Bluebeard's Keys, And Other Stories

by Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

422 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Anne Isabella, Lady Ritchie, née Thackeray, was an English writer. She was the eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray. She was the author of several novels which were highly regarded in their time, and a central figure in the late Victorian literary scene. She is perhaps best remembered today as the custodian of her father's literary legacy, and for her short fiction placing traditional fairy tale narratives in a Victorian milieu.

Anne Isabella Thackeray was born in London, the eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray and his wife Isabella Gethin Shawe (1816–1893). She had two younger sisters: Jane, born in 1839, who died at eight months, and Harriet Marian (1840–1875), who married Leslie Stephen in 1869. Anne, whose father called her "Anny", spent her childhood in France and England.

She married her cousin Richmond Ritchie, seventeen years her junior, in 1877. The couple had two children, Hester and Billy.

She was the step-aunt of Virginia Woolf who penned an obituary for her in the Times Literary Supplement. She is believed to be the inspiration for the character of Mrs. Hilbery in Woolf's Night and Day.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angela Carter may be the better known reteller of fairy tales from a woman's perspective, but Anne Thackeray Ritchie is among the finest. Along with the stories reprinted in Nina Auerbach's Forbidden Journeys: Fairy Tales and Fantasies by Victorian Women Writers, these make for fascinating reading of the ways the folk and fairy tales could be reclaimed from the masculine lenses literary collectors such as Charles Perrault framed the stories. "Bluebeard" itself is an interesting piece to examine as Ritchie has proven (as have Carter in "The Bloody Chamber" as well as Margaret Atwood in "Bluebeard's Egg") with its contradictions about the wages of female curiosity. Ritchie's version is perhaps more meandering than her later sister retellers, but she successfully reclaims the story, along with the others in the volume. Anne Thackeray Ritchie is not generally one of the first authors one thinks of from the 19th century or when it comes to retelling fairy tales, but if you like either of those, do yourself a favor and seek out this book.


As a note, I had my copy printed at my local Books-a-Million.