Fairy Tales

[close] Beauty broke the spell by falling in love with the Beast, and they lived happily ever after. For Elise, her friends, her father, and every other citizen of Colmar, the story was a fairy tale created by the older generation to help little children sleep at night without fear.

But, Forty years after Belle and over sixty years after the curse, the legend becomes a haunting reality once again. Joined on one side by Marshall, who is possessively in love with her, and joined on the other side by her invalid friend Patric, who Elise feels she must protect, Elise never thought she would also befriend the prince and take her own place in the fairy tale.

Unfortunately, the return of the Beast means more than finding beauty and love among ugliness and hate. The Beast has real-life consequences that result in misery, confusion, and suffering, and, for Elise, the return of the Beast means she must choose who and what she cares about most and must discover whether, like her predecessors, she can tame the Beast. [close]

[close] "One of those unique and wonderful manuscripts that come one's way all too rarely" said my London Publisher, before the bean counters turned it down as 'too hard to classify, too hard to sell'. The Seven Gifts is not easy to classify but I would place it somewhere in a triangle of Fairy Tale, Fable and Magical Realism. One reviewer said it "walks that fine line between profound and insane".

In the story a reclusive outcast rock star heads a band of lonely misfits trapped in the pages of seven mysterious books that have been locked away at the top of a remote seaside tower. Each cryptic book contains clues to a hidden gift that was bestowed on the Earth by its guardian. A young boy is commanded by an Angel to read and decipher the seven stories. The stories challenge even this boy's rarified view of reality as he struggles to unveil the gifts, and also the enigma of the Angel, and the secret of himself. When the boy finally closes the books the gifts are no longer hidden, and the characters no longer trapped; and he is no longer a boy.

Some reviewers have said: "A most unusual and beautiful story that lingers in the mind long after one has read it"; "reminded me a lot of The Alchemist or The Little Prince. … quirky …, very strange little stories that each have a hidden theme that all tie together in the end"; "If readers are looking for something original and thought-provoking, this is nearly perfect"; "It is really a wonderful, unique book".

Yet no-one seems to want to buy even a $3 ebook, never mind a nice autographed paperback, so here are five of my all-too-slowly dwindling stock all signed and ready to post to some mysteriously-selected Goodreads readers. I might as well give them away before the mice get them. [close]

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One of the world’s most beloved storytellers has crafted a dark fairy tale full of wonderment and longing. Complete with Audrey Niffenegger’s bewitching etchings and paintings, Raven Girl explores the bounds of transformation and possibility.

Praise for Raven Girl:

“A brooding and radiant modern fairy tale.” —Booklist, Starred Review

“Niffenegger (The Night Bookmobile) blends art and prose in this eerie picture book for adults.” —Publishers Weekly

Download the reading guide at www.abramsbooks.com/librarians.html

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