Friday, January 14, 2011

Fairy Tale Fridays - Snow White, Rose Red

A few weeks ago I mentioned that one of my favorite Grimm Brothers fairy tales is Snow White and Rose Red.  I was excited to find that Lydia Millet had written a new take on that beloved tale for the compilation My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, titled Snow White, Rose Red.

Millet launches the story with much of the same detail as the original tale.  The two girls have essentially the same names, they are staying in a "cabin" in the woods and they are both very good people.  Except in Millet's hands, these are two very rich little girls whose mother is a former Russian ballerina with an eating disorder and mental challenges and whose father is a businessman with almost no time for them.  The "bear" turns out to be a man who is hiding from his soon to be ex-wife who comes across them in their yard one day.  Just as they do in the original tale, the girls befriend their bear.  But in this version there is no angry dwarf that must be slain, it is the girls' own father who has to be dealt with.

Just as it can be hard to adapt a beloved book into a movie, it's a risk to take the well-known fairy tales and give them a new spin. I found that Millet had managed to kept just the right elements from the fairy tale I love and created a truly original spin that I very much enjoyed!


Millet says that she was inspired to write the story after developing a fondness for landscapes and nature.  Finding herself interested in the forests of the Adirondacks made her think of all of the fairy tales set in forests and from there it was only a short leap to this tale.

9 comments:

  1. Apparently there are a lot of retellings of this story. I read Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan. I liked the basic theme and could even go with the bears, given the obvious symbolism, but the dwarf was a bit much for me! But I could see how the original fairy tale has great potential!

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  2. Every time you highlight a story from this collection, I want to read the whole book, right away! Great review on this one. I can't wait to get my hands on this book!

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  3. I haven't read the original fairy tale, which I think I'd have to do to fully appreciate the adaptation. I do enjoy well-done adaptations, though, so perhaps I'll get to this pair at some point. The title and cover of My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me are a little off-putting to me. Kind of...well, creepy!

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  4. isn't it crazy to think about what inspires some of us? I sometimes think I should write a book about this or that, and then I read this and think, "wow, I guess I really should have done that. Someone else really did."

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  5. This one looks interesting. Thanks for sharing it!

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  6. This is on my list of books to read this year! Can't wait to get to it. Good post, I liked seeing a bit of the back story of it.

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  7. Oooooh...you know I got this book recently! I'm going to have to start reading some of the stories soon. Great post...you're really enticing me, Lisa!

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  8. I think if I have to choose one of my favorites from the originals, Snow White Rose Red is probably towards the top. This version sounds like a nice spin and I can't wait to check it out!

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  9. I haven't read this fairy tale in ages. You make me want to read it again AND read this one!

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