I've been wanting to read this book for a while. I saw it at the bookstore and, after reading the back, instantly added the book to my to-read list. It took me a while to get to it, unfortunately. But, I finally did and what a treat! The book is written by the charming E.D. Baker of The Frog Princess fame. I always like a good take on the Brier Rose tale and this one was fantastic.
The story is as follows, Princess Annabelle (Annie) is gifted with a resistance to magic on her christening day. This gift forces Annie to grow up in a rather lonesome way as most people around are afraid to be near her for fearing of losing their magically bestowed beauty. But, when Annie's sister, Princess Gwen pricks her finger and brings the whole castle to an enchanted sleep, it's up to Annie to save the day. As she travels with a guard, Liam, to find the prince to break the spell, Annie meets a whole cast of familiar characters and magical folk.
I loved the premise of this book. The idea of a magic-resistant adventuress traveling through a land packed with magic was very entertaining. And I thoroughly enjoyed Baker's twist on old tales, such as Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, and the Princess and the Pea. I also really appreciated the inclusion of Snow White and Rose Red, which is, to my mind, a sadly neglected fairy tale.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants a fun romp through fairy tales. Baker's humor and masterful storytelling bring a fresh and charming take on a well known tale.
Is it appropriate to just hop right into a review after taking a break for almost a year? Eh, sure.
I am lucky because my library has a home delivery system meaning I can go onto their web catalog, order a gazillion books, and then just, well, live life as the books come rolling in (more like tossed on to my front porch, but you get the idea). This was a book I had ordered quite a while back and just recently received it - a classic fairy tale and very engrossing read.
The Thirteenth Princess is a retelling of the "Twelve Dancing Princesses" only in this tale, there were actually thirteen princesses. The father was so angered at never having had a son, he banishes the thirteenth princess, Zita, to the servants' quarters never wanting to hear of her again. Since the poor mother had died at childbirth, there was no one to plead Zita's case so she grows up in the busy and rough life of servanthood while her sisters live the luxurious princess life. Everything seems fine - Zita is accepted secretly by her princess sisters and her father never knows - until it comes time for the older sisters to be wed. Then they seem to have terribly bad luck beginning with an inability to speak to any suitor and subsequently to where daughters begin to get ill; growing more weak and overtired every day. Zita and her friend Breckin, the stableboy, must find a cure to what ails the sisters or the worst will happen!
I've read many, many fairy tale retellings. This one stood out because of its classic fairy tale style. The king is the perfect cold, harsh, heartbroken king, the cook the perfect jolly, rolling-pin-wielding cook, the princesses all perfect, gentle and golden-haired, etc. Although I love a good ironic (The Runaway Princess), humorous (Goose Chase), philosophical (Princess Ben) or historic (The Perilous Gard) twist, a nice, old-fashioned, maybe even a bit predictable fairy tale is enjoyable and, because of the large amount of "different take" stories, refreshing. And, despite the fact that the characters fit perfectly into their stereotypes, it took me quite a while to actually figure out who was causing all the problems. Which, when you read as many children's fantasy books as we do, is a remarkable feat.
I recommend this book for those days when you long for a classic fairy tale where the princes are handsome, the stableboys are freckled, the witches bake gingerbread and the bad guy dies in the end. Curl up with a cup of Earl Grey and some shortbread and dig into The Thirteenth Princess by Diane Zahler.
Alright, this book, in some ways, doesn't need to be reviewed; it's a mainstay in a children's literature bookshelf. However, if you're like me, then you haven't read the book for years and have vague memories of the story mixed with images from film/t.v. of varying qualities. So, to do the book justice, I reread it.
A Little Princess is about a girl, Sara Crewe, who possesses a precocious intellect, a global worldview (having been raised in India), a vivid imagination and a very doting father (who lavishes luxuries upon her). Her father, the wealthy Captain Crewe, takes her from her happy home in India to a strict and cold boarding school in London under the tutelage of the aptly-named Miss Minchin. She spends several years there, befriending unlikely students and scullery maids, and garnering the growing resentment and jealousy of some other students as well as Miss Minchin herself. On her 11th birthday they receive word that her father has died and all of his money gone in a bad investment leaving her penniless. Miss Minchin now takes the opportunity to avenge her long-standing animosity to the child by making her one of the lowest and most poorly-treated servants in the house: depriving her of food, humiliating her in public and having her room in an attic with the rats. However, despite this ill-treatment, Sara maintains her pride and spirit and (as you likely know) ultimately triumphs.
In my head, I had remembered Sara as a sweet and cheerful protagonist, almost bubbly. Upon rereading the book, though, I saw that Sara is completely different- very thoughtful and quiet- even described as solemn. What keeps her spirit up isn't effervescence but equanimity. Her insistence on behaving as though she is a princess is very striking (not the princess/diva manner I would normally associate with the word) but rather a combination noblesse oblige and tranquil pride. Her few slips into discouragement and anger only highlight her general way of being rather than contradict it. I was quite inspired by this book and struck by Frances Hodgson Burnett's non-condescending manner of writing. If not for the slight classism in the book, it could easily have been written today. If you haven't read this book in a while, you should definitely revisit it- I guarantee the story will both pleasantly surprise you and might even move you.
Like many books I review, I'll read a mention of the book from some lucky bookseller who has an advanced copy. I'll get excited about the book, rush to my neighborhood bookstore or library and then realize the book doesn't come out for several months. Sigh.
Princess Ben was one of these books so I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived at my library. And promptly settled down to read it...
Princess Ben is about a young free-spirited and slightly overindulged princess, who after her doting parents are tragically murdered, is left to the devices and education of her cruel aunt. Her aunt, Queen Sophia, becomes more frantic about the quest to cultivate Princess Ben with hopes for making her marriage material when the neighboring kingdom (the chief suspect in the parents' deaths) begins to put pressure to overtake the kingdom. After one particularly bad interaction between the Queen Sophia and Princess Ben, she is shut up in a cell behind her aunt's room. However, the room holds an unexpected escape by way of a secret passageway that leads to a mysterious magical room...
Princess Ben started off with a bit of an angsty feel and, when coupled with the tragic circumstances, I steeled myself for a typical tortured heroine fairy tale. However, by the Part Two of the book, I realized that this story was far from the typical fairy tale! For start, the heroine isn't a delicate golden-haired beauty or even a feisty brunette beauty. She's a sulky, strong-willed girl with a voracious appetite. Her maturing and growth throughout the book is only one of many; it amazed me that characters that I made immediate judgments about (oh, she's the villain, he's the love interest) would change through the story as the narrator, the irrepressible Princess Ben, changed. Catherine Gilbert Murdock's clever interweaving of fairy tale references only add to the cleverness of the story rather than serve as distraction.
This story was deeper than the average "fairytale retelling" genre and delivered humor, adventure, and dare I say it, a valuable moral.
I was so excited when I first heard about the release of The Dragonfly Pool; I completely adore Eva Ibbotson and the story sounded perfect.
And, of course, it was.
The Dragonfly Pool begins in pre-WWII London where feisty Tally has to leave her beloved doctor father, and the danger of the city, for a progressive boarding school in southern England. Despite missing home, she soon has friends and mentors that help her feel at home and she is renewed with a sense of purpose. After seeing a special on Bergania's king bravely defying Hitler, Tally is inspired to visit and when she hears of an international dance festival taking place there, she rallies her classmates to participate. Of course, things don't go as planned: there is an assassination, a prince on the lam, two hideous henchman, a rare Outer Mongolian pedestal dog, among many other things.
I think that if I could have written a novel as a child, I would have wanted to write just like Ms. Ibbotson. She has marvelous lead characters- definitely not cookie-cutter heros and heroines- some are spirited, some are shy but all are completely three-dimensional. Her villains are delightfully abhorrent and usually quite repulsive (one villain kept a picture of Hitler in a locket, another collected rare glass eyeballs). Her plots are usually outlandish and difficult to summarize (as I proved by my above paragraph) but, when reading, are easy to follow. Her books move at a perfect pace and always have just the ending one wants. The Dragonfly Pool was classic Ibbotson but classic Ibbotson with a cherry on top. It was one of those read-straight-through-the-night-until-I-finish books. Loved it.
What authors write the way you, as a child, wanted books to be written?
I have been quite swamped with work and other distractions. I promise to begin again in April with fresh reviews. Thank you for reading!
This is the book that I think of when I think of my childhood favorites helping to shape my moral code. Thanks for writing about it!
I was glad I revisited it! Some of those old classics tend to be taken for granted. Thank you for reading.