Characters in Chain of Gold frequently reference stories and books; most commonly the literary staples a well-read person in Edwardian London would know, such as Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and Oscar Wilde. Whether fairy tales or romances or literary novels, stories are integral to the Shadowhunter reality. For Cordelia, whose mother is Persian, these stories include the legend of Layla and Majnun and the poems of 12th-century writer Nizami Ganjavi. Stories allow Shadowhunters to experience and even create reality. In the positive sense, creating a new reality means challenging stereotypes and presumptions, such as when Lucie reinvents Snow White in her own image, or when Cordelia uses the Persian tale of Dawud to assert her own identity. However, the more ambiguous aspect of storytelling lies in stories’ deviation from the emotional truth. The distinction between emotional and factual truth is important, as Cordelia asserts that fiction can be true in “soul” if not in fact; such stories can be realer than real.

Even fantastical stories are authentic if they are honest. Conversely, stories that are absolutely factual can be dishonest if their depiction is one-sided. On one level, Lucie, the young writer, is Clare’s gentle sendup of the persona of a writer.