Greetings and solutions! Story here, once again invading my mother's blog space - this time to feature another author and her favorite collection of fairy tales from her childhood. Please welcome Ms. Gretchen E.K. Engel.
(Oh, fun fact - I actually got the chance to meet Gretchen the week before last at Realm Maker's, but I don't think she recognized me.)
Even more fun than getting to meet her irl is the fact that we're in an anthology together! Tales of Ever After - a collection of fairy tales both retold and brand-spankin'-new. Mine's one of the retellings, and hers is one of the originals. I've not yet had a chance to read hers yet (I'm only about halfway through the collection, and hers is towards the end), but I'm really looking forward to it. It's the story of an invisible girl, after all!
So let's turn the podium over to her.
I’m a bit too old to have been a full-on Disney princess. Little Mermaid, the first of the modern Disney Princesses didn’t come out until I was in high school. “Cinderella” was always my favorite because I saw the movie as a little girl. I also fell in love with “Beauty and the Beast” when my third-grade teacher read it to the class.
However, my favorites are some non-traditional ones from a book I received from family friends. I’m sure they bought it because of the title, Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Folktales retold by Alison Lurie. I must admit as a girl of the 80s whose name was never on pencils or key chains, I loved having a book with my name in the title. What I really loved about the book were the brave, creative, and strong heroines. I liked “Clever Gretchen” a lot but “Cap O’ Rushes” and “Kate Crackernuts” are my favorites.
Cap O’ Rushes” is a tale of a girl who makes a sincere comment her father takes as an insult. He banishes her, and she’s forced to find employment. It’s an English version of “Cinderella.”
“Kate Crackernuts” is the story of a clever princess whose mother becomes jealous of Kate’s stepsister and puts a curse on her. Kate loves her stepsister and runs away with her. They meet a king and queen who worry over their dying son and hire Kate to solve the mystery of his illness. Kate is clever and reverses her sister’s curse and discovers the source of the prince’s illness. I wrote a short story loosely based on this fairy tale set in the same steampunk world as “Being Seen.”
As for my thoughts on Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Folktales as a whole, I received this book when I was 10 or 11 and read it right away. As a little girl, I didn’t have any problems with the stories or themes in this book other than some creepy elements like the dead man’s hand in “Hand of Glory.” That said, I feel as though I should point out as a caveat that the story “Tomlin” is included and hints at intimate relations resulting in an unmarried woman becoming pregnant. Honestly, I don’t remember ever picking up on this during the multiple times I’ve read the story. Maybe I did when I read it as a teen, but it didn’t stick with me. I wasn’t even aware of this except I read it the reviews of the book as I was writing this article and came across this detail. While I don’t think the book is inappropriate for readers ten and older, I do feel the responsibility to point out places where parents might want to exercise discretion on whether this book is appropriate for their child.
Thanks for letting me share my favorite fairy tales. What is your favorite fairy tale and do you prefer reading them or watching the movie?
Book Description:
Rescue a princess, meet a mermaid, win your reward.
The authors of the Fellowship of Fantasy tackle fairy tales from once upon a time to happily ever after. Explore twists on old tales and brand new magical stories. Meet feisty mermaids, friendly lampposts, and heroes who just might be monsters themselves.
This fourth anthology from the Fellowship of Fantasy will lead you on a quest for entertainment and storm the castle of your imagination. So make a wish and enter the deep dark woods to find stories that will make you laugh, shiver, and maybe even fall in love.
Amazon Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Ever-After-Fellowship-Anthology-ebook/dp/B07FFMHM8M/
Books2Read Universal Link: https://www.books2read.com/u/bwYKry
Goodreads Listing: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40788623-tales-of-ever-after
To check out the rest of the tour, click this link! (Please note that links to two of the blogs are broken, but I'm in the process of fixing them.) The person who leaves the most comments across the tour will recieve a very special prize pack of sneak peeks from the upcoming work of several of the authors.
And there are some pretty sweet giveaways!
U.S. Only:
(All books are paperbacks, and possibly signed.)
International:
(All books are ebooks of the winner’s file format of choice)
