It seems rather fitting to read a book that's a re-telling of the Rapunzel fairy tale right now. That's part of the reason I was drawn to this book. The other part? I was hoping for something lighter, more uplifting. Disney has spoiled me into thinking all fairy tales have happy endings. 

 

The premise of this book is a re-telling of the story of Rapunzel. You know, the girl with the hair who gets locked in the tower. Her magical hair is the source of everlasting youth for an evil witch. All of those elements are here but this story is so much more. 

 

Charlotte-Rose de la Force was a real historical figure. She is the person credited with creating the first recorded version of Rapunzel. She lived in France during the reign of the Sun King. Hers was not a charmed life. Charlotte managed to find herself entangled in scandal after scandal. After one scandal too many, Charlotte is banished to a convent. While working in the gardens, Charlotte is told the story of Rapunzel, or as she is called in this story, Marghertia. The story of Margherita braids (see what I did there) itself into Charlotte's story. After some time the reader is even given the back story of Margherita's witch.

 

Normally, I'm not a fan of stories that jump perspectives as frequently as this one does. Most writers aren't able to maintain the flow necessary to keep the story together.  I tend to find them a little choppy. This was not the case with Bitter Greens. Forsyth does a masterful job weaving the stories of all three women together. 

 

This story was exactly what I needed right now. I know I'm not being held against my will in a tower by an evil witch. I know I haven't been banished to a convent. I am stuck in a house with three demanding, bored, irritable princesses. However, much like Marghertia, I believe it's important to continue to look forward to a time when we will all be allowed to roam free. It sounds cliche.  I know but honestly, who couldn't do with a little cliche right now? 

 

I feel a little better having read this book. Right now, I think we could all agree, that really is the point of reading. 

 

Dates Read 4/1/2020 - 4/5/2020

Book 23/75

September's reading list will more than likely be a short one. I currently have three books started. These three books combined are over 2,500 pages. Combine that with my children all starting school and me starting work full-time again, September might not be a great month for reading. 

 

Have no fear! Even if I get little reading done in September, I know that winter in Minnesota is coming. Winter = lots of tea. Lots of tea = lots of reading. 

(reblogged from Whatever)

Nice mix of fairytale and historical fiction. This book tells the stories of three women, all unwilling to be meek and obliging as their societies or their guardians demand, and of how they strive to achieve agency and love.
In the best tradition of modern fairytale retellings the story is dark, angsty and, as you can imagine, the Rapunzel’s tale here is not after its bowdlerized version. The “bitter” part of the book's title is not just for decoration, either: there is physical and psychological violence aplenty (never too graphic), particularly against women. Consequently, although the book is nicely written and the story is interesting, some concepts were somehow uncomfortable.

What I liked is that the book is a page-turner, the story flows smoothly and the author did surely research the historical and geographical background, as stated in the acknowledgements. I was sold on the idea of a writer and her creation sharing the same pages and along with the motif of women and agency there are several other thought-provoking themes, like the terror of dying, of being forgotten, of not being loved.

This entanglement between the Rapunzel tale and its writer’s is very original but I failed to perceive the plotlines as a whole because they follow the life of truly different women. I think this very mingling of historical events and characters with magic and legends is both an asset and a liability since there are, as is appropriate, distinct kinds of storytelling involved and I don’t think the delivery of a cohesive picture succeeded.

The story which is the trait d'union between Charlotte-Rose de La Force and Rapunzel was very engrossing and my favorite part. All the protagonists are women who act consistently with the limits of their experiences and circumstances, they are not passive nor Mary Sues, and it felt quite accurate considering that, with different degrees of freedom granted by wealth and birth, only a few “safe” options were open to women of such centuries. The novel narrows them down to three and I find them reductive, howbeit probably not that far off the historical mark.

Unfortunately the shifting viewpoints and storytelling styles devised to fit both the fairytale and the historical fiction plots contributed to my detachment. Also, while I never disliked any of the protagonists I never felt involved but with one of them, and only in part: all the women here are totally ruled by emotion and not an ounce of logic. Moreover, my modern mind rooted in human rights and gender equality was kind of taxed trying to immerse in the thoughts (not actions) of the protagonists or to partake of their beliefs and cultures as presented in the narrative. On top of that a few plot holes and the rushed ending of one of the protagonists’ stories left me a bit perplexed, given the general quality of the book.
I know I’m being vague but my points strictly relate to the plot and the narration devices, I cannot say any more without spoiling.

Bottom line: this story didn’t work for me but I liked the idea.

There are only three choices for women in this world that we live in. You can be a nun, or a wife, or a whore.

Full review here. Who told the first fairy tales?

 

Forsyth's novel represents what I love about historical fiction: it presents something many might have fuzzy familiarity with in a vibrant manner with people who stay in the mind well after the book has ended.

 

In her opening note, Forsyth reminds (or in my case, educates) the reader as to precisely when the Grimm Brothers collected their stories. Not medieval scholars in musty robes, to paraphrase her, but handsome young men writing in the same era as Austen and Byron. That was eye-opening. Locational awareness secondly was a surprise: the Grimm brothers did their collecting as Germany was facing Napoleon's relentless march toward a unified empire. While never explicitly named in the text, the Grimm brothers were doing a little cultural conservation in the face of French domination.

 

Forsyth also rather daringly imagines why Dortchen, our heroine, takes so long to end up with the Grimm brother of her choice. It worked for me although was very upsetting -- but it also has a kind of fairy tale-ish grime to it, too -- I kept waiting for magic beans or a fairy godmother to solve things.