Old Wine, New Bottles

Like many longtime readers, I remember devouring fairy tales as a kid. Now that I've gotten older, I've discovered the literary phenomenon of the retold fairy tale. This is where an author takes a familiar tale and spins it out into a full-length novel. Sometimes they uphold the characters and events, sometimes they upend them. But it's always an interesting read.

Margo Lanagan's Tender Morsels is a harrowing version of "Snow White and Rose Red." After a childhood filled with sexual abuse, Liga escapes to a safe dream world with her two daughters, Urdda and Branza. But when they're almost grown, the walls between the world she lives in now and the world she left behind are breached, and her daughters must learn to live with pain as well as joy.

Ice by Sarah Beth Durst is based on "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." It's sort of a Beauty and the Beast tale, except the castle is made of ice and the beast is a giant polar bear. In Durst's version, eighteen-year-old Cassie is kidnapped from her father's Arctic research station by a giant polar bear, who holds out the promise of helping her find her long-missing mother.

The Night Circus

Do you believe in magic? You will after you read this book. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a fairy tale for adults. The circus opens on October 13, 1886. The black and white tents of Le Cirque des Reves appear without advertisement. There is only a simple sign that says "Opens at Nightfall, Closes at Dawn." Reality is suspended. Illusion becomes real. One tent holds a garden made entirely of ice. In another tent, you can relive a happy childhood event. There are illusionists, white tigers, living statues, and performing cats.  As quickly as it comes, the circus disappears leaving visitors with a longing for its return. The time and place of its next appearance is unknown.

The circus, however, is more than entertainment. As the circus evolves, it becomes more and more

Comfort

At a time like this, I just need to escape into a good story. Luckily, Neil Gaiman has wonderful stories to tell, such as his fairy tale for adults, Stardust. Everything you want in a fairy tale - a young man on a quest, magic, hidden love, evil witches, enchantment, humor - a perfect place to hide for a few days. I listened to the audiobook (anything that Neil Gaiman narrates is terrific - his voice is spot on) and at the end there was an interview with the author. That's when I found out there was a novel, a graphic novel and a movie! And to make this an absolutely perfect book for right now, it was partly based on a shooting star that he saw while out in the Tucson desert. For this librarian, I take some comfort in that.

Check it out at the PCPL library.

~ More Books