Exclusive Excerpt + Q&A: Delve Into the World of Hafsah Faizal’s A Tempest of Tea
Books Features Hafsah Faizal
It’s been three years since Hafsah Faizal’s Sands of Arawiya series concluded with We Free the Stars and readers everywhere have been counting the moments until the arrival of her next book. And while follow-up A Tempest of Tea has been in the works for some time, the story certainly sounds as though it will have been more than worth the wait!
A heist drama that’s one part fantasy adventure and one found family drama, A Tempest of Tea follows the story of Arthie, an orphaned youth who runs a popular tearoom—that also happens to double an illegal “blood house” for vampires at night. But when she learns that Spendthrift is about to be shut down for good, she’ll cut a dangerous deal to save it, if she and her diverse crew can infiltrate vampire society, track down a stolen ledger, and possibly bring down the monarchy in the process.
Though it’s technically set in the same world as Faizal’s We Hunt the Flame, the vibe of A Tempest of Tea is very different. A story about vampires and political intrigue that wrestles with themes of colonization and mixes in elements of Arthurian legend, it’s a fast-paced and fully original adventure,
Here’s how the publisher describes the story.
On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—and she can’t do the job alone.
Calling on some of the city’s most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the dark and glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it.
A Tempest of Tea will hit shelves on February 20. But we got the chance to chat with Faizal herself about what to expect from her new novel, plus snagged an exclusive sneak peek of the book itself!
Paste Magazine: Tell us about A Tempest of Tea! What can readers expect from this story and where did the inspiration for it come from?
Hafsah Faizal: A Tempest of Tea is the start of my new duology that I like to describe as Peaky Blinders meets a dash of King Arthur with vampires and a heist! It began as a love letter to all things dapper before I was sucked into Arthie’s world.
Paste: Describe your main character Arthie Casimir for us and tell us a little bit about her journey.
Faizal: Arthie Casimir is the owner of Spindrift, a tearoom that caters to the rich by day and doubles as a bloodhouse at night for the local vampires.
She is tiny with a temper, whip-smart, and most importantly, a refugee from the tiny island of Ceylan (known to us as Sri Lanka), who fled when colonizers came ashore. It changed the course of her life forever, and she’s been getting back at them ever since.
Paste: While this is technically set in the same world as We Hunt the Flame, how do you feel this book compares to your Sands of Arawiya series?
Faizal: Honestly, I thought it was a lot different than We Hunt the Flame. The writing in my debut is lush and poetic, more fitting for a world inspired by ancient Arabia. With A Tempest of Tea and its cutthroat streets, I knew the writing needed to be sharper and choppier. Once I was done, however, my editor said it’s still very distinctly me and I was a little surprised.
Story-wise, with Arawiya, we got to see a fully POC cast living in their homeland, but with Tempest and Ettenia, we’re dealing with immigrants at different levels—some who are white-passing, others whose parents immigrated long before, and then we have Arthie, a refugee. We also have another found family of five from various walks of life, and a bit more complex of a plot!
Paste: I’m always obsessed with a good heist story — especially one that involves vampires! — was writing this kind of plot different or particularly exciting for you after your first series?
Faizal: Yes! My debut was very much a “let’s introduce these characters and see where we go” kind of book, which isn’t exactly possible with a heist!
As someone who has a hard time outlining, it definitely had its challenges, but it was something I was headstrong and enthusiastic about, so I did have fun! I loved the setting and being able to explore the (sometimes heavier) themes that came with it, from colonialism and racism, to growing up as a marginalized person in a very white country, so it was an altogether satisfying experience when everything came together in the end.
Paste: I know you (probably) love all your children equally, but which character do you think readers will like/respond to most?
Faizal: Oh, this is a tough one, because I think each of the characters in A Tempest of Tea have very different struggles, so I’m interested to see who people relate to the most! I definitely see people liking Arthie though, as she is strong-willed and independent. Who doesn’t love a girlboss?
Paste: What particular element of this book excited you the most while you were writing it? Do you have a particular moment from this book that you are most excited for readers to experience?
Most likely the ending, ha! I don’t usually know how my books will end, but with this one, I knew from the moment I started writing it that I wanted a very chaotic, explosive ending full of twists, and it’s exactly what readers will receive!
And now you’ll have the chance to check out some of A Tempest of Tea for yourselves!
“They’re almost here!” the lookout shouted over the ruckus of sliding tables and clinking teacups. Jin tensed.
“Dulce periculum, brother,” Arthie reminded him, holding up her left arm.
He knocked the back of his right hand against the back of hers. Their knuckles rapped. “We were made for trouble, you and me.”
Figures silhouetted through the frosted glass of Spindrift’s doors as the last settee folded into the wall and the rest of the crew disappeared. Jin yanked up the flip-top table and stepped behind it. Arthie was in front of him.
The doors flew open without a knock, and five uniformed guards stepped inside. The outline of a head with wicked horns was emblazoned on their breasts in silver thread. The mark of the Ram, Ettenia’s latest masked monarch.
A server scampered forward. “Hello, sirs. Can I interest you in a cup of White Roaring’s best tea? Royal Ettenian’s my favorite.”
The guards looked perplexed. No self-respecting tearoom would be open this late, but Arthie liked to swamp them, get the men a little dazed and distracted, taunt them with what they already knew— especially when the alternative was awkward silence.
“Try the Ceylani Supreme. Best tea in the country, really,” another crew member called, looking up from the sink. “Never mind the capital.”
“Always go with the Crimson Gem myself,” said a third, leaning close. “Nothing beats a good spiced pekoe.”
If Arthie was a tea, that was what she would be. It was brewed with care and steeped with just the right amount of spices that brought out earthy, smoky undertones as the leaves unfolded. It demanded perfection, conferred the best, and punished anything that wasn’t with downright bitterness.
“Gentlemen.” She inclined her head on cue. Jin could only see the back of Arthie’s mauve head, but he knew her smile was the edge of a razor. “Noise complaint? I understand the clinking of teacups can be a little . . . aggressive at two in the morning. Always a lot to clean and prepare for our morning guests.”
The one in charge of the lot puffed out his chest and stomped closer. His livery was a light gray and stood in contrast to the solid black of the others. If only he knew that every last bit of proof the clods needed was underneath the floorboards at his feet. “You think you’re a king, Casimir. Defying the law.”
“Did you hear that, Jin? I’m King Arthie now.” She turned back to the guards. “Laws enacted by men like you scrawling words they believe they might understand? Laws vilifying anyone who isn’t as peaky as you?” She leaned back, slinging a hand across the bar top. He really did look peaky in the light: pale and an almost sickly white. “No, sergeant. Can’t defy a law that doesn’t include me.”
She was right. Ettenian laws were created for the white man, usually at the expense of anyone who didn’t share their pallor. This was how someone like Matteo Andoni could live a markedly different life than someone like Arthie.
The sergeant’s gaze lit up eagerly. “Touchy subject, is it? Having trouble keeping up with rent, I heard. That’s the problem when folk like you come to a place where we have rules. I hear it’s only a matter of time before they evict you and your lot.”
Jin’s brow furrowed. They made every payment for the building— on time.
“Time to get your ears cleaned then,” Arthie said, betraying nothing.
“Then why do you look like you want to kill me?” the sergeant asked with a smirk.
“Oh, that’s just my face,” Arthie replied. “One gets a taste for blood when they have to lick their own wounds, you see.”
The sergeant stared for a minute, very likely trying to find something to say, before he jerked his head at the others. “Start looking.”
Jin flinched as a table and chair struck the far wall, followed by several stools. The men treated the tearoom like a pen to play in, tearing up the floors near the private rooms that were now secluded booths, one of them ducking his head and coming up empty.
“I didn’t say ruin the place,” the sergeant said tiredly. “If you’re going to pull up the floors, find wherever it’s hollow.”
“How considerate,” Jin commented, and lowered his voice to ask Arthie, “What’s he on about us being behind on payments?”
Arthie said nothing. Something shattered.
Jin sighed and lifted his chin to the men ransacking the place. “Need some help over there?”
With a sneer, one of them crouched by the front doors and rapped his knuckles on the wood. Even here behind the counter, Jin could hear that damning echo.
The sergeant looked to Arthie.
Arthie looked back. “Have at it. I won’t stop you.”
Jin wanted to stop him. He wanted his life unscathed. He wanted Spindrift unscathed, and they were the same thing. The sergeant wedged his knife beneath the worn floorboards.
“Blow switch two,” Arthie murmured to Jin.
Matteo Andoni had clearly shaken her if she thought that would tip anything in their favor. Blowing a bulb was the oldest trick in the book. The silliest. The most amateur.
“Jin,” she bit out.
One of these days she was going to get him killed, and he’d be too dead to whine about it.
He pressed down on the faulty power switch he had long ago put together under the counter, cursing a stray spark. Above them, one of the many suspended bulbs popped and hissed. The men looked up as the light bloomed brighter and made an alarming buzzing noise before it shattered, raining glass down on them. The length of wire swayed, bereft, and the sergeant shook the shards off and returned to work.
Some bloody good that did. The light had dimmed the space, nothing else.
“Patience, Jin,” Arthie said when he glanced at her with exasperation. To the men, she said casually, “Apologies. You know how it is on this side of White Roaring. Power can be quite fickle around here.”
This was the side of White Roaring that society had discarded, where the sound of a gunshot was as commonplace as a horse’s whinny. Spindrift sat on the edge of it, half outcast, half gentry, rising from the rubble of its surroundings through sheer force of will. With every new secret a patron let slip, Arthie tucked some official or another into her arsenal, turning the slums into a kingdom of their own with Spindrift as their crown.
And the Ram, as the increasing number of raids made clear, was painfully aware of it.
Yet, with the guards seconds away from enough proof to hang them all, Arthie had never looked more at ease.
The sergeant yanked the floorboard out of place. There was a long pause and a murmur before he and the others rose, and Jin saw that the hollow beneath the floorboard was . . . hollow. Not a syringe or blood vial in sight, though he had watched Arthie putting both down that very hole mere moments ago.
“Seems you lost a good night’s sleep over nothing,” Jin goaded, setting his chin in his hands.
“Told you,” one of the Horned Guards said, yawning loudly.
The sergeant shot him a dirty look and fixed the same on Arthie. “You think you’re—”
Arthie cut him short by swinging open the door. “Whatever you’re about to say, sergeant, I don’t think it, I know it.”
Power was indeed fickle, and in the ever-changing landscape of White Roaring, the Casimirs were untouchable.
A Tempest of Tea is available on February 20, but you can pre-order it right now.
Lacy Baugher Milas is the Books Editor at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter @LacyMB