Lots of Fairy Tale Inspired Novels on Sale Today Only

There are several fairy tale related books on sale as Kindle Daily Deals which are probably price matched with other sellers today, too. There haven't been many sales in the last several months, but today makes up for it with a lot of recent releases for at least half off.

 

  Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim which is a Six Swans retelling

 

 

  A Wolf for a Spell by Karah Sutton has Baba Yaga in it

 

Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente which has Bluebeard as inspiration

 

Malice: A Novel by Heather Walter is inspired by Sleeping Beauty

   

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber has nods to Tricksters (Jacks) tropes

There's also Holly Black's How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories and well, just check out the entire list at Kindle Daily Deals.
 

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Bluebeard's Daughter by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Bluebeard's Daughter by Marion Zimmer Bradley is not a new book, but one I just recently discovered was available in ebook format (although it has been available for a while). Since Bluebeard always fascinates me, I wanted to share it with those who also find the tale fascinating.

Book description:

Sybil Ellis was a seventeen-year-old orphan with very few options: If she didn't want to be a governess or a companion--and she didn't, she had to marry. So she married Dr. Philip Maynard, who was old enough to be her grandfather and treated her like a daughter. In fact, he treated her like Judith, the daughter he had lost, even to calling her by that name and having all of his new servants do likewise. But eventually Sybil learned that there had been other "daughters" before her, and she realized that this was not just a harmless eccentricity.

New Song: Mrs. Bluebeard by They Might Be Giants

So the band, They Might Be Giants, just released their 20th studio album, I Like Fun. I am a fan of the band--especially their kids' song the last several years--with some of their songs remaining persistent earworms for me and the kids in my life. This one is definitely not a kids album since it deals with death and destruction although the tunes don't make you think that. You have to listen to the words to realize there is darkness here.

But why I am posting this here? Well, one of the new songs is surprisingly enough, "Mrs. Bluebeard." And yes, it is inspired by the fairy tale. The song is told from the perspective of one of the dead wives and is poignant and peppy. But that's the They Might Be Giants signature kind of musical quirkiness. There are lines that tell us how she got into this dead predicament. A fun, short take on a not so familiar story.

The song is so new that it's not available as a video or elsewhere to embed as a preview but you can stream the song on music services, like Amazon Prime Music, iTunes, etc.

My favorite line--and hubby John agreed it was the best of many--is:

Most people wouldn't hang their corpses up for review.

No, no they wouldn't but that is part of Bluebeard's signature quirkiness, too.

Bargain Ebook: Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut for $1.99

Bluebeard: The Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916-1988) by Kurt Vonnegut is on sale for $1.99. It has been on sale before but usually lists in the $7-8 range.

Book description:

Bluebeard, published in 1987, is Vonnegut's meditation on art, artists, surrealism, and disaster. Meet Rabo Karabekian, a moderately successful surrealist painter, who we meet late in life and see struggling (like all of Vonnegut's key characters), with the dregs of unresolved pain and the consequences of brutality. Loosely based on the legend of Bluebeard (best realized in Bela Bartok's one-act opera), the novel follows Karabekian through the last events in his life that is heavy with women, painting, artistic ambition, artistic fraudulence, and as of yet unknown consequence.

Vonnegut's intention here is not so much satirical (although the contemporary art scene would be easy enough to deconstruct), nor is it documentary (although Karabekian does carry elements of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko). Instead, Vonnegut is using art for the same purpose he used science fiction cliches in Slaughterhouse-Five; as a filter through which he can illuminate the savagery, cruelty, and the essentially comic misdirection of human existence.

Readers will recognize familiar Vonnegut character types and archetypes as they drift in and out through the background; meanwhile, Karabekian, betrayed and betrayer, sinks through a bottomless haze of recollection. Like most of Vonnegut's late works, this is both science fiction and cruel contemporary realism at once, using science fiction as metaphor for human damage as well as failure to perceive. Readers will find that Vonnegut's protagonists can never really clarify for us whether they are ultimately unwitting victims or simple barbarians, leaving it up to the reader to determine in which genre this book really fits, if any at all.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) is one of the most beloved American writers of the twentieth century. Vonnegut's audience increased steadily since his first five pieces in the 1950s and grew from there. His 1968 novel Slaughterhouse-Five has become a canonic war novel with Joseph Heller's Catch-22 to form the truest and darkest of what came from World War II.

Vonnegut began his career as a science fiction writer, and his early novels--Player Piano and The Sirens of Titan--were categorized as such even as they appealed to an audience far beyond the reach of the category. In the 1960s, Vonnegut became closely associated with the Baby Boomer generation, a writer on that side, so to speak.

Now that Vonnegut's work has been studied as a large body of work, it has been more deeply understood and unified. There is a consistency to his satirical insight, humor and anger which makes his work so synergistic. It seems clear that the more of Vonnegut's work you read, the more it resonates and the more you wish to read. Scholars believe that Vonnegut's reputation (like Mark Twain's) will grow steadily through the decades as his work continues to increase in relevance and new connections are formed, new insights made.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Author Kurt Vonnegut is considered by most to be one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. His books Slaughterhouse-Five (named after Vonnegut's World War II POW experience) and Cat's Cradle are considered among his top works. RosettaBooks offers here a complete range of Vonnegut's work, including his first novel (Player Piano, 1952) for readers familiar with Vonnegut's work as well as newcomers.

Celebrate National Read a Book Day--Read a Fairy Tale!

Today is National Read a Book Day! So what book do you want to read today? Over the holiday weekend, I craved some comfort reading with all of the ongoing personal stress right now and found myself returning to Jane Eyre for the umpity-umpth time. The book has changed for me over the decades as I have changed, but I don't grow weary of it as I have with many other books that will remain nameless here today. Bonus that Jane Eyre counts as fairy tale reading for me with the overt Bluebeard references, too.

Jane Eyre and Jane Austen, comfort reads forever, I think. And on a related side note, if you haven't seen Love and Friendship yet, well, it's now available on DVD as well as streaming. Excellent movie!

So what fairy tale or folklore related title do you hope to read today? My stack is to the virtual rafters with little time allotted for fun reading today, so I think I may choose to read the book I've been hording for over a month, Beauty and the Beast by by Mahlon F. Craft (Author) and Kinuko Y. Craft (Illustrator). I've already seen most of the illustrations from the Beauty and the Beast 2017 Fairy Tale Wall Calendar, but I haven't read the book and explored all of the illustrations yet.

From National Day Calendar site:

NATIONAL READ A BOOK DAY

National Read A Book Day is observed annually on September 6th. On August 9th, we all celebrated National Book Lovers Day. While these bookish days may seem similar, National Read a Book Day invites us ALL to grab a book we might enjoy and spend the day reading.

Don’t keep it to yourself. Share the experience! Read aloud either to children or to grandparents. Read to your pets or to your stuffed animals and plants.

Reading improves memory and concentration as well as reduces stress. Older adults who spend time reading show a slower cognitive decline and tend to participate in more mentally stimulating activities over their lifetime. Books are an inexpensive entertainment, education and time machine, too!

HOW TO OBSERVE

Sit back, relax and read a book. Use #ReadABookDay to post on social media.

Kindle Daily Deal: The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher for $1.99

The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher is one of the Kindle Daily Deals on sale for $1.99 TODAY ONLY. This is a Bluebeard retelling with some unusual twists.

Book description:

Young Rhea is a miller’s daughter of low birth, so she is understandably surprised when a mysterious nobleman, Lord Crevan, shows up on her doorstep and proposes marriage. Since commoners don’t turn down lords—no matter how sinister they may seem—Rhea is forced to agree to the engagement.

Lord Crevan demands that Rhea visit his remote manor before their wedding. Upon arrival, she discovers that not only was her betrothed married six times before, but his previous wives are all imprisoned in his enchanted castle. Determined not to share their same fate, Rhea asserts her desire for freedom. In answer, Lord Crevan gives Rhea a series of magical tasks to complete, with the threat “Come back before dawn, or else I’ll marry you.”

With time running out and each task more dangerous and bizarre than the last, Rhea must use her resourcefulness, compassion, and bravery to rally the other wives and defeat the sorcerer before he binds her to him forever.

Coundown Deal: Bluebeard Tales From Around the World for $1.99 in Ebook Format

(US/UK Covers with links)

Bluebeard Tales From Around the World (US Edition) and Bluebeard Tales From Around the World (UK Edition) are on sale for the next week and gradually increasing prices as part of an Amazon Countdown Deal. Today the books are at their lowest price--the US edition is $1.99--and the price will gradually rise over the next week--in something like 32 hour increments--until it reaches the usual price of $9.99 again.

Anyway, this is the lowest price ever offered on this book--the SurLaLune title I have had the most compliments on--so this is your chance to own a copy for a great price. You don't have to own a Kindle to read it. It is readable on the free Kindle software for your computer and other devices.

Bluebeard is a great October story with plenty of bloodshed and gore and tension and danger. Enjoy!

Book description:

The tale of Bluebeard with its many variants has a rich folkloric and literary history. It has often been retold and reinterpreted in modern times in novels, poetry, plays, movies and more. Once upon a time the character was better known and offered a larger cultural touchstone for the general population. Today he is best known only in literary circles. Consequently, the history of the tale as seen through its tales and other interpretations is fascinating. Offering over ninety tales and ballads, this collection compiles several variants of Bluebeard tales from around the world. Many of the tales are new translations, some appearing for the first time in English. Usually the stories are obviously related to each other and at other times the relationship is more tenuous. While tales from Europe dominate the collection, other parts of the world--including Africa, India, and North America--are well represented. Additionally, several plays and operas, as well as short fictions and poetry, all primarily from the nineteenth century, are offered here. The commercial value and diverse interpretations of this complex tale provide insight into our cultural past, present, and perhaps our future. Whether you are a student of folklore or an armchair enthusiast, this anthology offers a diverse array of tales with a unifying theme that both entertains and educates, all gathered for the first time in one helpful collection.

Bluebeard: Demoniac or Tragic Hero? by Ian W. Panth

Kierkegaard's Literary Figures and Motifs: Agamemnon to Guadalquivir (Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources) by Katalin Nun (Editor) and Jon Stewart (Editor) has an article of interest to some readers here.

Here's the bibliographic info for the article:

Panth, Ian W. "Bluebeard: Demoniac or Tragic Hero?" in Kierkegaard's Literary Figures and Motifs Tome I: Agamemnon to Guadalquivir. Edited by Katalin Nun and Jon Stewart. Ashgate Publishing, Burlington, VT, 2014, 79-88.

Book description:

While Kierkegaard is perhaps known best as a religious thinker and philosopher, there is an unmistakable literary element in his writings. He often explains complex concepts and ideas by using literary figures and motifs that he could assume his readers would have some familiarity with. This dimension of his thought has served to make his writings far more popular than those of other philosophers and theologians, but at the same time it has made their interpretation more complex. Kierkegaard readers are generally aware of his interest in figures such as Faust or the Wandering Jew, but they rarely have a full appreciation of the vast extent of his use of characters from different literary periods and traditions. The present volume is dedicated to the treatment of the variety of literary figures and motifs used by Kierkegaard. The volume is arranged alphabetically by name, with Tome I covering figures and motifs from Agamemnon to Guadalquivir.

And here's the first lines from Panth's article about Bluebeard:

The literary figure, Bluebeard (Blaubart), gets his name from his “uncanny blue beard” which serves as an external and early warning of the man’s sinister and murderous nature. In his writings Søren Kierkegaard refers to Bluebeard three times. Once each in Either/Or, Part One, Fear and Trembling, and, the unpublished, Johannes Climacus, or De Omnibus dubitandum est.1 After presenting the likely literary sources that lay behind Kierkegaard’s allusions, followed by a brief summary of the key elements in the Bluebeard tales, I will illuminate the role that the allusions to Bluebeard play in each of these three texts. Fear and Trembling and De Omnibus will be treated together. Both the cursory nature of the references and the valuation of the figure of Bluebeard are similar in these two works. The reference in Either/Or, Part One occurs in “The Seducer’s Diary” and will be treated at greater length. In the “Diary,” Kierkegaard’s allusion to Bluebeard is more fully integrated into the narrative.

Panth was kind enough to share the article with me since he references Bluebeard Tales From Around the World (Surlalune Fairy Tale Series) in his notes. I wouldn't have known about this article otherwise and wanted to let you know about it, too. Bluebeard Tales From Around the World (Surlalune Fairy Tale Series) is one of my proudest publishing achievements and I am always thrilled to learn that is has aided someone else's research. Thanks for that! And I learned a little about Kierkegaard, too, so thanks again.

TODAY ONLY Bargain Ebook: Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut for $1.99

Bluebeard: The Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916-1988) by Kurt Vonnegut is on sale today only for $1.99 on Amazon as part of their Daily Deals. It has been on sale before but usually lists in the $7-8 range. I bought it for $1.99 two years ago and I think it has been on sale once since then.

Book description:

Bluebeard, published in 1987, is Vonnegut's meditation on art, artists, surrealism, and disaster. Meet Rabo Karabekian, a moderately successful surrealist painter, who we meet late in life and see struggling (like all of Vonnegut's key characters), with the dregs of unresolved pain and the consequences of brutality. Loosely based on the legend of Bluebeard (best realized in Bela Bartok's one-act opera), the novel follows Karabekian through the last events in his life that is heavy with women, painting, artistic ambition, artistic fraudulence, and as of yet unknown consequence.

Vonnegut's intention here is not so much satirical (although the contemporary art scene would be easy enough to deconstruct), nor is it documentary (although Karabekian does carry elements of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko). Instead, Vonnegut is using art for the same purpose he used science fiction cliches in Slaughterhouse-Five; as a filter through which he can illuminate the savagery, cruelty, and the essentially comic misdirection of human existence.

Readers will recognize familiar Vonnegut character types and archetypes as they drift in and out through the background; meanwhile, Karabekian, betrayed and betrayer, sinks through a bottomless haze of recollection. Like most of Vonnegut's late works, this is both science fiction and cruel contemporary realism at once, using science fiction as metaphor for human damage as well as failure to perceive. Readers will find that Vonnegut's protagonists can never really clarify for us whether they are ultimately unwitting victims or simple barbarians, leaving it up to the reader to determine in which genre this book really fits, if any at all.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) is one of the most beloved American writers of the twentieth century. Vonnegut's audience increased steadily since his first five pieces in the 1950s and grew from there. His 1968 novel Slaughterhouse-Five has become a canonic war novel with Joseph Heller's Catch-22 to form the truest and darkest of what came from World War II.

Vonnegut began his career as a science fiction writer, and his early novels--Player Piano and The Sirens of Titan--were categorized as such even as they appealed to an audience far beyond the reach of the category. In the 1960s, Vonnegut became closely associated with the Baby Boomer generation, a writer on that side, so to speak.

Now that Vonnegut's work has been studied as a large body of work, it has been more deeply understood and unified. There is a consistency to his satirical insight, humor and anger which makes his work so synergistic. It seems clear that the more of Vonnegut's work you read, the more it resonates and the more you wish to read. Scholars believe that Vonnegut's reputation (like Mark Twain's) will grow steadily through the decades as his work continues to increase in relevance and new connections are formed, new insights made.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Author Kurt Vonnegut is considered by most to be one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. His books Slaughterhouse-Five (named after Vonnegut's World War II POW experience) and Cat's Cradle are considered among his top works. RosettaBooks offers here a complete range of Vonnegut's work, including his first novel (Player Piano, 1952) for readers familiar with Vonnegut's work as well as newcomers.

Bargain Ebook: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (and More Books)

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier has just dropped in price from $9.99 to $2.99, a definite bargain price for an ebook.

This book, a classic, has definite Bluebeard themes and is often studied in conjunction with Jane Eyre, another Bluebeardesque novel. I adored the book as a teen and have had amazingly different personal reactions to it as I have reread it over the 42 years of my life. Few novels have varied so vastly in my reactions over multiple rereadings as this one has. Nowadays, I am mostly disturbed by it on many levels, arguably what du Maurier intended in the first place.

Either way, it should not be missed. And it also bears rereading. And if you've seen the classic Hitchcock movie, also Rebecca, you haven't read the book. The crux of the novel was changed for the film and removes so much of the novel's power although it is a fine movie all the same, but the bite is lessened considerably.

See more discounted books below the description.

Book description:

"Rebecca is a work of immense intelligence and wit, elegantly written, thematically solid, suspenseful.." --Washington Post

"Daphne du Maurier created a scale by which modern women can measure their feelings." --Stephen King

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . .

The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.

First published in 1938, this classic gothic novel is such a compelling read that it won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century.

While we're here, two other du Maurier titles, My Cousin Rachel and Jamaica Inn, are also discounted right now from $9.99 to $2.99. So three novels for less than the price of one. These are two other strong novels and I remember hunting and hunting for them years ago and paying much more than this to read them. This is why I love ebooks now. Nothing has to be out of print and unattainable.