Specters of the Marvelous: Race and the Development of the European Fairy Tale by Kimberly J. Lau

 

Specters of the Marvelous: Race and the Development of the European Fairy Tale (The Donald Haase Series in Fairy-Tale Studies) by Kimberly J. Lau was released in December 2024. 

The entire book is fascinating. The inclusion of Andrew and Nora Lang's work is perhaps of most interest to me, although I enjoyed all of the discussions, because their work was purposely multicultural before that was even a common term, but still very much a product of the authors' British nationality and time in history.

Book description from the publisher:

In stories retold for generations, wondrous worlds and magnificent characters have defined the genre of European fairy tales with little recognition of yet another defining aspect―racism and racialized thinking. Engaging four classic fairy-tale collections, author Kimberly J. Lau connects close readings of the tales to the cultural discourses, scholarly debates, and imperial geopolitics that established and perpetuated ideas about racial difference and white superiority. Within the tales of Giambattista Basile, Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy, the Grimms, and Andrew and Nora Lang, Lau teases apart and historicizes the racialized themes and ideologies embedded within fairy tales spanning the early seventeenth to early twentieth centuries. She contends that the European fairy tale is definitively marked, whether implicitly or explicitly, by whiteness, and given the genre's documented colonization of diverse narrative traditions over time, this specter of race is all the more haunting. This trailblazing work demonstrates the continuous evolution of racialized thinking that has informed the publication and dissemination of fairy tales. Here, Lau provides a new framework for understanding European fairy tales in the milieux in which they were created, bringing distant and ethereal worlds back to earth.

 Reviews

"Fairy-tale studies has needed this book for a long time. With meticulous historical and narrative analysis, Kimberly J. Lau lays out a consummate reckoning of racism in the European tale tradition. The unmarked, naturalized, inevitable whiteness of the tales is thoroughly debunked. This is literary litigation at its finest. A world of assumptions unmasked by a scholar who is also an intrepid investigator working at the highest level of commitment to giving us new truths about the old stories that still shape our worldview."―Kay Turner, coeditor of Transgressive Tales: Queering the Grimms (Wayne State University Press), and founder of the What a Witch project

"In eye-opening ways, Specters of the Marvelous: Race and the Development of the European Fairy Tale does for fairy tales what Ebony Elizabeth Thomas's The Dark Fantastic did for fantasy and Isiah Lavender III's Race in American Science Fiction did for science fiction. We do not have to agree with every one of Kimberly J. Lau's interpretations, but it is impossible after reading this carefully researched book to unsee the workings of racial ideologies and representations in foundational European literary collections of fairy tales, and it is clear how insisting on the power of non-Euro-American wonder genres counters that history―and matters today. This distinctive contribution to viewing fairy-tale history and intersectionality is a must-read in fairy-tale studies."―Cristina Bacchilega, professor emerita, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, and coeditor of Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies (Wayne State University Press)

"Kimberly J. Lau's Specters of the Marvelous foregrounds race in often whitewashed European fairy tales. A compelling history of race in literary European fairy tales."―Foreword Magazine

I received a paperback edition of this book for reviewing purchases from the publisher. As an Amazon Associate, the SurLaLune Fairy Tale site earns a percentage from qualifying purchases as a referral incentive which helps support the site. Your cost does not increase by using the links on this site. Read SurLaLune's Privacy Policy here.

Newish Book: North Is the Night by Emily Rath

 

North Is the Night (Tuonela Duet Book 1) by Emily Rath was released in December 2024, so a recent book. It uses Finnish folklore and has loud echos of Hades and Persephone from Greek mythology as well as Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen. I always love Baltic settings, perhaps because I have a strong Norwegian and Swedish heritage just a few generations back.

Book description from the publisher:

Two bold young women defy the gods and mortals, living and dead, in this darkly mythical, Finnish folklore-inspired fantasy duology for readers of T. Kingfisher's Nettle & Bone, Danielle L. Jensen, Thea Guanzon, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec.

“A romantic, adventure-filled tale that will enrapture readers with a transportive saga of love, friendship, and magic.” —Adrienne Young, New York Times-and USA Today-bestselling author of The Unmaking of June Farrow

In the Finnish wilderness, more than wolves roam the dark forests. For Siiri and Aina, summer’s fading light is a harbinger of unwelcome change. Land-hungry Swedes venture north, threatening the peace; a zealous Christian priest denounces the old ways; and young women have begun to disappear. 

Siiri vows to protect Aina from danger. But even Siiri cannot stop a death goddess from dragging her friend to Tuonela, the mythical underworld. Determined to save Aina, Siiri braves a dangerous journey north to seek the greatest shaman of legend, the only person to venture to the realm of death and return alive. 

In Tuonela, the cruel Witch Queen turns Aina’s every waking moment into a living nightmare. But armed with compassion and cleverness, Aina learns the truth of her capture: the king of the underworld himself has plans for her. To return home, Aina must bargain her heart—as Siiri plots a daring rescue of the woman she loves the most.

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New Book Release: The Brothers Grimm: A Biography by Ann Schmiesing

 

The Brothers Grimm: A Biography by Ann Schmiesing was released this fall. I haven't had a chance to read it yet. However, I did get to visit the GRIMMWELT Kassel this past October and feel an even greater affection for the Grimms than I ever have--and that's saying a lot. The museum in Kassel focuses more on the Grimms' German dictionary with the fairy tale work relegated more to exhibits for children. I fangirled throughout the museum.

I plan to write more about my recent experiences on Germany's Fairy Tale Road next year. But for now, this book sounds like a great way to learn more about the Brothers Grimm without having to travel. And to learn in smaller bites because the museum was like trying to feast on a year's worth of food in a single afternoon.

Book description from the publisher:

The first English-language biography in over fifty years to tell the full, vibrant story of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, known to history as the Brothers Grimm

 A New Yorker “Best Book of 2024” Selection

 “Ann Schmiesing . . . has brought the brothers to life in their fullness.”—Dominic Green, Wall Street Journal

 “Magisterial.”—Kirkus Reviews

 More than two hundred years ago, the German brothers Jacob Grimm (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859) published a collection of fairy tales that remains famous the world over. It has been translated into some 170 languages—more than any other German book—and the Brothers Grimm are among the top dozen most translated authors in the world. In addition to collecting tales, the Grimms were mythographers, linguists, librarians, civil servants, and above all the closest of brothers, but until now, the full story of their lifelong endeavor to preserve and articulate a German cultural identity has not been well known.

 Drawing on deep archival research and decades of scholarship, Ann Schmiesing tells the affecting story of how the Grimms’ ambitious projects gave the brothers a sense of self-preservation through the atrocities of the Napoleonic Wars and a series of personal losses. They produced a vast corpus of work on mythology and medieval literature, embarked on a monumental German dictionary project, and broke scholarly ground with Jacob’s linguistic discovery known as Grimm’s Law. Setting their story against a rich historical backdrop, Schmiesing offers a fresh consideration of the profound and yet complicated legacy of the Brothers Grimm.

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Recent Release: The Midnight Washerwoman and Other Tales of Lower Brittany by Francois-Marie Luzel

 

The Midnight Washerwoman and Other Tales of Lower Brittany by Francois-Marie Luzel (Author), Michael Wilson (Translator) is part of the Oddly Modern Fairy Tales series--volume 28! 

Edited by Jack Zipes, the series is an important contribution to folklore studies by Princeton University Press:

Oddly Modern Fairy Tales is a series dedicated to publishing unusual literary fairy tales produced mainly during the first half of the twentieth century. International in scope, the series includes new translations, surprising and unexpected tales by well-known writers and artists, and uncanny stories by gifted yet neglected authors. Postmodern before their time, the tales in Oddly Modern Fairy Tales transformed the genre and still strike a chord.

Book description from the publisher:

Twenty-nine Breton tales, as told over a series of long winter nights, featuring an ingenious miller, a Jerusalem-bound ant, a mad dash at midnight, and more

In the late nineteenth century, the folklorist François-Marie Luzel spent countless winter evenings listening to stories told by his neighbors, local Breton farmers and villagers. At these social gatherings, known as veillées, Luzel recorded the tales in unusual detail, capturing a storytelling tradition that is now almost forgotten. The Midnight Washerwoman and Other Tales of Lower Brittany collects twenty-nine stories gathered by Luzel, many translated into English for the first time. The tales are presented in a series of five imaginary veillées, giving readers a unique opportunity to listen in on a long-ago winter’s night of storytelling.

Some of the stories mix the apparently supernatural with the everyday—as in the title tale, when a mysteriously nocturnal washerwoman causes three handsome lads to flee so quickly they lose their clogs in the process. Others invite listeners to root for the underdog, as when a simple miller outwits a powerful seigneur. Another tale must have been greeted with raucous laughter as it recounts an ascending ladder of obstacles—from a mouse to a cat to a man to God (or the Devil) himself—confronted by a traveling ant. Michael Wilson, the volume’s editor and translator, provides a substantive introduction that discusses Luzel’s work and the significance of Breton storytelling. 

In other words, this addition to the Oddly Modern library offers up some tales that were gathered by Luzel and are not original fiction creations like some of the other collections in the series. While my own tastes are pretty democratic in folklore studies, I lean towards the collected tales--and we won't get into discussions of oral vs recorded and edited here today. Luzel has long been on my own list for further study so I am thrilled that this title has been translated and with many tales offered in English for the first time.

The book is academically sound with great endnotes and a bibilography. The end notes include ATU classifications for the tales when applicable. No Cinderellas here, but there are a couple of ATU 425: The Search for the Lost Husband (Cupid and Psyche) which is related to Beauty and the Beast. (Beauty and the Beast is ATU-425C, after all.) There's some other secondary favorites like ATU 403: The Black and White Bride and ATU 1640: The Brave Little Tailor and several others.

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for evaluation purposes.

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New Book: Little Thieves by Margaret Owen, a Goose Girl Inspired Novel

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen (Amazon Affiliate link) is a new release this month. It's more unusual since it is inspired by The Goose Girl, one of those fairy tales beloved by fairy tale aficionados and unknown by almost everyone else because it hasn't gotten the Disney treatment. 

Book description:

A scrappy maid must outsmart both palace nobles and Low Gods in a new YA fantasy by Margaret Owen, author of the Merciful Crow series.

Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl...

Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother’s love―and she’s on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja’s otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back… by stealing Gisele’s life for herself.

 

The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed. 

 

Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele’s sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja’s tail, she’ll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life. 

 

Margaret Owen, author of The Merciful Crow series, crafts a delightfully irreverent retelling of “The Goose Girl” about stolen lives, thorny truths, and the wicked girls at the heart of both.

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New Book: Inviting Interruptions: Wonder Tales in the Twenty-First Century editedby Cristina Bacchilega and Jennifer Orme

Inviting Interruptions: Wonder Tales in the Twenty-First Century editedby Cristina Bacchilega and Jennifer Orme is officially released this week.

Book description:

Inviting Interruptions: Wonder Tales in the Twenty-First Century anthologizes contemporary stories, comics, and visual texts that intervene in a range of ways to challenge the popular perception of fairy tales as narratives offering heteronormative happy endings that support status-quo values. The materials collected in Inviting Interruptions address the many ways intersectional issues play out in terms of identity markers, such as race, ethnicity, class, and disability, and the forces that affect identity, such as non-normative sexualities, addiction, abuses of power, and forms of internalized self-hatred caused by any number of external pressures. But we also find celebration, whimsy, and beauty in these same texts-qualities intended to extend readers' enjoyment of and pleasure in the genre.

Edited by Cristina Bacchilega and Jennifer Orme, the book is organized in two sections. "Inviting Interruptions" considers the invitation as an offer that must be accepted in order to participate, whether for good or ill. This section includes Emma Donoghue's literary retelling of "Hansel and Gretel," stills from David Kaplan's short Little Red Riding Hood film, Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada's story about stories rooted in Hawaiian tradition and land, and Shary Boyle, Shaun Tan, and Dan Taulapapa McMullin's interruptions of mainstream images of beauty-webs, commerce, and Natives. "Interrupting Invitations" contemplates the interruption as a survival mechanism to end a problem that has already been going on too long. This section includes reflections on migration and sexuality by Diriye Osman, Sofia Samatar, and Nalo Hopkinson; and invitations to rethink human and non-human relations in works by Anne Kamiya, Rosario Ferr?, Veronica Schanoes, and Susanna Clark.

Each text in the book is accompanied by an editors' note, which offers questions, critical resources, and other links for expanding the appreciation and resonance of the text. As we make our way deeper into the twenty-first century, wonder tales-and their critical analyses-will continue to interest and enchant general audiences, students, and scholars.

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An Illustrated Treasury of Grimm's Fairy Tales Illustrated by Daniela Drescher

An Illustrated Treasury of Grimm's Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm (Author), Daniela Drescher (Illustrator) has some beautiful romantic illustrations by Drescher. I had missed these before. I love the rainbow palettes of the illustrations. Page down to see some of the illustrations. I won't label them so you can play "Name the Tale" if you like. 

Book description:

Two hundred years ago, the Brothers Grimm published their famous collection of folk tales, including these thirty much-loved stories of helpful elves; giants who can see into the next land; foolish but good-hearted lads; princesses with golden hair; faithful servants and wicked queens.

This sumptuously illustrated collection of essential Grimm classics includes stories every childhood needs: The Princess and the Frog, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin and dozens more.

Each tale is brought to life with radiant, faithful pictures from Daniela Drescher, one of Germany's best-loved illustrators, which are sure to fire any child's imagination.

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New Book: Pages & Co.: The Lost Fairy Tales by Anna James and Paola Escobar

Pages & Co.: The Lost Fairy Tales by Anna James (Author), Paola Escobar (Illustrator) was released this past May.

Book description:

The second magical bookwandering adventure in the nationally bestselling Pages & Co. series, featuring Tilly Pages as she journeys to France to wander inside a peculiar book of fairytales. Perfect for fans of Inkheart and The Land of Stories.

Tilly and her best friend Oskar are bookwanderers: a remarkable group of people who, using the magical power of books, can travel inside any story they choose. But on a wintry visit to Paris, the friends wander inside a book of fairy tales to find that peculiar things are happening: characters are getting lost, stories are all mixed up, and mysterious plot holes are opening without warning . . .

It's up to Tilly and Oskar to figure out what--or who--is behind the chaos. And after the friends come face-to-face with an old foe, they realize that villains can exist outside the pages of books . . . and that sometimes, you don't get to live happily ever after.

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New Book: Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson

 

 

Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson was released earlier this summer. It is a science fiction novel with tropes from Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. The description includes a reference to a glass coffin! What fun and the concept of mixing those tales with cryogenic sleep has become a subset of retellings, but still not common. This one is higher in my TBR list since I have a soft spot for science fiction with fairy tale inspirations.

Book Description:

Andra wakes up from a cryogenic sleep 1,000 years later than she was supposed to, forcing her to team up with an exiled prince to navigate an unfamiliar planet in this smart, thrilling sci-fi adventure, perfect for fans of Renegades and Aurora Rising.

When Andra wakes up, she's drowning.

Not only that, but she's in a hot, dirty cave, it's the year 3102, and everyone keeps calling her Goddess. When Andra went into a cryonic sleep for a trip across the galaxy, she expected to wake up in a hundred years, not a thousand. Worst of all, the rest of the colonists--including her family and friends--are dead. They died centuries ago, and for some reason, their descendants think Andra's a deity. She knows she's nothing special, but she'll play along if it means she can figure out why she was left in stasis and how to get back to Earth.

Zhade, the exiled bastard prince of Eerensed, has other plans. Four years ago, the sleeping Goddess's glass coffin disappeared from the palace, and Zhade devoted himself to finding it. Now he's hoping the Goddess will be the key to taking his rightful place on the throne--if he can get her to play her part, that is. Because if his people realize she doesn't actually have the power to save their dying planet, they'll kill her.

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New Book: Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim

 

Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim was just released last month.  It is the second book in the The Blood of Stars duology (this appears to be the second and final book), following Spin the Dawn which was released last year. And the covers are particularly gorgeous, aren't they?

The books draw upon folklore themes. The reviews reference Mulan and the sewing of dresses of the sun, moon, and stars. I love that challenge in folktales--you most often see it in Cinderella/Donkeyskin variants, but this novel doesn't appear to draw much from that particular tale type. An excellent example of the motif can be found in the Grimms' Allerleirauh.

Book Description for Unravel the Dusk:

Maia Tamarin proved her skill as a tailor when she wove the dresses of the sun, the moon, and the stars, but it will take more than a beautiful gown to hide the darkness rising up within her. . . . The stakes are higher than ever in this breathtaking sequel to Spin the Dawn, perfect for fans of Six of Crows. 

Maia Tamarin's journey to sew the dresses of the sun, the moon, and the stars has taken a grievous toll. She returns to a kingdom on the brink of war. Edan, the boy she loves, is gone--perhaps forever--and no sooner does she set foot in the Autumn Palace than she is forced to don the dress of the sun and assume the place of the emperor's bride-to-be to keep the peace. When the emperor's rivals learn of her deception, there is hell to pay, but the war raging around Maia is nothing compared to the battle within. Ever since she was touched by the demon Bandur, she has been changing . . . glancing in the mirror to see her own eyes glowing red; losing control of her magic, her body, her mind. It's only a matter of time before Maia loses herself completely, and in the meantime she will stop at nothing to find Edan, protect her family, and bring lasting peace to her country.

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Newish Book: House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig was released last year and is now available in paperback.  It's a retelling of Twelve Dancing Princesses which is catnip is for a lot of SurLaLune readers. It has a 3.95 rating on Goodreads.

Book description:

As one by one her beautiful sisters mysteriously die on their isolated island estate, Annaleigh must unravel the curse that haunts her family. Be careful who you dance with...

In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor with her sisters and their father and stepmother. Once there were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last--the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge--and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that her sister's deaths were no accidents. The girls have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who--or what--are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family--before it claims her next. House of Salt and Sorrows is a spellbinding novel filled with magic and the rustle of gossamer skirts down long, dark hallways. Get ready to be swept away.

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New Book: 101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition by Dr. Ulrich Marzolph

101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition (Series in Fairy-Tale Studies) by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Marzolph will be released on August 18, 2020 and is available for pre-order.

Just to be clear, although this title may sound like it is a collection of folktale texts from the Middle East, it is not. The full tale texts are not included. There are many more than 101 individual tales discussed, too. The volume offers a discussion of the tales arranged by theme and motifs instead. I received a copy of this book for review and although I haven't read the entire thing--it is over 700 pages long including the appendices--it is a great reference book for discussion of various ATU (Aarne Thompson Uther) tale types that can be found in the Middle East. Each chapter is devoted to a different ATU tale type. For example, Chapter 2 is "Belling the Cat (ATU 110)" and Chapter 8 is "The Two Hunchbacks (ATU 503)", just two of the tales I am very familiar with in recent years as I have used them in SurLaLune Folklore anthology work. I found some new information to me in each of these chapters despite being very familiar with them since resources in English for these have been limited. This is a great way to learn more about several tale types (101 of them to be exact) you may be less familiar with. And, no, you don't need to be familiar with the ATU tale type system. This volume uses the system as a guide to organize, group and discuss many tales while providing primary and secondary resources to read more. The Works Cited list is a cornucopia of resources, too. Marzolph is one of the leaders in this area of folklore studies and his vast knowledge and experience shows. Overall, this is highly recommended and filled a gap in my extensive folklore library.

Book description:

Against the methodological backdrop of historical and comparative folk narrative research, 101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition surveys the history, dissemination, and characteristics of over one hundred narratives transmitted to Western tradition from or by the Middle Eastern Muslim literatures (i.e., authored written works in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish). For a tale to be included, Ulrich Marzolph considered two criteria: that the tale originates from or at least was transmitted by a Middle Eastern source, and that it was recorded from a Western narrator's oral performance in the course of the nineteenth or twentieth century. The rationale behind these restrictive definitions is predicated on Marzolph's main concern with the long-lasting effect that some of the "Oriental" narratives exercised in Western popular tradition-those tales that have withstood the test of time.

Marzolph focuses on the originally "Oriental" tales that became part and parcel of modern Western oral tradition. Since antiquity, the "Orient" constitutes the quintessential Other vis-à-vis the European cultures. While delineation against this Other served to define and reassure the Self, the "Orient" also constituted a constant source of fascination, attraction, and inspiration. Through oral retellings, numerous tales from Muslim tradition became an integral part of European oral and written tradition in the form of learned treatises, medieval sermons, late medieval fabliaux, early modern chapbooks, contemporary magazines, and more. In present times, when national narcissisms often acquire the status of strongholds delineating the Us against the Other, it is imperative to distinguish, document, visualize, and discuss the extent to which the West is not only indebted to the Muslim world but also shares common features with Muslim narrative tradition. 101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition is an important contribution to this debate and a vital work for scholars, students, and readers of folklore and fairy tales.

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New Book: Re-Orienting the Fairy Tale: Contemporary Adaptations across Cultures

Re-Orienting the Fairy Tale: Contemporary Adaptations across Cultures (Series in Fairy-Tale Studies) by Mayako Murai and Luciana Cardi is officially released on August 25, 2020. It is available for pre-order.

Book description:

Re-Orienting the Fairy Tale: Contemporary Adaptations across Cultures seeks to "re-orient" the fairy tale across different cultures, media, and disciplines and proposes new approaches to the ever-expanding fairy-tale web in a global context with a special emphasis on non-Euro-American materials. Editors Mayako Murai and Luciana Cardi bring together emerging and established researchers in various disciplines from around the world to decenter existing cultural and methodological assumptions underlying fairy-tale studies and suggest new avenues into the increasingly complex world of fairy-tale cultures today.

Divided into three parts, the fourteen essays cover a range of materials from Hawaiian wonder tales to Japanese heroine tales to Spanish fairy-tale film adaptation. Chapters include an invitation from Cristina Bacchilega to explore the possibilities related to the uncanny processes of both disorientation and re-orientation taking place in the "journeys" of wonder tales across multiple media and cultures. Aleksandra Szugajew's chapter outlines the strategies adopted by recent Hollywood live-action fairy-tale films to attract adult audiences and reveals how this new genre offers a form of global entertainment and a forum that invites reflection on various social and cultural issues in today's globalizing world. Katsuhiko Suganuma draws on queer theory and popular musicology to analyze the fairy-tale intertexts in the works of the Japanese all-female band Princess Princess and demonstrate that popular music can be a medium through which the queer potential of ostensibly heteronormative traditional fairy tales may emerge. Daniela Kato's chapter explores the ecological dimensions of Carter's literary fairy tale and offers an ecofeminist interpretation of a fairy-tale forest as a borderland that lies beyond the nature-culture dichotomy.

Readers will find inspiration and new directions in the cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approaches to fairy tales provided by Re-Orienting the Fairy Tale.

Reviews:

Re-Orienting the Fairy Tale represents a significant contribution to an emerging area of inquiry in which there is a great deal of intellectual interest. Since many of the themes explored are not treated comprehensively elsewhere, it will prove attractive to a readership seeking to understand cutting-edge developments in the field of study. The book is also socially and intellectually important in the challenges it makes to hierarchical and binaristic thinking and in its determination to revalue indigenous storytelling cultures that have been marginalized by neo-imperial global media.

– Andrew Teverson, author of The Fairy Tale World

In its Puckish way, this volume pleasantly disorients scholars who are familiar only with the path of Eurocentric concepts of fairy tales. In so doing, it leads them to robust storytelling traditions from many non-Western cultures. Meanwhile, contributors’ postmodern strategies, lucidly developed, offer provocative ways to appreciate familiar Western tales.

– Bill Ellis, professor emeritus of English and American studies, Penn State University

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New Old Book: Johnny Breadless: A Pacifist Fairy Tale by Paul Valliant-Couturier and Prof. Jack Zipes

Johnny Breadless: A Pacifist Fairy Tale by Paul Valliant-Couturier (Author), Prof. Jack Zipes (Editor) was released earlier this month. I have a review copy on my desk, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. I say this is a new old book because it is a new edition of a long out of print folklore book. Zipes' current mission is to resurrect these "lost" folklore related books for new generations. Zipes provides an introduction explaining the significance of this book and why it was chosen for reprint with a new English translation.

Book description:

During World War I at Christmas time in 1914 there were sudden widespread unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front organized by the French, British, and German soldiers. They crossed trenches to exchange food, souvenirs, and ideas. In some cases they played soccer, sang Christmas carols, held burial ceremonies, and exchanged prisoners of war. The ceasefires were also held at various places in 1915. However, by 1916, the war had become more bitter, and the officers in the French, British, and German armies squashed the ceasefires. Killing was much more important than peacemaking.

Paul Vaillant-Couturier (1892-1937) was one of the French soldiers among those who celebrated truce. As a young man from a well-to-do bourgeois family in Paris, he had never thought he would one day fight for France and kill Germans. His parents were successful singers and actors, and as he indicated in his fictional autobiography, he was groomed to become a professional lawyer or engineer. However, he followed in his parents' footsteps and became an artist. Yet, after enlisting in the French army and serving in the infantry and artillery, he came to realize how cruel war was and caused the deaths of thousands of young men who sacrificed their lives to protect the interests of the ruling classes. By the time he was dismissed in 1919, he emerged as a pacifist and socialist with five medals of honor for heroism. From this point of his life, he went on to become a major journalist and politician; he was one of the founders of the French communist party and served as editor of the left-wing newspaper L'Humanité. He died in 1937 due to wounds from an assassination attempt.

Concerned about the future of young people, Vaillant-Couturier published numerous books about the war, and one of his most significant works was Jean sans pain (Johnny Breadless, 1921). It describes a much different education than he had received, for Johnny Breadless is an orphan and does not understand why and how his parents died and why there is no help for him. It is only after he encounters an amazing rabbit who takes him on a trip to various parts of France during World War I that Johnny begins to grasp the true conditions that lead to the exploitation of common people and to wars that benefit the rich. It is in this remarkable fairy-tale novel that a ceasefire takes place-one that gives Johnny hope that people can live together in peace. It is a truce that Vaillant-Courturer "waged" for most of his life.

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Bargain Ebook: TODAY ONLY: A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer for $1.99

TODAY ONLY: A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer is on sale in ebook format for $1.99. Catnip for many of you since this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling!

Book description:

In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives readers another compulsively readable romance perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer.

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she's instead somehow sucked into Rhen's cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

SurLaLune's Small Print:

As an Amazon Associate, the SurLaLune Fairy Tale site earns a percentage from qualifying purchases as a referral incentive which helps support the site. Your cost does not increase by using the links on this site. Read SurLaLune's Privacy Policy here.

Bargain Ebook: TODAY ONLY: The Gold-Son by Carrie Anne Noble for $.99

The Gold-Son by Carrie Anne Noble is on sale TODAY ONLY for 99 cents on Amazon. This book draws on folklore about leprechauns and fae for inspiration.

Book Description:

All sixteen-year-old Tommin wants is to make beautiful shoes and care for his beloved grandmother, but his insatiable need to steal threatens to destroy everything. Driven by a curse that demands more and more gold, he’s sure to get caught eventually.

When mysterious Lorcan Reilly arrives in town with his “niece,” Eve, Tommin believes the fellow wants to help him. Instead, Lorcan whisks him off to the underground realm of the Leprechauns, where, alongside Eve, he’s forced to prepare to become one of them.

As Lorcan’s plans for his “gold-children” are slowly revealed, Tommin and Eve plan their escape. But with Tommin’s humanity slipping away, the fate-crossed pair has everything to lose unless they can find a way to outsmart a magical curse centuries in the making.

SurLaLune's Small Print:

As an Amazon Associate, the SurLaLune Fairy Tale site earns a percentage from qualifying purchases as a referral incentive which helps support the site. Your cost does not increase by using the links on this site. Read SurLaLune's Privacy Policy here.

Read a New Book: Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs: Activities During Corona

Smoke Bitten (A Mercy Thompson Novel Book 12) by Patricia Briggs was released last week and was one of my escape hatches from Coronavirus Isolation last week. I've been reading Briggs' for years and years. This newest entry in her Mercy Thompson series is fun and particularly suitable for SurLaLune (several in the series are) because of the appearance of fairy tales in it. Diamonds and Toads provides some inspiration. Baba Yaga is a recurring character who makes an appearance. And so much of the world building uses folklore and fairy tales in general.

In this one, another well-known fairy tale character is one of the villains in the book. It's a built-up reveal that fairy tale fans may pick up on earlier than others--the clues are fair and accurate--but I don't want to ruin it by saying who. However, it was a fun element of the book for me.

Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, faces a threat unlike any other in this thrilling entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

I am Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman.

My only “superpowers” are that I turn into a thirty-five pound coyote and fix Volkswagens. But I have friends in odd places and a pack of werewolves at my back. It looks like I'm going to need them.

Centuries ago, the fae dwelt in Underhill—until she locked her doors against them. They left behind their great castles and troves of magical artifacts. They abandoned their prisoners and their pets. Without the fae to mind them, those creatures who remained behind roamed freely through Underhill wreaking havoc. Only the deadliest survived.

Now one of those prisoners has escaped. It can look like anyone, any creature it chooses. But if it bites you, it controls you. It lives for chaos and destruction. It can make you do anything—even kill the person you love the most. Now it is here, in the Tri-Cities. In my territory.

It won't, can't, remain.

Not if I have anything to say about it.

SurLaLune's Small Print:

As an Amazon Associate, the SurLaLune Fairy Tale site earns a percentage from qualifying purchases as a referral incentive which helps support the site. Your cost does not increase by using the links on this site. Read SurLaLune's Privacy Policy here.

Bargain Ebook: Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer

And because reading is really my own favorite activity, Corona sheltering or not, I will be posting more books to read, too.

Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer is on sale in ebook format for $1.99. This one is a Sleeping Beauty inspired novel. It features two sisters, an unusual construct in Sleeping Beauty tales, but a fascinating way to deal with the sleep curse. All links are to Amazon, see small print below.

Book description:

Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king's headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.

And then everything changes with a single drop of Aurora's blood--and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken. As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.

Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls: and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape . . . or the reason for her to stay.

Spindle Fire is a lush fantasy set in the dwindling, deliciously corrupt world of the fae and featuring two truly unforgettable heroines.

SurLaLune's Small Print:

As an Amazon Associate, the SurLaLune Fairy Tale site earns a percentage from qualifying purchases as a referral incentive which helps support the site. Your cost does not increase by using the links on this site. Read SurLaLune's Privacy Policy here.

New Book: Craving Supernatural Creatures: German Fairy-Tale Figures in American Pop Culture by Claudia Schwabe

Craving Supernatural Creatures: German Fairy-Tale Figures in American Pop Culture (Fairy-Tale Studies) by Claudia Schwabe is officially released this week.

The book description below describes the book exceptionally well. As I thumbed through the review copy I received, I appreciated all over again the influence of German folklore on American pop culture. I especially liked for my own personal interests the 2nd chapter on evil queens and witches and the 4th chapter on dwarves. Disney's influence is addressed here, too, for those who study Disney fairy tales. Those Disney dwarfs! When I first started SurLaLune when the internet was in its toddler stage, I was inundated with requests for the seven dwarfs names every day. The internet has grown past my site being needed to answer that question but it reminds me of how much the online information highway has changed since I started playing on it.

Book description:

Craving Supernatural Creatures: German Fairy-Tale Figures in American Pop Culture analyzes supernatural creatures in order to demonstrate how German fairy tales treat difference, alterity, and Otherness with terror, distance, and negativity, whereas contemporary North American popular culture adaptations navigate diversity by humanizing and redeeming such figures. This trend of transformation reflects a greater tolerance of other marginalized groups (in regard to race, ethnicity, ability, age, gender, sexual orientation, social class, religion, etc.) and acceptance of diversity in society today. The fairy-tale adaptations examined here are more than just twists on old stories-they serve as the looking glasses of significant cultural trends, customs, and social challenges. Whereas the fairy-tale adaptations that Claudia Schwabe analyzes suggest that Otherness can and should be fully embraced, they also highlight the gap that still exists between the representation and the reality of embracing diversity wholeheartedly in twenty-first-century America.

The book's four chapters are structured around different supernatural creatures, beginning in chapter 1 with Schwabe's examination of the automaton, the golem, and the doppelganger, which emerged as popular figures in Germany in the early nineteenth century, and how media, such as Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow, dramatize, humanize, and infantilize these "uncanny" characters in multifaceted ways. Chapter 2 foregrounds the popular figures of the evil queen and witch in contemporary retellings of the Grimms' fairy tale "Snow White." Chapter 3 deconstructs the concept of the monstrous Other in fairy tales by scrutinizing the figure of the Big Bad Wolf in popular culture, including Once Upon a Time and the Fables comic book series. In chapter 4, Schwabe explores the fairy-tale dwarf, claiming that adaptations today emphasize the diversity of dwarves' personalities and celebrate the potency of their physicality.

Craving Supernatural Creatures is a unique contribution to the field of fairy-tale studies and is essential reading for students, scholars, and pop-culture aficionados alike.

New Book: Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly is officially released this week. A Cinderella retelling with the focus obviously on one of the stepsisters.

Book description:

Don't just fracture the fairy tale. Shatter it.

Isabelle should be blissfully happy - she's about to win the handsome prince. Except Isabelle isn't the beautiful girl who lost the glass slipper and captured the prince's heart. She's the ugly stepsister who's cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella's shoe . . . which is now filling with her blood.

When the prince discovers Isabelle's deception, she's turned away in shame. It's no more than she deserves: she's a plain girl in a world that values beauty; a bold girl in a world that wants her to be pliant.

Isabelle has tried to fit in. She cut away pieces of herself in order to become pretty. Sweet. More like Cinderella. But that only made her mean, jealous, and hollow. Now she has a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsisters have always known: it takes more than heartache to break a girl.

Evoking the original version of the Cinderella story, bestselling author Jennifer Donnelly uses her trademark wit and wisdom to send an overlooked character on a journey toward empowerment, redemption . . . and a new definition of beauty.