Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽'s Reviews > Red as Blood and White as Bone
Red as Blood and White as Bone
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4.5 stars. A really wonderful dark fairy tale-type of fantasy story, free online here at Tor.com. Review first posted at Fantasy Literature:
Klara, the daughter of a woodcutter, now a kitchen maid at a wealthy baron’s castle, deeply loves fairy tales, which are the only outlet for her imagination. Perhaps she is a princess in disguise, or at least can help one someday. So one day when a mysterious, lovely ― and naked ― woman collapses in the outside doorway to the kitchen, Klara brings her into the castle, shows her around and helps her to prepare for the next night’s ball in honor of the engagement of the baron’s son, convinced that she’s secretly a princess come to dance with the visiting Prince Radomir and win his heart.
Theodora Goss does an admirable job in preserving the feel of classic fairy tales in this story, despite the fact that it is an original plot, though it contains many echoes of other tales. It’s easy, at first, to gloss over the fact that this is set in relatively modern times, in the years leading up to WWII. In the aftermath of the main events in this story, Klara becomes part of the Resistance of the Nazi occupation of her eastern European country. Though it seems at first an odd dénouement to the story, there are themes that tie it in to the rest of the tale.
Klara, the daughter of a woodcutter, now a kitchen maid at a wealthy baron’s castle, deeply loves fairy tales, which are the only outlet for her imagination. Perhaps she is a princess in disguise, or at least can help one someday. So one day when a mysterious, lovely ― and naked ― woman collapses in the outside doorway to the kitchen, Klara brings her into the castle, shows her around and helps her to prepare for the next night’s ball in honor of the engagement of the baron’s son, convinced that she’s secretly a princess come to dance with the visiting Prince Radomir and win his heart.
Theodora Goss does an admirable job in preserving the feel of classic fairy tales in this story, despite the fact that it is an original plot, though it contains many echoes of other tales. It’s easy, at first, to gloss over the fact that this is set in relatively modern times, in the years leading up to WWII. In the aftermath of the main events in this story, Klara becomes part of the Resistance of the Nazi occupation of her eastern European country. Though it seems at first an odd dénouement to the story, there are themes that tie it in to the rest of the tale.
“Stories are everywhere, and everyone tells them. But our stories may be different from yours. About the Old Woman of the Forest, who grants your heart’s desire if you ask her right, and the Fair Ladies who live in trees, and the White Stag, who can lead you astray or lead you home . . .”I highly recommend this short story for readers who like fairy tales with a few twists.
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Reading Progress
May 6, 2016
– Shelved
May 6, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
May 8, 2016
–
Started Reading
May 8, 2016
– Shelved as:
fantasy
May 8, 2016
– Shelved as:
fairy-tale
May 8, 2016
– Shelved as:
tor-tor-tor
May 8, 2016
– Shelved as:
the-shorts
May 8, 2016
–
Finished Reading
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Laura
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rated it 4 stars
09 mai 2016 06:37
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I read it tonight, and it was good, if you like fairy tale-flavored stories. I'll try to write a review for it by tomorrow. :)
I was trying to decide where this story was set. I googled several of the place names without luck. At first I thought Poland, but Prince Radomir's name makes me now think Ukraine or Russia. Plus (view spoiler). So it fits in with our discussion of Russian fairy tale fantasies on karen's Little Knife thread. :)
ETA: I just looked at that thread and see that karen already mentioned this story in our discussion. I just didn't notice it before because I hadn't read this yet.
I am absolutely loving the ones I'm reading.
Plus, we started a book club in one of the groups I'm in, to read one short story like these everyday.
This was our first pick and the next ie today's the one I sent you a recommendation for.