Bitter Greens

Mar 11, 2013 ☆Jessie☆ (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, hf-france, historical-fiction, tales-of-fae-and-faery-tales, aussie-author, arc, arc-book-tour, received-for-review, owned-copy, hf-italy, you-clever-girl, excessive-fangirl-alert, coverlove, a-dish-best-served-cold, emotional-whiplash, i-love-you-for-your-words, super-sized-story, the-best-of-the-best, five-stars-for-you-glen-coco, 2013-reads, 2013-reviews, best-of-2013, reviewed, hfvbt, inventive-and-original, pure-entertainment

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An Easy Quiz To See If Bitter Greens Is For You:

#1. Do you like strong, flawed and inherent compelling female narrators?

#2. Do you enjoy reading new twists and interpretations of old fairytales?

#3. Does historical fiction with excellent place-as-character (for both Versailles and Venice) appeal to your reading tastes?

#4. Do you like a little magic subtly interwoven into your historical fiction?

#5. Have you read and enjoyed similar books like Kill Me...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fantasy, historical-fiction, historical-women, fantasy, france, italy, standalone-fantasy, retellings, awesome-fantasy-written-by-women, 4-stars

Bitter Greens is a lot of things: historical fiction, historical fantasy, fairy tale retelling. Most importantly, though, it's great fun, containing grand stories worthy of fairy tales, with the complexity and historical background of a good adult novel.

Slightly over half the book is narrated by Charlotte-Rose de la Force, a lady-in-waiting in the court of Louis XIV of France. (She was an actual historical writer, one of the first to tell the Rapunzel fairy tale.) We first meet her at age 47, wh...more Bitter Greens is a lot of things: historical fiction, historical fantasy, fairy tale retelling. Most importantly, though, it's great fun, containing grand stories worthy of fairy tales, with the complexity and historical background of a good adult novel.

Slightly over half the book is narrated by Charlotte-Rose de la Force, a lady-in-waiting in the court of Louis XIV of France. (She was an actual historical writer, one of the first to tell the Rapunzel fairy tale.) We first meet her at age 47, when she's banished to a convent for offending the king; her chapters alternate between her struggle to adapt to her new life and her dramatic backstory. While these chapters have a fairy-tale style, Charlotte-Rose's story is strongly grounded in the turbulent historical era and contains little to no magic.

The rest of the novel is a retelling of "Rapunzel." The majority of these chapters focus on Margherita, the young Rapunzel character, but there's also a chunk belonging to Selena, the witch, in which we get her tragic backstory. These sections contain strong fantasy elements, but still have a historical framework: Italy, particularly Venice, in the 16th century.

The plot jumps around in time, looping backward and forward through the characters' lives; this works well, as connections and similarities between the three main characters build throughout the book. The plot is highly entertaining, Charlotte-Rose's story as much so as the Rapunzel tale. (I can see why Forsyth decided to devote so much time to the writer, as hers was clearly a story begging to be told. The more unlikely elements, such as the dancing-bear scheme, apparently come straight from the historical record.) For me at least, the balance of fairy tale and realism is just right: the story has the larger-than-life quality of a fairy tale, without becoming too simple or dreamy. In isolation, Charlotte-Rose's story might seem a little too easy or cliché, but interwoven with the Rapunzel tale it works splendidly.

The protagonists are the sort of heroines one would expect in a modern fairy tale: brave and good and resourceful. Charlotte-Rose and Margherita seem created with an eye more to making them likeable than realistic; but they are indeed likeable, with sufficient depth to sustain their ultimately satisfying stories. The characterization might at first appear black-and-white, but soon proves somewhat more complex. And while Margherita fills the traditional Rapunzel role, she's a capable girl who provides an answer to many of the problems modern readers have with the character (for instance, why she doesn't just climb down on her own hair).

Selena's story, though, is rather less satisfying. She reads like a darker echo of Charlotte-Rose, and while the author probably didn't intend this interpretation, I find her chapters most interesting when viewed as "the witch's backstory as imagined by Charlotte-Rose." Her character doesn't quite come together the way the other two do, and the inevitable tragedies in her life--having nothing to do with old age--don't explain her obsession with eternal youth. But, in fairness, I may be overly critical on this point--since reading Wicked I've found all other attempts to create wicked witches totally lame.

Bitter Greens has a good sense of place, and does a great job of maintaining that perfect fairy-tale mood. It's not great literature, but the writing style is adequate. Do note that this is definitely a book for adults, with some rather explicit scenes. These become rather repetitive: there are at least 5 relationships in the book, and while they go in different directions, most of the sexual encounters feel nearly interchangeable.

Finally, the historical element is quite interesting; the author clearly did her research, and the French sections in particular are full of lively detail without bogging the story down.

In the end, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fantasy or fairy tale retellings. What I don't understand at all is why it's been published nearly a year in Australia and has yet to come out in the U.S. This seems like a book that would have a large and appreciative audience--better get on that, publishers!(less)

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Jun 06, 2012 Rachael McDiarmid rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourite-books-that-feature-venice

I work in the book industry and when I first read about this book I begged Random House for an advance reading copy. When it arrived, I actually squealed with delight! Once I started, I couldn't put it down. It's the best historical fiction work I've read in a long time (and trust me, I read quite a bit!!). Bitter Greens is beautifully written, with wonderful female characters, and a story that just had to be told. I must admit, I was more fascinated by Charlotte-Rose de la Force than the retell...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Karen Brooks rated it 5 of 5 stars

I confess I'm a long time fan of Kate Forsyth's work ever since I read The Witches of Eileanan and sent my first email ever to an author to express my appreciation. I know the high standards Kate sets and that which her readers have come to expect and what a magnificent storyteller she is, even so, this did not prepare me for the experience of reading Bitter Greens. Quite simply, this is an outstanding, mesmerizing book that is one of the finest works of historical fiction I have read.

Weaving t...more I confess I'm a long time fan of Kate Forsyth's work ever since I read The Witches of Eileanan and sent my first email ever to an author to express my appreciation. I know the high standards Kate sets and that which her readers have come to expect and what a magnificent storyteller she is, even so, this did not prepare me for the experience of reading Bitter Greens. Quite simply, this is an outstanding, mesmerizing book that is one of the finest works of historical fiction I have read.

Weaving the tale of the infamous French writer, Charlotte-Rose de la Force with the tale of Rapunzel, Forsyth delivers a luscious, sensual and incredibly moving tale of love, betrayal, politics, religion, female friendship, desire and gender against the backdrop of Renaissance France and the court of the Sun-King Loius XIV and the heady life of a courtesan in Sixteenth Century Venice.

Moving from Charlotte-Rose's story to the apparently fictitious one of Rapunzel, known in this book by two different names, and yet again to another major female character in at least Rapunzel or Margherita's tale, the bella strega (beautiful witch) and courtesan, Selena Leonelli, the reader is admitted into three what seem at first very different female lives, cultures and times. Only, as their stories develop and unfold, the similarities far outweigh the differences. From imprisonment created by sex and gender roles, to that enforced by faith and parental rules, to the laws laid down by king and country, it becomes evident that Rapunzel's tower is not worst kind of entrapment women can endure. Cleverly using the tower as a metaphor for the different ties that cruelly and gently bind, Forsyth has crafted a beautiful and powerful story of three strong women that lingers in the imagination long after you put it down.

Written as the creative part of a current Doctorate, it's clear that Forsyth has done her research. Anyone who has plunged into the history of fairytales understands that it was the Brothers' Grimm whom we have to thank and curse for many of the current and highly sanitized versions of centuries old and told folk tales that frequent contemporary culture - Grimm and Disney. Forsyth has eschewed these and returned to earlier and darker source material and in doing so, given the novel a veracity and depth that is simply breath-taking. The detail of French court life, of the nunnery, and the way she brings Venice of that time to life is deftly done, never detracting from the story. In the acknowledgments you read about the translations Forsyth commissioned and the trips she took as research for her novel. They were well worth it and as someone who has both researched and taught the history and signifance of fairytales and myths at university, i know I for one would love to read her thesis when it's complete.

Overall, I thought this a simply amazing book that once again left me in awe of this woman's formidable talent and grateful that she (and I!) live in times where women can write their fabulations and share them. A tour de force indeed! (less)

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Aug 23, 2012 Kirstie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, romance, fairy-tale, strong-female-characters

I picked this up primarily due to the fact I had read the book was a retelling of Rapunzel. This book is much much more.

The narrative switches between three female protagonists: Charlotte-Rose de la Force, a vivacious French aristocrat with several scandals under her belt, a passion for writing and a spirit that will not be bound; Margherita, a peasant girl stolen from her parents whose mantra of 'my name is Margherita, my parents loved me, one day I will escape' kept her sane throughout her imp...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Angelya (The Oaken Bookcase) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, fantasy, aussie-authors, reviewed, favorites, cover-love

Review originally posted on The Oaken Bookcase, February 11, 2013.

Bitter Greens is partly a heart-breaking retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale, and partly historical drama set in 17th-century France. I enjoyed every moment!

Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force, a writer and great lover of the salon scene in Paris, has been banished to a convent by the Sun King, Louis XIV of France. The past twenty years of her life at court in Versailles has been filled with scandal and rumours of black magic,...more Review originally posted on The Oaken Bookcase, February 11, 2013.

Bitter Greens is partly a heart-breaking retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale, and partly historical drama set in 17th-century France. I enjoyed every moment!

Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force, a writer and great lover of the salon scene in Paris, has been banished to a convent by the Sun King, Louis XIV of France. The past twenty years of her life at court in Versailles has been filled with scandal and rumours of black magic, and during the course of Bitter Greens we hear about these stories through a series of flashbacks.

While working in the garden at the convent, Charlotte-Rose is told a story by one of the nuns. In Venice during the late 16th Century, a young girl, Margherita, is stolen from her parents by Selena (known as La Strega), a beautiful but dangerous witch. Margherita is locked in a high tower on an island and La Strega only comes to visit once a month with supplies, calling for Margherita to let down her long hair so that she may climb up. Each month, La Strega takes nine drops of blood from Margherita’s wrist and bathes in it to keep herself looking young and beautiful. Margherita longs for someone to rescue her.

The lives, loves and losses of Charlotte-Rose, Margherita and Selena are woven together in Bitter Greens. Each character, setting and emotion are described in such gorgeous detail I almost felt like I was watching a drama on TV rather than reading! I found it very compelling and found myself snatching moments to read whenever I could.

The only thing that put me off slightly at times was the way the story jumps back and forth to the different story arcs after many chapters. One moment I was happily absorbed in the story of Margherita and then was jolted back into Charlotte-Rose’s France. By the end of the book I was used to it, but at first it was a little jarring.

There have been some horrible moments in the histories of France and Venice, and some of that horror has been captured in Bitter Greens - the plagues in Venice that decimated the population, the slaughter of the reformée Huguenots in France and other, earlier persecutions.

Reading about how women were treated in times gone by makes me really grateful to those women who fought for equality during the twentieth century. Women like Charlotte-Rose and Selena did their best to survive and then make a difference in a world dominated by men. Nowadays, we modern women should never take our ability to work, vote and speak our minds for granted.

Bitter Greens is a fairy tale wrapped within a historical drama. With the character of Charlotte-Rose based on a real woman and the settings and events taken straight from history, it is obvious that a great deal of research and effort (and fun!) went into the making of this book. Well done, Ms Forsyth, you have created a masterpiece!(less)

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Feb 26, 2013 Marg rated it 4 of 5 stars

4.5/5

Bring on The Wild Girl!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I first heard about Kate Forsyth's book Bitter Greens just before it was released here in Australia last year I was instantly intrigued! A retelling of the Rapunzel fairytale mixed in with life at the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV and Renaissance Venice - yes please! Of course, combining these three different elements could either work spectacularly or end up in a jumbled mess. Fortunately, Kate Forsyth'...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Bec rated it 4 of 5 stars

My full review will be in the upcoming issue of Bookseller and Publisher, however I will say that it contains the words delicious, lush and imaginative. I spent a whole weekend lost in this one.

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Apr 14, 2013 Dee rated it 4 of 5 stars

I sometimes rank my books based on a) whether I read the ending part way through and b) why I did that. I know authors and readers alike are probably horrified that I skip to the end - but please know for me it doesn't ruin the story. It's usually to reassure myself that some character I love is going to "make it" which actually increases my pleasure in reading. I know, weird. To be fair, sometimes it's also because I'm bored to death and don't really care one way or another - but that's usually...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Nancy White rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm a particular fan of Kate Forsyth so it was inevitable that I would like this book, I think.

That being said, I didn't expect to like it quite so much as I did!

The Rapunzel story is a beautiful one and has gained new popularity since Disney's Tangled was released - it was a movie that I greatly enjoyed and so I was looking forward to another Rapunzel story when I started Bitter Greens.

Bitter Greens is charming the whole way through. It is elegantly written, a real work of art, and as always Ka...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Catherine rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who love fairy-tales

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Having recently studied the French revolution I found myself absolutely hating this book for the first fifty pages as I shouted "Viva la revolution!" at every little overdone aspect of the lives of those at the kings court of Versailles. I could not count a single character that I did not want dead, preferably guillotined, and this included the nuns. I am so pleased that Kate Forsyth did not feel the need to make me love her characters right from the beginning and supplied an incredibly accurate...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Lauren Chater rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fantasy, historical-fiction, fantasy

This wonderful novel surpassed my expectations and made me hungry for more historical fiction with a fairytale twist!

I think it achieves what it set out to do. It tells the story of a remarkable 18th Century french woman, Charlotte Rose, who finds redemption and her own source of inner strength, not in the conventional way by achieving a 'good marriage' but by gaining an understanding of her character through the retold fairytale of Margherita, a girl trapped not by society's conventions of how...more This wonderful novel surpassed my expectations and made me hungry for more historical fiction with a fairytale twist!

I think it achieves what it set out to do. It tells the story of a remarkable 18th Century french woman, Charlotte Rose, who finds redemption and her own source of inner strength, not in the conventional way by achieving a 'good marriage' but by gaining an understanding of her character through the retold fairytale of Margherita, a girl trapped not by society's conventions of how women should be treated but by a flesh-and-blood witch who tortures her in an isolated castle keep. The woman doing the retelling is an old nun, and it is only at the end of the novel that we come to learn how she is involved in the story in a more intimate way than at first realised.

Kate Forsyth is a very skilled writer who has obviously done extensive research to ensure all the setting and time periods of her characters are rich and sumptuously described. I found this book very hard to put down, even though it is quite a big book, and finished it in less than a week which was a surprise! I kept sneaking in reads while doing the housework. It was hard to pull myself out of the wonderfully lush descriptions of France and Venice, places which are obviously dear to the author's heart.

The most enjoyable part of the book, for me, was the character development of Charlotte Rose. When I first started reading about her I thought 'oh my, she is so shallow!' but over time, you begin to understand why Charlotte Rose is the way she is and the final chapter is very satisfying.

Not much actually happens to Charlotte Rose between when she arrives at the nunnery and the novel's conclusion - her story is told through flashbacks which are skillfully woven into the story line with the fairy tale of Magherita and another surprise narrator. If, like me, you enjoy strong female characters who are not flawless, whose mistakes and the lessons they learn make them seem all the more wonderfully human, you will enjoy this novel. The fairy tale elements are beautifully told also, and the inclusion of some very dark surprises added another layer of enjoyment to the reading experience.

My life felt empty after I finished this book! I wanted to read more of Charlotte Rose and live in her world for just a bit longer... Now to begin the search to find a historical fantasy novel that lives up the standards set by Bitter Greens! I can't wait for Kate Forsyth's next book.(less)

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Aug 12, 2012 Bronwyn Mcloughlin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've never read a Kate Forsyth book before - not that I don't like fantasy, but there just isn't enough time to read all the books I yearn to read, so something has to give way.....but this story entranced me from the first. The effortless way the reader is drawn in to what could easily be a very perplexing and complicated mesh of stories is a good sign: for a big, thick book, it is a joy to fly through the magic. It is at once historical, mythical, fictional and whimsical in a delightful mix....more

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May 21, 2013 Helen Petrovic rated it 5 of 5 stars

To begin this review, I wanted to share a story with you. Kate Forsyth is an amazing public speaker. She is heartfelt, funny and utterly engaging. And when she spoke about Bitter Greens, I knew I simply had to read it.

I am sure Kate won’t mind me sharing her story with you. When she was young, Kate was injured on the face by a dog. The dog’s tooth pierced her tear duct, damaging it beyond repair. Unable to clear debris from her eye, Kate suffered a series of serious eye infections, which left h...more To begin this review, I wanted to share a story with you. Kate Forsyth is an amazing public speaker. She is heartfelt, funny and utterly engaging. And when she spoke about Bitter Greens, I knew I simply had to read it.

I am sure Kate won’t mind me sharing her story with you. When she was young, Kate was injured on the face by a dog. The dog’s tooth pierced her tear duct, damaging it beyond repair. Unable to clear debris from her eye, Kate suffered a series of serious eye infections, which left her hospitalised for long periods. During that time, locked up in a hospital room, all Kate could do was read. Is it any wonder that Kate chose Rapunzel, the story of a girl locked in a tower against her will, as her favourite Grimm story? Rapunzel’s tears cured the blindness of her lover, while Kate’s lack of a tear duct was possibly going to cause her to go blind. The irony was not lost on Kate.

Kate says this was a story she always wanted to write. It was not until she was researching the story of the woman who wrote the first Rapunzel tale to include the restoration of sight by Rapunzel that Kate found her tale. Not a fantasy, as she had always thought it would be, but a historical fantasy. Hence, Bitter Greens was born.

Exquisite.

That is the lasting impression I am left with, every time I put this book down, and long after I have finished it. Simply exquisite.
This is a tale, within a tale, within a tale, as expertly woven as Rapunzel’s own fiery tresses (for Rapunzel is a red-head in this retelling). It begins with the story of Charlotte-Rose de la Force, an impoverished French noblewoman who has been residing in the court of Louis XIV. Charlotte-Rose is being shipped off to a nunnery for her many scandals. The opening chapters, in which Charlotte-Rose is locked behind the nunnery walls, stripped of her valuables, humiliated and has her pens and paper destroyed, instantly wrenched at me. I felt such a strong sense of injustice for her position, as she is forced to endure hardship for no other reason than a failure to conform.
As she rails against the cloistered life, she is told the story of Petrosinella, the little girl taken from her family and locked away in a tower, and the tale of the witch who keeps her there. Charlotte-Rose also reflects on her past.

Set amidst the dramatic and alternating backdrops of King Louis’ court in France and 16th century Venice, this story hums with history, but from personal perspectives. These are dangerous and male-dominated worlds, where disease and poverty threatens, where a woman’s power is fleeting at best, where her virtue is her greatest prize and an agreeable marriage her best chance of success.

All of the women in this novel are prisoners in some way or other, whether it be physical restraint by imprisonment in tower or nunnery, or prisoners to convention, society and Feudal rule, or even prisoners to the passing of time and the need for money. But although imprisonment is the central motif of this novel, I think it is ultimately a novel about freedom, and what it means to be free. The central characters are all brave women, willing to risk everything to obtain that most precious ideal – freedom.

I shall not tell you if they find it. You shall have to read and find out.

Reblogged from http://www.highfantasyaddict.wordpres...(less)

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Mar 06, 2013 Erin Al-Mehairi rated it 5 of 5 stars

I must say that Bitter Greens, by Kate Forsyth, could possibly be the front-runner for the best book I read this year. It’s still early in 2013, but I can’t imagine falling in love with a book as much as I’ve fallen in love with Bitter Greens. It most certainly will go on my final list of most cherished and loved books of all time.

Of course, there is the point that I am a perpetual lover of fairy tales, vintage mostly, but also various adaptations and re-tellings. So because this novel is a re-s...more I must say that Bitter Greens, by Kate Forsyth, could possibly be the front-runner for the best book I read this year. It’s still early in 2013, but I can’t imagine falling in love with a book as much as I’ve fallen in love with Bitter Greens. It most certainly will go on my final list of most cherished and loved books of all time.

Of course, there is the point that I am a perpetual lover of fairy tales, vintage mostly, but also various adaptations and re-tellings. So because this novel is a re-structuring of Rapunzel, one of my favorite stories, I was already bound to have a desire for this book. However, it was more than I had expected as Forsyth has an original voice that worked to create an amazing imaginative world that one could slip into and dance around in forever.

Using books as a magical way of escaping the stress and dealings of life, I let them carry me away in my mind. As one of Forsyth’s main protagonists, writer Charlotte Rose de la Force, also creates her own worlds in Bitter Greens by pushing open the imagined door into fantasy realms where any lovely place can be found. This is a tactic useful whether it’s 17th century France or modern times.

However, this book doesn’t just lead us on a frivolous walk of enchantment and fantasy. It carries a message about women living their dreams and hope, overcoming the gender role, being courageous and bold, and most of all love, but beyond that, also the darker emotions and desires that lead us to bad decisions and situations and how we can be redeemed or doomed.

And yes, it transported me away when I needed it most. It lead me to deeper parts of my own motherhood, womanhood, and mortal desires. It wasn’t a book to be put down, and in fact, I had to be reminded that I actually had a life outside of reading the book…..I was swept away.

I can barely begin to give this multi-layered and multifaceted novel the justice it deserves. It is just THAT good and beyond a normal review. The author may be pursuing a degree in fairy tales, but she needs to be the one being taught to those pursuing creative writing courses and literature.

In Bitter Greens, Forsyth introduces us to Charlotte Rose de la Force’s adaptation of Petrosinella from 1697, while also making our acquaintance with de la Force’s own life by making her a part of the story. Yes, it’s several stories interwoven with delicacy and grace; it’s smooth, seamless, and highly evolved. Petrosinella, with maiden Persinette, would later be adapted in German and picked up by the Grimm Brothers in the 1800s, by that time known as Rapunzel. However, the novel is not just another re-telling of Rapunzel, but an even deeper look into society and how vintage writing defines history.

Since my five-year-old is also a lover of classic fairy tales, and we’ve read as many adaptations of Rapunzel over the last few years as we can find while embracing their similarities and differences together, Bitter Greens is a novel I’ll put on the shelf to share with her when she’s old enough to read the adult content. It’s one book that will always have a place on my bookshelf and hopefully hers too. It’s timeless.

Forsyth’s subtle dissection of the culture, art, storytelling and emotions of the time within her fiction, coupled with how we retain and retell stories today, is in a class all its own. Her creation is a masterpiece of art to not get lost in a sea of ever published books. Forsyth could quite possibly be one of the best story tellers of our modern age.

From my book blog site, see an interview with Kate Forsyth on March 7, 2013 as well.(less)

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Mar 25, 2013 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult

This book was right up my alley. As soon as I heard vaguely what it was about I had the feeling that I would love it. I was spot on. Half historical fiction and half fairytale retelling, this book was captivating from chapter to chapter. The life of Charlotte-Rose was just as intriguing as the life of Margherita and I loved them both equally. It was great having the different perspectives, and the witch's perspective was a pleasant surprise. The way Charlotte-Rose's life was told was captivating...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Annabelle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth is an enchanting retelling of Rapunzel combined with the real tale of Charlotte-Rose De la Force. Bitter Greens is a brilliant novel, I cannot get over how overwhelming and beautifully written this book is. I really wasn’t expecting it and now here I am adding it to the top of my best reads of the year. Not only do we get a historically accurate setting but also some very strong female characters who showed us their strengths in different ways.

Bitter Greens is told...more Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth is an enchanting retelling of Rapunzel combined with the real tale of Charlotte-Rose De la Force. Bitter Greens is a brilliant novel, I cannot get over how overwhelming and beautifully written this book is. I really wasn’t expecting it and now here I am adding it to the top of my best reads of the year. Not only do we get a historically accurate setting but also some very strong female characters who showed us their strengths in different ways.

Bitter Greens is told from three different points of view. We get the scandalous life of Charlotte-Rose De La Force as she is banished from court and sent to a convent. There she stands out like a sore thumb, nobody cares about court life and hence Charlotte-Rose is a nobody, dressed in a black dress to look like everyone else. We get to see Charlotte rebel against the nuns and her only friend comes in the form of Sœur Seraphina who tells Charlotte the tale of girl who was sold by her parents.

We then get Margherita’s point of view, she’s a young girl who at the age of seven is taken from her parents because of one of their actions before she was born. The pretty red-haired girl is stolen from her parents and locked up in a tower by the witch La Strega Bella, to live out her short life helping La Strega Bella stay young and youthful.

Then we get some chapters from the witch La Strega Bella or also known as Selena. We get to see her past and how she became a witch and what made her twisted outlook on life develop. We see how she becomes infatuated with the thought of eternal youth and would stop at nothing to get it.

All of the female characters were so well developed and we were shown how strength in women appears in different ways. I loved the little flashbacks we got to the character’s past so the reader could learn where and why everything was the way it was. I loved these parts of the novel where we saw the characters innocent before being changed and influenced by the world around them. Their stories were all interwoven brilliantly to create one breath-taking story.

Bitter Greens also has a strong feminist streak throughout the novel, I’m not sure if the author did this on purpose or if the characters just took over. I loved it though. We got to see Charlotte ahead of her times and rebelling against the King. The scene when her mother is arguing with the king also struck a chord with me, she wouldn’t back down to him even when it was a women’s place to. She had her beliefs and she would tell them to him whether he liked it or not. Also Selena the Venetian courtesan who proved to men that women are not the weaker sex and she soon got her revenge on any man that crossed her path. It’s this book that made me want to explore the whole world of feminism more because these strong female characters are so inspirational even in this day and age they are role models. I want to thank the author for making these incredible characters that will stay with me for a long time.

The writing was so beautiful and flowed so well, the reading was effortless and you could tell from the start this was going to be a masterpiece. The historical world was so detailed too and in your mind you could just easily slip into the past and join the crowds. Oh I loved this novel. It was such a delight to read and I could never put it down, I wanted to keep reading even at the end. I am sure I will read more books by the author in the future especially the upcoming The Wild Girl.
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Apr 15, 2012 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wowee! Kate Forsyth is a genius. This book not only retells our favourite Rapunzel fairy tale but also tells the tale of the scandalous Charlotte-Rose de la Force, the woman who wrote the edition we all know and love, as well as the view point of the wicked witch. It's all marvelously weaved and I couldn't get enough of it. I wanted to know more about each story and was stuck in an internal battle each time it switched viewpoints between wanting to know what happens next to that character and fa...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Kell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-for-author-publisher, read-in-2013

Everyone loves a good fairytale, and one of the most beautiful, mysterious and compelling of all is that of Rapunzel. It has had many different names and versions, but the one that is perhaps best known was penned not by a man (or by the bothers Grimm, as most people assume – they only adapted it) , as most novels and writings of that time, but by a woman. And not just any woman, but one of the most notorious and scandalous women of her age, Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force, who was exiled...more

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Jun 09, 2012 deliciouslyfictitious rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: lovers of fairytales, historical fiction, strong women and just those that love a darn good story

I know , I know. You ought not judge a book by its cover, but for me the cover of this one said it all. The illustration is sumptuous and dreamy. The full lips and lustrous red hair of the heroine on the front promise a tale of love, passion, tenderness and depth.

Bitter Greens tackled an ancient story in a new way, lending it originality without giving away the characteristics that have made this age-old tale endure. Meticulously researched; beautifully written, it offered up vibrant, human char...more

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Jun 18, 2013 Kate Lord Brown rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you're a fan of Angela Carter's work, you'll enjoy this adult retelling of a well known fairytale, (Tangled, it's not). Weaving together historical fiction with fairytale is an original idea, and Kate has skilfully created a story that will appeal both to readers of histfic and fantasy. The female characters, Charlotte, Margherita and Selena, are powerful and well drawn - these are no damsels in distress. If you haven't read fairytales since you were a child, or you read them to your children...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Mieneke rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, fantasy, fairytaleretellings, 2013

My three-year-old is obsessed with Disney Princesses and her favourite is Rapunzel. This means I have to launder her Rapunzel shirt at least twice a week and we've seen Tangled in both Dutch and English at least fifteen times. Luckily enough, I rather like the story of Rapunzel and Tangled is a pretty fun film – don't get me started on the Pocahontas phase she had earlier this year – so when I was offered a review copy of Bitter Greens I was readily primed on the subject matter and inclined to s...more My three-year-old is obsessed with Disney Princesses and her favourite is Rapunzel. This means I have to launder her Rapunzel shirt at least twice a week and we've seen Tangled in both Dutch and English at least fifteen times. Luckily enough, I rather like the story of Rapunzel and Tangled is a pretty fun film – don't get me started on the Pocahontas phase she had earlier this year – so when I was offered a review copy of Bitter Greens I was readily primed on the subject matter and inclined to say yes. Add to that this ringing endorsement by CW Gortner, whose The Queen's Vow I'd just really enjoyed, and I was jumping out the gate. However, I got far more than just a retelling of Rapunzel in Bitter Greens, I got a glimpse of the intriguing life of Charlotte-Rose de la Force, one of the first female writers of literary fairy tales, and the glittering court of Louis XIV, the Sun King of France and a look at 16th-century Venice through the eyes of both an innocent and a jade. An intricate story within a story, a curious blend of historical fiction and true fairy-elements. And it has to be mentioned, all of this is delivered by Allison & Busby in a stunning package. It's a beautifully put together book, with gorgeous cover art, black flyleaves, a black ribbon and yellow ends in the spine.

Like the plait in which Margherita is forced to keep her endless lengths of hair, the story consists of three strands that intertwine to form a stronger, more elegant whole. The base strand, the one we start with and the one that the others twine about is that of the story of Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force, a French noblewoman banished from the court to a convent by King Louis XIV. Not a natural beauty like the many mistresses the king goes through at court and like her mistress, the Marquise de Montespan, Louis' Maîtresse-en-Titre, the official royal mistress, she had to gain her position at court by other means. Instead of her looks, she uses her wits to get ahead, becoming a celebrated member of the Parisian salons and a well-known author of novels about historical figures. However, Charlotte-Rose was part of a court where one could be licentious and scandalous, but never be seen as such, so once she has too much scandal attached to her name, the king exiles her to the convent of Gercy-en-Brie, where she encounters Sœur Seraphina, a nun who tells her the tale we've come to know and love as Rapunzel. I really enjoyed Charlotte-Rose's tale, as she is a wonderfully complex character, headstrong and independent, but aware of the dangers of her life and always looking for love and acceptance in the wrong arms. Her three ill-fated love affairs show how much the women of her age were dependent on making a good match so they could at least appear respectable and how easily these arrangements could be broken off if one of the respective parties' families didn't approve. I loved her wonderfully acerbic observations about the members of the court, but at the same time she shows she has a good heart when she helps the Duchesse de Fontanges even if it might be against her best interests. Charlotte-Rose also shows us the tawdriness beneath the glitter and glamour of the Sun King's court, letting the reader see behind the curtain of the stunning palace of Versailles. Having visited there several times, it's hard to imagine that those pristine and grand halls were in fact as crowded as they are described in the book. Then again, it's easy to imagine how cold and drafty it could be as well!

The second strand is the story of Margherita, or Petrosinella as La Strega calls her, who is taken by the witch Selena Leonelli in exchange for her father's hands when La Strega catches him stealing greens from her walled garden. She is the Rapunzel as we know her, the one in the tower, with the long, long hair and the prince and the singing. But before Margherita gets to that tower, we see her getting torn away from her family and being raised until maidenhood in one of the foundling hospitals of Venice, where she becomes one of their most gifted choir singers. I found this look at Venetian semi-monastic life fascinating, as it shows how much being shut away in a convent, willing or not, was part of a woman's life, whether maiden, mother, or crone. We see it happen to Margherita, to Charlotte-Rose, and even earlier in the story to Charlotte-Rose's mother. Several of the king's discarded mistresses ended up in convents after they fell out of favour and it was a common practice to ship off younger or unmarriageable daughters to a convent, to both lose a mouth to feed and to create some goodwill with the church. It is only when Margherita is taken from the Pietà and locked away in a mysterious tower that the book takes a turn for the fantastical, as it turns out that the courtesan known as La Strega Bella, the beautiful witch, truly is a sorceress. Though even once locked in the tower, much of what happens can be explained away by simple ignorance on Margherita's part and some form of mental imbalance on the part of Selena. I found the sections dealing with Margherita's attempts at discovering a way out of the tower and the discoveries she makes, about the tower, about herself and about La Strega, fascinating. Margherita's innocence stretches so far that once she's discovered by the prince and falls in love with, after which the inevitable happens, she doesn't even realise that she's fallen with child. The resolution of her story is similar to the one found in the traditional Grimm version, which is in turn based on Charlotte-Rose's Persinette. It is indeed a truly happily ever after for our Margherita, but it's a happily ever after of her own making.

Our third strand in the plait is the story of the book's villain, La Bella Strega, Selena Leonelli. We learn her tragic story; her awful youth on the canals of Venice after her beautiful courtesan mother is brutally raped and abused by her main patron and his servants. She is forced to care for her mother, who has lost the will to live and soon the young Selena is left all alone. She is taken in by their landlady, an old crone called Sibillia, who is a witch and who offers to teach her the arts. Driven by revenge Selena learns all she can, secretly studying the black arts, and afterwards becoming one of the most successful courtesans of Venice. She then meets Tiziano, a young artist better known to us as Titian, and becomes his lover and muse. Seeing her youthful beauty exquisitely reflected in his paintings, she can't bear the thought of becoming old and this is what sets her on the path to Margherita and the tower. While Selena is obviously disturbed and dangerous, at the same time, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Knowing what she has seen and endured, her choices, while bad, are understandable. Her pathology, apart from wanting to bathe in virginal blood to stay young, also seems rather bound up in sexual and maternal themes. She keeps Margherita on the border of malnourishment, so as to keep her from going into puberty, and she isolates her so she'll certainly remain a virgin. Another element is Selena's need for Margherita to love her and treat her like a mother, which once the girl becomes too old to actually be her child – both physically and hormonally – without her having to be a crone effectively ends her usefulness to Selena.

This is a book of threes: three points of view; maiden, mother, crone; virgin, prostitute, saint; three significant relationships for Charlotte-Rose; and a mantra of three truths that ground Margherita in her sanity; three strands that make a stronger whole, a plait that connects Selena from the early 1500's to Charlotte-Rose in the late 1600's. Beyond a book with strong stories and themes, Bitter Greens is also a compelling read. I loved losing myself in its pages and Forsyth's wonderful writing. The book is one of the most powerful fairy-tale retellings I've read and I can't wait to read more books by Forsyth. Whether you're a fan of historical fiction, fantasy or fairy-tale retellings, this book delivers for fans of all three. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This book was provided for review by the publisher.(less)

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Mar 12, 2013 Lindsay (Little Reader Library) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, blog-tour, fairytale

‘Her parents had sold her to a sorceress for a handful of bitter greens…parsley, wintercress and rapunzel.’

This beautiful novel has at its heart three women and three stories which are all combined to create a very special and enchanting tale. It is a gorgeous hardback edition, beautifully finished, making it a joy to look at, hold and read. The story is beautifully written, and it makes for an engrossing historical fiction read. In part it is a retelling of a classic fairytale, Rapunzel. But it...more ‘Her parents had sold her to a sorceress for a handful of bitter greens…parsley, wintercress and rapunzel.’

This beautiful novel has at its heart three women and three stories which are all combined to create a very special and enchanting tale. It is a gorgeous hardback edition, beautifully finished, making it a joy to look at, hold and read. The story is beautifully written, and it makes for an engrossing historical fiction read. In part it is a retelling of a classic fairytale, Rapunzel. But it is so much more than this too.

Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force, to give her her full title, is appalled to have been banished from the royal court of Louis XIV at Versailles to instead spend her days in a nunnery. She tells us that she 'had always been a great talker and teller of tales', and this time her storytelling has cost her dearly. She has a talent for tales, a great imagination and a way of captivating her audience. She is depicted as a strong and independent woman, but the times she lived in severely restrained her ability to become everything she hoped she could be:

‘I had thought I could bend the world to my will. I had thought I could break free of society’s narrow grooves, forging a life of my own desire. I had thought I was the navigator of my soul’s journey. I had been wrong.’

As is noted in the foreword to the book, she was in fact a real person who wrote one of the earliest versions of the Rapunzel story, under the name ‘Persinette.’

The second strand to the narrative begins the retelling of the tale we know as Rapunzel; the character who is named Margherita here. The story takes us back to the sixteenth century to meet a little seven-year-old girl in Venice upon the day that will change her life. She becomes trapped in a tower with little hope of escape, weighted down by lengths of red-gold hair. Despite, or perhaps because of, the physical constraints she finds herself in, Margherita turns to her imagination to escape the tower:

‘So she lay in her bed, as snug as she could make herself, and imagined herself out in the world, having all kinds of grand adventures: fighting giants; defeating witches; finding treasure; sailing the seven seas; singing at the courts of kings.’

The third woman to feature in this story is Selena Leonelli, who encounters the artist Titian as part of her story and recounts the events of her life that have shaped her dark character, rendering her frightened of the passage of time.

The stories of the three women are captivating and held my interest and attention whilst reading; they were brought vividly to life for me, I wondered about their lives, felt drawn into their adventures, was moved by their plights and the different ways in which they all seemed trapped. Three distinctive women with fascinating journeys through life, often fraught with danger, beset by sadness, but all strong and courageous. I felt frustration at the restricted position life offered them as women living back then. I think I liked Charlotte most of all; such a strong woman for her times and evidently influenced by her mother. It was enjoyable how the story moved about between the three women and the episodes looking back in time added another dimension to the tale and gave insight into the each character's formative years.

The attention to detail in Kate Forsyth’s writing is excellent and brings the period settings to life vividly, but this never holds up the advancement and intrigue of the narrative, which the author keeps moving satisfyingly and effortlessly throughout.

I found great pleasure in sitting back and reading this impressive novel and I think it will appeal to many readers who like a combination of accomplished historical fiction with romance plus a fairytale, fantasy element. I enjoyed escaping back in time and getting lost in this layered, imaginative, magical story every time I picked the book up. Bitter Greens is definitely one of the highlights of my reading in 2013 so far.(less)

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Feb 20, 2012 Lizzy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, on-my-real-bookshelf

I'll start by saying, Yes I would recommend you read this book. Forsyths telling of Rapunzel is beautiful, you cannot help but feel heart broken for the young Marghuerita. Her tale about the witch, Selena, is also masterfully written, giving the character more depth than you could think possible.
I believe the issue of this novel lay with Charlotte-Rose. She is the protagonist of the tale, and we spend most of our time following her story. While I find her story interesting, I don't think it's as...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Kelly A. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: some-i-own, 1500s, 1600s-1700s, since-may-2012

I received Bitter Greens about a week ago in the mail and was pretty worried that I wouldn't get it finished in time. However, even at almost 500 pages, I finished it in less than 12 hours! It was simply - and I don't EVER use this word lightly - unputdownable and is already a contender for my favorite book of 2013.

Bitter Greens is a retelling of the fairy tale about Rapunzel, but it still so much more than that. It's the story of three women: Selena, a great Venetian beauty in the early 16th ce...more I received Bitter Greens about a week ago in the mail and was pretty worried that I wouldn't get it finished in time. However, even at almost 500 pages, I finished it in less than 12 hours! It was simply - and I don't EVER use this word lightly - unputdownable and is already a contender for my favorite book of 2013.

Bitter Greens is a retelling of the fairy tale about Rapunzel, but it still so much more than that. It's the story of three women: Selena, a great Venetian beauty in the early 16th century, who in order to preserve her youthful looks, kidnaps Margherita (of course not named Rapunzel, but that still has a part) in order to feed off of her youth, and Charlotte-Rose, a former lady in the court of French king Louis XIV who has been banished to a nunnery and is having the story of Selena and Margherita told to her. Sound confusing? It may be at first - if you need a better explanation, click HERE for the book's goodreads page. The POVs are not sequential and jump around a fair bit, but soon enough you'll get used to this. Kate Forsyth is one of the most wonderful storytellers I've come across - everything from the decadence of Versailles to the stink of Venice was written so vividly.

Charlotte-Rose's story is by far my favorite. Of course I love reading about kings and their courts, but Louis XIV is one of the best and Charlotte-Rose's role in it all was intriguing. She is a person who really existed and is a wonderful person to read about. She wrote books, was sassy to the king, and rescued her lover by dressing up as a bear. It was interesting to see her change from a fancy, liberal court lady to a humble woman in a nunnery. I can't wait to check out some biographies about her! In all three stories, witchcraft plays quite a big role, and as a historical novel, there is always some danger in those stories. Bitter Greens is a great look into the beliefs and laws of the times. God forbid if you were anything but Catholic in either France or Italy during these times! You'll certainly read about these wars and prejudices as well. I love that I received subtle history knowledge while reading an entertaining story.(less)

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May 11, 2013 Aishwarya Hariharan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-of-the-awesome-kind

4.5 stars only cos I felt a little disoriented in the middle of the book when I realized I knew most of the things that were to happen simply because Charlotte- Rose had already mentioned them before.
But other than that, sheer brilliance. Charlotte, Selena and Margherita are compelling narrators who leave you wondering what's going to happen. The book is filled with flawed but ultimately interesting characters and shines all the more for it. But I did notice that except for Lucio, there wasn't...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Sally906 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, historical, australian-author, aww2013, litexp13

WOW!!!!!

OK – so you want more than wow? As a child I devoured the Hans Christian Anderson and the Grimm Brothers stories. Rapunzel was one of my favourite Grimm stories and I was delighted to see that the BITTER GREENS character Charlotte-Rose de la Force was a real historical figure who wrote the story of Persinette which was adapted by the Grimm brothers who presented it as Rapunzel.

Too complicated? Then don’t worry about it – just read the story and allow yourself to be swept away into a wh...more WOW!!!!!

OK – so you want more than wow? As a child I devoured the Hans Christian Anderson and the Grimm Brothers stories. Rapunzel was one of my favourite Grimm stories and I was delighted to see that the BITTER GREENS character Charlotte-Rose de la Force was a real historical figure who wrote the story of Persinette which was adapted by the Grimm brothers who presented it as Rapunzel.

Too complicated? Then don’t worry about it – just read the story and allow yourself to be swept away into a whole new historical fantasy world that blends truth with fiction, known history with alternative history, and real characters with make-believe characters; or are they?

I have to confess at first I was taken aback by the sheer size of the book. But I need not have worried because the pages just disappeared as I became immersed in the story. In fact, time almost had no meaning as long as I was reading, and by the end of the book I was almost wishing there were more pages. BITTER GREENS is beautifully written, with wonderful evocative phrases on nearly every page that conjures up the historical period vividly. It has three stories that make up the whole tale. The fates of the three main characters are more closely connected than it would first appear. Whilst young Margherita is physically incarcerated in a remote tower, and bound by both physical walls and magic to stay there. Charlotte-Rose and Selena are each bound by the societies that they live in. Bound by court etiquette, the position of women in society at that time of history, the church and their parents and husbands, women were very restricted; and when rules were broken the consequences were far greater for the woman that the men.

Selena and Charlotte-Rose tell their own stories, but the story of Margherita is told in the third person. The stories are all interwoven with connections that don’t become apparent until later on – there are twists; turns; intrigue; danger and black magic all set against a background of Huguenot persecution and catastrophic and horror-ridden waves of the black plague.

Author, Kate Forsyth, made the ultimate sacrifice for her craft and forced herself to travel to Paris, Gascony, Venice and the Italian Lakes for inspiration. She has a new book coming out in mid-March THE WILD GIRL and it is based on Dortchen Wild, the real historical character who was the wife of one of the Grimm brothers. If it is even as half as good as BITTER GREENS then it will be a book that will linger in your mind for a long time after you finally close it.
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Apr 08, 2012 Sean the Bookonaut rated it 5 of 5 stars

I had always been a great talker and teller of tales.

This is the first line of Bitter Greens, Kate Forsyth’s marvellous retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale and it drew me in immediately.

Bitter Greens is a well woven tale that draws together the magic and darkness of the original Rapunzel with an equally enchanting and historically faithful account of the tale’s first author, the enigmatic Charlotte-rose de la Force. If you thought women at the Court of the Sun King were pure decoration, think a...more

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May 01, 2013 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a really original, wonderfully written take on the Rapunzel story. It follows three women living in seventeenth century Venice and Versailles, all of whom struggle to find a unique place for themselves in a male-dominated world. The book is set in the historical past, with an intricate plot structure that jumps between eras, but there's also an element of magic that will make fantasy lovers happy.

While I enjoyed Kate Forsyth's writing, loved the settings, and basically devoured the entir...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone who loves a brilliant story

Recommended to Sam by: heard author speak

Last month I went to hear Kate Forsyth speak as part of her national tour for the Get Reading! Programme. At the time, I hadn’t read very much by her, but I was a fan of her blog (she writes about all sorts of interesting things, go check it out at http://www.kateforsyth.com.au ). I’m really glad that I did listen to her speak about the writing process, her research and how she became a writer, in addition to meeting her and getting my copy of The Wild Girl signed. Not only was Kate informative,...more Last month I went to hear Kate Forsyth speak as part of her national tour for the Get Reading! Programme. At the time, I hadn’t read very much by her, but I was a fan of her blog (she writes about all sorts of interesting things, go check it out at http://www.kateforsyth.com.au ). I’m really glad that I did listen to her speak about the writing process, her research and how she became a writer, in addition to meeting her and getting my copy of The Wild Girl signed. Not only was Kate informative, she is a very engaging speaker and I am full of admiration towards her. I particularly enjoyed listening to how she does her research, and I can tell you that the extensive time and effort she spends on it comes through in Bitter Greens. Kate has the ability to make dry ol’ history come to life and absolutely sparkle!

Readers of my blog and reviews would know that I’m not really a fan of science fiction and fantasy – my brain prefers cold hard facts or at least something to be plausible (which could be why I’m also a fan of Mythbusters). Bitter Greens involves witchcraft, spells and (almost) immortal life – but I loved it! Kate has the ability to make the fantastical seem completely at ease with reality. If you think you know the fairy tale Rapunzel from your youth, think again. This story is so much richer, more involved and interesting than a girl with a long plait.

Bitter Greens opens with Charlotte-Rose de la Force (a fantastic name for a heroine- but what’s better is that she is a real person too) being sent against her will to a convent after offending the King of France, Louis XIV. Charlotte is not happy to be deprived of life at court and her husband, Charles. She rails against the ways of the nuns until one morning, Soeur Seraphina begins to tell her a story of a witch and a little girl.

Margherita is the girl locked in the tower. Previously happy with her parents, she is taken from them after Selena the witch extracts her payment for a handful of bitter greens. Renamed by Selena, she lives a life alone, except when Selena comes to take her blood as a youth elixir. Will her prince ever come?

We also find how Selena came to be the feared witch and courtesan La Strega Bella, famous throughout Venice for her beauty and witchcraft. A destitute youth means that Selena is determined never to be poor again, nor suffer the way her mother did.

Each character’s history and place in time is meticulously researched. Initially, I felt a bit lost with Charlotte’s story as I don’t know my French history very well, but I was soon comfortable with Kate’s glorious descriptions of the dresses, food and nuances of the royal court. I did feel sorry for Selena at times (even though I admired Margherita’s courage and ability to withstand imprisonment) and Kate makes a good case to show how Selena got to be where she ended up. The emotions run high at times between passionate love affairs (Charlotte does quite well for someone who claims not to be a beauty) and some incredibly cruel moments, such as the death of Selena’s mother. Kate has an incredible use of language that sets the scene, tone and characters clearly in my head. The story is fast paced and never boring.

One thing I remember Kate saying in her author talk was that she always promises a happy ending. I believe you will be delighted in how the story wraps up and eager to read more by Kate Forsyth.

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