My choice this week is a collection of retellings: The Ladies of Grace Adieu, by Susanna Clarke, whose debut novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, has been sitting on my bookshelf for absolutely years without me reading it!
This book is beautiful, and I'm talking about the cover, the writing, and the illustration. For me, fairytales in any form are always made all the more magical by good illustration. This collection is based around English folklore, and, having read a lot of Neil Gaiman, there were many references in it which I understood, as there is a theme of English legends and folklore running through a lot of his work. This made me feel extremely smug!
My favourite story of the collection is a tie, between 'On Lickerish Hill', a retelling of the well-known Rumplestiltskin story, and Mrs Mabb, about a man who leaves his fiancee for Mrs Mabb, otherwise known as Queen Mabb, the 'miniature creature who drives her chariot into the noses and brains of sleeping people to compel them to experience dreams of wish fulfillment' (ahhh Wikipedia).
This collection was an absolute joy to read, and I especially loved Clarke's strong and intelligent female protagonists!
Rating : *****
Great choice! I love this collection myself. It really is a treat to read, isn't it? I see it as a little gem for lovers of fairy-tales and similar magical stories.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post!
I read this just after Christmas and adored it. Have you read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell? If you enjoyed this collection of hers, you would love the full novel set in the same world.
ReplyDeleteI've not read it yet,but I definitely will be now,as i've owned it for ages!i think it was because of your review I read it actually, I couldn't remember where i'd read about it when I was writing the post,so thanks for that!:-)
ReplyDeleteI loved this collection too! I think Mrs. Mabb was one of my favorites too.
ReplyDeleteI love fairytale remakes! This is a great meme, loved the post!
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