Happy November! If it's cold outside where you are, make yourself some apple cider or pumpkin muffins and read! If you're a fan of ABC's "Once Upon a Time," or just like fairytales in general, I recommend Entwined for your fall reading.
Entwined is the Victorian Era retelling of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses (my fave since before I could read). In it, the alphabetically named and nearly penniless Wentworth princesses and the King live in the kingdom of Eathesbury. When their mother dies, the household goes into mourning. They aren't allowed to go outside, their colorful clothes is dyed black, drapes cover the windows to block out sunlight, and worst of all, they aren't allowed the one activity that helps them cope and gives them joy--dancing. On top of that the King treats his children coldly. Soon, though, the oldest daughter, Azalea discovers a magical pavilion owned by a mysterious but handsome gentleman named Keeper. To the sisters' delight, he invites them to come back and dance to their hearts' content! Will the pavilion be the solution to, or a whole nother set of problems?
There are so many things I loved about this book. It has all the best bits of a fairytale: dancing, flowing gowns, graceful curtsies, handsome gentlemen, secret passages, gardens, horseback riding in the rain. It has shy (Clover) and bold (Bramble) and lovable (Lord Bradford and Lord Teddie) characters, hilarious lines, and darker tones of a curse, and a really sinister villain to balance out the floofty business. I was stuck to this book for two days, eating it up like a delicious cookie.
I only had a couple of complaints. One was that Azalea (and the next two oldest sisters) were quite rash and immature (especially childish in how they treated their father), but that turned out all right because they learned better in the end. The other was that, well, it was so good and so what I would like to write, that I'm slightly jealous it's already been written! But that's okay, too, because I got to read it, and I got to interview the humble, bubbly, funny, talented author, Heather Dixon, specially for the Well in the Wood! Keep your eye out for it in the next post!
*free photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
Entwined is the Victorian Era retelling of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses (my fave since before I could read). In it, the alphabetically named and nearly penniless Wentworth princesses and the King live in the kingdom of Eathesbury. When their mother dies, the household goes into mourning. They aren't allowed to go outside, their colorful clothes is dyed black, drapes cover the windows to block out sunlight, and worst of all, they aren't allowed the one activity that helps them cope and gives them joy--dancing. On top of that the King treats his children coldly. Soon, though, the oldest daughter, Azalea discovers a magical pavilion owned by a mysterious but handsome gentleman named Keeper. To the sisters' delight, he invites them to come back and dance to their hearts' content! Will the pavilion be the solution to, or a whole nother set of problems?
I only had a couple of complaints. One was that Azalea (and the next two oldest sisters) were quite rash and immature (especially childish in how they treated their father), but that turned out all right because they learned better in the end. The other was that, well, it was so good and so what I would like to write, that I'm slightly jealous it's already been written! But that's okay, too, because I got to read it, and I got to interview the humble, bubbly, funny, talented author, Heather Dixon, specially for the Well in the Wood! Keep your eye out for it in the next post!
*free photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
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