A wily cat, a strange romance, and detestable daughters: the great American poet Marianne Moore retells three stories originally written by Charles Perrault to amuse the niece of Louis XIV.
Modern readers may be surprised to find that the prince does not wake Sleeping Beauty with a kiss - the more he cares, the less willing he is to intrude - and that his mother is descended from ogres.
Characterised by vivid imagery, uncluttered prose, inventive alliteration and a sly sceptic's wit, Moore's versions do more than tell a tale: 'Having seen a problem solved,' she writes, each one leaves 'a pattern of order in the mind.'
Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.
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In the story of Sleeping Beauty, the Prince must go through the hedge of thorns if he is to reach the castle.
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(@FaberBooks, 15 October 2019, ebook, 38 pages, bought from @AmazonKindle)
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This is a new author for me. I've heard a lot about her but have never actually read any of her work. I've read all of Perrault's fairy tales thanks to an Open University English Literature module so I was familiar with the original source material. I really enjoyed the author's versions of Puss in Boots, The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. They are quite dark at times and not at all like the cute version of the tales that have become very popular and I can see echoes of Perrault in them.
