a bit on one of my answers, and the other is a question we didn't quite get to."
28. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550955423221424128 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - "An underlying theme of the book is the real nature of greed--it comes from fear."
29. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550957237400522752 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - Adalbrecht's greed comes from a fear of powerlessness
30. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550958189432020992 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - Vanja's greed comes from a place of trauma and insecurity
31. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550959483693608961 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - "and she is acutely aware that when she wears the pearls [..] the world is much kinder to her"
32. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550960445107757056 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - "When Vanja is cursed for her greed, she's really cursed to face both of those fears"
33. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550963665310044160 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - when Vanja aggravates the curse: rubies
34. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550967242417811456 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - When pearls happen, it's tied to her anxiety about her appearance
35. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550968027176325120 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - "the curse grows organically, [but] the progression is tied to her facing her trauma"
36. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550970320353259523 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - Ace rep in publishing
37. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550972073949921282 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - readers thrown off because the story doesn't follow traditional romance plot beats
38. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550974981537837061 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - The real crack in the Vanja Glacier is \*Ragne,\* hundreds of pages before Vanja and Emeric can stand each other
39. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1550976513691885568 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - Romance expectation meant a pretty significant misread of the story
40. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1551017724259680256 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - Having an ace-spec cis guy and ace-spec cis girl romance means it may not register for everyone.
41. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1551018781903753216 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - I've seen readers interpret it as the characters being immature
42. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1551020127885283328 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - July 23, 2022 - But I've also had a \*lot\* of messages saying this was the first time a reader felt seen and represented in a book
43. ↑ https://twitter.com/what\_eats\_owls/status/1503068304348393472 - Margaret Owen on Twitter - March 13, 2022 - If your book/wip had a scented candle, what would it smell like?
44. ↑ https://little-thieves.fandom.com/wiki/File:LT-authorcommentary2021'06'02.jpg - Margaret Owen on Twitter - June 2, 2021 - "I wouldn't say it's based on Munich so much as there's some nods to Munich's history, like the salt trade regulations and the origins as a monastery! (And, of course, the blue-and-white theme of the royal family.)"