For today’s post, I have decided to do a short book review of Magickal Faerytales: An Enchanted Collection of Retold Tales by Lucy Cavendish. This is a book that was written to retell eleven fairytales in a way that the author felt was possibly more representative of their older origins. She even wrote her own original twelfth fairytale which is in her words an answer to The Little Mermaid without being a straightforward retelling.
I loved that each faerytale was given its own chapter with the first half of the chapter being Cavendish’s retelling of the tale and the second half being descriptions of deeper meanings within the tale and also her explaining why she made certain choices for her retelling! The book itself is gorgeously illustrated by Jasmine Becket-Griffith and is a large lovely hardbound tome, making it a lovely aesthetic piece in addition to being an interesting read.
The book got bonus points from me for having many of my favorite tales included. My favorite fairytale, Sleeping Beauty, is the eleventh tale of the book, and my second favorite, Snow White, is the book’s first tale. The other tales included are Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, The Goose Girl, Brother and Sister, Snow White and Rose Red, Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and finally Lucy Cavendish’s original The Ninth Wave. I would definitively recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of fairytales in any way, but especially those who love older folklore and faery lore with a desire to dig into the deeper and even more magical origins of these tales!
I hope you have enjoyed this brief review. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the book cover. I found the image on https://www.amazon.com/Magickal-Faerytales-Enchanted-Collection-Retold/dp/0738765392/ref=asc_df_0738765392/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=509467422400&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14975757961323818850&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007141&hvtargid=pla-869261372090&psc=1.
Further Reading
- Magickal Faerytales: An Enchanted Collection of Retold Tales by Lucy Cavendish
White Rose of Avalon 