Book Spotlight: The Amber Locket

You all know I love a good fairy-tale retelling. But what about those fairy tales that aren't our favorites? What about the ones we didn't love when we were growing up? Do you think they deserve to be retold too? Well, guest author Amy Walsh is here today to tell us about her newest fairy-tale retelling, and how her opinion of it changed through the years.

As a child, I had very strong opinions about Goldilocks...
​She was rude. She was careless. She absolutely deserved to be chased out of that house by three very angry bears. End of discussion.
As an adult, I find myself asking inconvenient questions. Like why a girl was wandering alone in the woods. Or why a house full of warm food, empty chairs, and silence felt safer than wherever she came from. Or why the story never bothered to ask what she was searching for.
Fairy tales have a funny way of doing that. They wait patiently until we’re grown enough to reread them—and then they reveal they were never as simple as we thought.

When “Just Right” Isn’t About Porridge
Goldilocks is often framed as a cautionary tale: don’t touch what isn’t yours, don’t go where you don’t belong, and definitely don’t nap in a stranger’s bed.
All great advice.
But adulthood makes us ponder. We’ve lived long enough to know that people don’t usually end up in the wrong places on purpose. Sometimes they’re trying to do the right thing and misjudge the boundaries. Sometimes they mean to return something and accidentally step too far inside. Sometimes one small decision snowballs into a situation they never intended to be part of.
That’s what drew me to retell Goldilocks’ story.
Enter Mari Wilson (Who Meant Well, Truly)
In my novella The Amber Locket, Mari Wilson isn’t a careless trespasser. She’s a woman with good intentions and unfortunate timing.
She simply expects to return a lost locket.
That’s it. No porridge sampling planned. No furniture testing. No naps scheduled.
Unfortunately, the locket leads her into the private family wing of a whimsical lodge, where she promptly topples a little boy’s elaborate plastic brick creation (which was clearly very important), and—thanks to exhaustion and a mesmerizing model of our solar system moving around the ceiling—falls asleep in his empty bed.
Which is how she earns the fury of a very protective father.
If Goldilocks taught us anything, it’s that falling asleep in someone else’s bed is rarely the right choice.
Motivation Matters More Than We Think
One of the gifts of modern fairy-tale retellings is that they allow us to slow the story down and ask why.
Why did she go there?
Why didn’t she leave sooner?
Why did she stay?
Mari doesn’t wander into the lodge because she’s reckless. She wanders in because she’s trying to return something precious to its rightful owner. That owner was supposed to be expecting her, yet isn’t there.  Her mistake isn’t curiosity—it’s assuming the situation will be simple.
Scripture gently reminds us, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). Mari has a plan. God, however, has a story unfolding.
As adults, we recognize that tension immediately. We’ve all had moments where our good intentions led us somewhere complicated.
Orson Barrett and the Problem of Protection
Every Goldilocks retelling needs a Bear.
Orson Barrett is mine.
He is not a villain. He is a father who has lost much and learned to guard what remains. When Mari disrupts his carefully ordered world—especially his son’s sense of safety—his reaction is swift and sharp.
And honestly? Understandable.
Fairy tales grow up when we realize that protectiveness and pain often wear the same face. Most anger has a scared heart behind it. Control usually means someone’s been hurt before. And hospitality is a lot harder once you’ve learned the hard way not to trust.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). Orson has guarded his heart well—perhaps too well.
The Real Trespass: Assumptions
One thing I love about retellings is that they shift the idea of trespass.
In Goldilocks, the trespass is physical: a door crossed, a bed taken.
In adulthood, trespass often looks more subtle. We assume motives. We judge too quickly. We decide who someone is before we know their story.
Mari and Orson both do this.
And slowly, sometimes reluctantly, they learn better.
“Just Right” as Grace, Not Perfection
Goldilocks’ famous phrase has always amused me. “Just right” sounds so tidy. Life, however, is not.
In my retelling, “just right” doesn’t mean flawless timing or perfect behavior. It means growth. Forgiveness. Second chances. It means discovering that love is often found not when everything goes smoothly, but when people choose grace after things go wrong.
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
That verse could solve an impressive number of fairy-tale conflicts.
Why We Keep Retelling These Stories
​We retell fairy tales because they leave room for redemption.
They remind us that people are more than their worst moment. That good intentions can still lead to trouble. And that sometimes love grows not from “just right” circumstances, but from learning how to make space for one another afterward.
So yes—Mari Wilson knocks over a child’s beloved creation. She crosses a boundary. She falls asleep in the wrong bed.
But she’s also searching for truth, returning what was lost, and uncovering a heritage that refuses to stay buried.
Which to me feels very Goldilocks.
And very human.

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The Amber Locket is featured in With You: A Collection of Contemporary Fairy Tale Retellings published by Beyond the Bookery

​Mari Wilson simply expected to return a lost locket—not wander into the private family wing of a whimsical lodge, topple a little boy’s plastic brick creation, and accidentally fall asleep in his empty bed, earning the fury of a very protective father. Once she discovers the locket’s owner, Mari and the gradually-thawing Orson Barrett must follow a trail of secrets and second chances to uncover a heritage that refuses to stay buried.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      A Goldilocks retelling of finding a love that’s just right.
Releases January 27

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Amy Walsh is a 5th-grade teacher who loves bringing stories to life, whether she’s in the classroom, around a campfire, or at her keyboard. She’s a fan of kayaking, church singalongs, and family ping pong tournaments. Fueled by faith and a deep love of words, Amy writes to inspire joy and hope.

Find Amy online here: https://www.facebook.com/walshmountainpublishing/
www.walshmountainpublishing.com
https://www.instagram.com/amylynn_walsh/

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