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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
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
4.5
I'm thinking... I'm thinking...
After thinking about a week over this book, it's still not settled in my mind. It's an ambitious work. However, it was difficult to read, and I have a few quibbles with the execution. Otherwise, I'd easily give it a full 5 stars. Without getting into spoilers, I loved the braided stories (and the metaphorical structure paralleling the Rapunzel fairy tale) but would have hoped for more satisfaction with the closure for the La Strega character. It left me going a ...more
I'm thinking... I'm thinking...
After thinking about a week over this book, it's still not settled in my mind. It's an ambitious work. However, it was difficult to read, and I have a few quibbles with the execution. Otherwise, I'd easily give it a full 5 stars. Without getting into spoilers, I loved the braided stories (and the metaphorical structure paralleling the Rapunzel fairy tale) but would have hoped for more satisfaction with the closure for the La Strega character. It left me going a ...more
" I had always been a great talker and teller of tales".
One of the things I find extremely pleasurable, is reading a book that was better than expected. That is how I would describe this book. I like this book so much that me (a frequent library user) wants to buy it. This book, a combination of historical fiction and a fairytale retelling was beautifully written. I feel it took me a long time to read, but the made the read all the more enjoyable. Not only was it a good read but it did help me ...more
This is a wonderful story in a story. This book tells the story of the woman who originally penned Rapunzel. Fiction meets fact. There were some slow parts and some of the story was hard to get through but it's well worth the time and effort to finish.
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Jan 15, 2014
Jennifer
marked it as to-read
Jul 19, 2014
Lynne
marked it as to-read
Jul 22, 2014
Leylan
marked it as to-read
Sep 14, 2014
Jessica Andersen
marked it as to-read
Sep 15, 2014
Stephanie
marked it as to-read
Oct 01, 2014
Shayna Varadeaux
marked it as to-read
Dec 01, 2014
Shantyl
added it
Dec 08, 2014
Ladonna
marked it as to-read
Aug 15, 2015
Parvathy
marked it as to-read
Jul 16, 2016
Polly
marked it as to-read
