Tag: fairy tales

Release Date Announced for Kate Forsyth’s Beauty in Thorns

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On the 3rd of July this year, Kate Forsyth’s latest historical novel, Beauty in Thorns will be released by Penguin Random House, and is being hailed as her best work yet. Beauty in Thorns is Kate’s fortieth novel, and centres on the Pre-Raphaelites, and the series of paintings that Edward Burne-Jones completed in 1890 that had been inspired by the fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty. Other inspirations for the story come from a Dante Gabriel Rosetti print that Kate found during her days as a student, and encouraging a passion for the Pre-Raphaelites, which is evident in Kate’s writing.

The influence of the Pre-Raphaelites is evidence in their style of art and fashion, the work of William Morris and Gabriel Rossetti and is still evident, celebrated and available today, inspiring artists and designers. The stories Kate writes are a tribute to this, and Beauty in Thorns will be no exception upon its release in a few months.

The lifestyle of the Pre-Raphaelites was unconventional for the Victorian England they lived in. Their lifestyle of drug taking, partying and husband swapping was a stark contrast to the mores and expectations of the time period, and the women – Lizzie Siddal, Jane Morris, Georgie MacDonald and Margaret Burne-Jones – eschewed Victorian expectations and did away with corsets, and embracing a bohemian lifestyle – which is what draws people to them now and what made them fascination in the Victorian period.

Kate_ForsythKate’s story follows the four women listed above, and their association with William Morris and Rosetti, and how their experiences of being mothers, and losing children, being models and inspirations and having their own desires, formed who they were, and who they would become in history. Lizzie, Jane, Georgie and Margaret are the voices that tell the story, allowing love, desire, tragedy and betrayal, and the people behind the wives and the muses of the Pre-Raphaelite’s to be given a voice.

Kate Forsyth is an internationally recognised expert in the realm of fairy tales and fairy tale retellings, and it was a childhood illness that led to her fascination with fairy tales, and in particular, Sleeping Beauty and the themes of innocence and fear of death. Most of her books for adults and children incorporate either fairy tale elements or retell a specific fairy tale, such as The Singing, Springing Lark in The Beast’s Garden, which is my favourite. I enjoy Kate’s writing because she finds that nice balance with all her elements and the research makes the settings genuine, and moving. There are many books of hers that I enjoy, and each for different reasons.

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dragonclawI first came to Kate Forsyth’s writing through her first book, Dragonclaw, which celebrates its twentieth birthday this year. I still have my original set with the original covers on my shelves, and have plans to revisit the series. Dragonclaw is the first book in the six book Witches of Eileanan series, a tale of dark mysteries and dire mixed with dangerous quests, it follows Isabeau the Foundling, and her quest across Eileanan to save the children of Fairgean and stop the rise of the Ensorcellor, and also incorporates fairy tale themes.

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Tales from the Kingdoms by Sarah Pinsborough

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I received a copy from the publisher for review

Title: Tales from the Kingdoms

Author: Sarah Pinborough

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Hachette/Gollancz

Published: 14/6/2016

RRP: $29.99

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 464

Synopsis: Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty: stories you love, and that we think we all know…but why would a prince fall in love with a woman in a coffin? Why would a queen poison her stepdaughter? And what is a fairy Godmother’s real motivation?

 

Turn the page, and discover these classic fairy stories, told the way they always should have been…

 

 

~*~

 

Tales of the Kingdom is an exquisite collection of three novellas – Poison, Charm and Beauty – retelling the stories of Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. These tales incorporate elements of more than just these three fairy tales, seamlessly twisting the characters and their stories so that they work together to create a narrative that flows well throughout.

There were a few surprises whilst reading, though I had an inkling of what might happen part way through the second story, I enjoyed reading through to the end to see if the stories were to become intertwined with each other. Was the prince the same prince? Is this why he was not named? The nice inclusion and hints towards other well-known characters and their tales added to the overall story.

Most fairy tales explore the nasty side of evil characters and the nice side of good characters. Pinborough does the opposite; she explores the black, white and grey of all characters, showing that they are not all good, nor are the y all evil – they have reasons, motivations and most of all, she shows most of them as flawed humans, unless they are witches who always seem to have ulterior motives, or whose personalities are such stark contrasts, that these extremes are who they are. This seems to be a new trend in fairy tale retellings, as this is something Once Upon A Time does as well, but in a different way to this book.

Tales of the Kingdom is also a little bit sexy – the sex scenes are not overdone, nor are they the main focus of the story. They are the result of the spells woven by characters throughout and often are the turning point in the tales for the characters, in particular, for who the characters truly are, and perhaps showing the side of them that the happily ever after endings do not show. The messy implications of the actions of true love’s kiss and what it does to the parties involved. The stories perhaps question why true love’s kiss was so important in fairy tales, rather than just getting to know somebody for who they are, but also explores how some people see others and would prefer them to be.

I enjoyed reading this, especially as I have read and seen many fairy tale retellings, including Disney, and each retelling reveals something different about the tales.

The Rebirth of Rapunzel by Kate Forsyth

Fairy tales have a long and varied history, from their beginnings in an oral format, to fairy tale collectors such as The Brothers Grimm, and creators such as Hans Christian Andersen, Oscar Wilde and Charlotte-Rose de la Force, author of Persinette. Various authors and collectors have different versions of these tales stemming from different traditions that journeyed across Europe and the world. Today, the best-known fairy tales are from Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Charles Perrault and Hans Christian Andersen. Little is known about female authors such as Charlotte-Rose and their contributions to the fairy tale tradition.
In The Rebirth of Rapunzel: A Mythic Biography of the Maiden in the Tower, and the novel Bitter Greens, Kate Forsyth brings Charlotte-Rose to life and explores how her tale of Persinette evolved into the story of Rapunzel that we know today, and the various incarnations and retellings of the tale, culminating in Disney’s Tangled.
Unlike the fairy tales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, de la Force’s fairy tale is a literary fairy tale. The distinction being, that even though it was inspired by other sources, de la Force created it herself.
The Rebirth of Rapunzel is a well-written, intelligent collection of non-fiction writing exploring the evolution of the tale of Rapunzel. It presents the history of the tale to the reader in an effective manner, and will be of great interest to anybody who has studied or is studying fairy tales and their history. Kate’s distinctive writing style shines through, making reading this offering as enjoyable as her novels, and is an engaging read for anyone interested in the subject matter.
The book includes a doctorate on the Rapunzel fairy tale, and at the end, other pieces of Kate’s writing on Rapunzel and fairy tales, which, when read with Bitter Greens in mind, gives a greater understanding to the fairy tale of Rapunzel, in an accessible way for many readers.