Bitter Greens (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 2012; vuoden 2013 painos)

Inspired by early Italian and French versions of the fairy tale "Rapunzel," Kate Forsyth's novel sets out to tell us the "true" story of the girl in the tower (similar to the film "Ever After") and pin it in a ravishing and luscious historical time period with a dash of fantasy thrown in. This it succeeds at with flying colors. Split between two interwoven narratives, Renaissance Italy and France come vividly to life within the novel as do a bevy of interesting characters.

Much psychological complexity is brought to these characters as well; Margherita, the book's "Rapunzel" character, being especially noteworthy. At its heart the story of "Rapunzel" is one of child abduction and Forsyth does not shy away from the torment and suffering of the subject. At first battered and torn after being wrenched away from the life and family she knew, Margherita slowly finds a fire within herself to escape and find her own freedom. It's clear that Forsyth does not view the story of "Rapunzel" as one of female subjugation but liberation.

If the book has a flaw it is perhaps that the central plot revolving around Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force (the author of one of the earliest extant versions of "Rapunzel") is not nearly as interesting as the fictional Margherita's story, but the vivid historical recreation of King Louis the Sun King's Parisian Court makes up for most of that, and in the end the two divergent stories do tie nicely together.

For me, "Bitter Greens" joins the ranks of Robin McKinley's "Beauty," Carolyn Turgeon's "Mermaid" and Tanith Lee's "White as Snow" as one of the very best contemporary fairy tale retellings. I'm definitely going to hunt down Forsyth's other books, especially her recent non-fiction work about Rapunzel's history. ( )

It took me awhile to get into this one. I loved the Rapunzel story. the French Court portion of the story, however, I didn't get into until almost the end of the book. ( )

Advance reader copy. 4.5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, which weaves together the fairy tale, Rapunzel, and life in the Royal courts of 17th century France. Wonderful historical fiction, reminiscent of Phillippa Gregory. ( )

Setting aside at page 210 - about a third of the way through. It's just not working for me. Jumping between the narratives is leaving me disinterested in all three of them, while I'd probably be quite engaged if it were only one (...well, maybe not Margherita). There are lots of elements that should work for me - ladies struggling against history and all - but the whole is not thrilling me.

I’m a sucker for a good fairy tale retelling, so when I saw that one of my favorite authors wrote a retelling of Rapunzel, I just had to pick it up and read it. Bitter Greens tells a dual story, one of Charlotte-Rose de la Force, who has been banished from Versailles and forced to live in a convent; while there, she (and the reader) learns the story of Margherita, a girl who is stolen by a witch and locked in a tall tower.

This book contains so, so much: a haunting rendition of what Versailles must have been like; detailed descriptions of people there and their personalities; the history of the Huguenots and a stark look at how the Sun King and his cruelty. Along with that, we get a fairy tale complete with the backstory of the villain and a wonderful foundation for the magic contained within that story. This book is so detailed, too, to the point where you can just feel how much time Forsyth researched and worked to create this book. I felt completely immersed in these stories as I read this book, and it was a wonderful reading experience.

I love how effortlessly Forsyth wove the two stories together. Charlotte-Rose is based on a real person, who wrote the fairy tale that Brothers Grimm originally revised to be “Rapunzel.” With her story, we are also able to read a new tale of Rapunzel, one that inextricably ties together with Charlotte-Rose’s life. The heart of this book is about love. Love of family, love of a place, love of a lover, and the fear of not having those things anymore. The two stories seem so different, but are beautifully tied together with these themes, allowing the reader to see these concepts shown from all sorts of different angles.

I would definitely recommend this to lovers of fairy tales and historical fictions; it’s a wonderful mixture of both, and it is remarkably enjoyable.

Also posted on Purple People Readers. ( )