A Library Journal Best Book of 2014: Historical FictionThe amazing power and truth of the Rapunzel fairy tale comes alive for the first time in this breathtaking tale of desire, black magic and the redemptive power of loveFrench novelist Charlotte-Rose de la Force has been banished from the court of Versailles by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. At the convent, … of scandalous love affairs. At the convent, she is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of bitter greens…
After Margherita’s father steals parsley from the walled garden of the courtesan Selena Leonelli, he is threatened with having both hands cut off, unless he and his wife relinquish their precious little girl. Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1512 and still inspiring him at the time of his death. She is at the center of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition.
Locked away in a tower, Margherita sings in the hope that someone will hear her. One day, a young man does.
Award-winning author Kate Forsyth braids together the stories of Margherita, Selena, and Charlotte-Rose, the woman who penned Rapunzel as we now know it, to create what is a sumptuous historical novel, an enchanting fairy tale retelling, and a loving tribute to the imagination of one remarkable woman.
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Jumbled movement through eras covered. Tedious
Beautifully written book about, among other things, the origin story of the tale of Rapunzel. Definitely worthwhile read!
This was a wonderful book with a twist on the story of the witch and Rapunzel. It was a page-turner. I loved all the characters and the details of the court and the convent. It was such an original take on an old tale and so beautifully written. I was sad when it ended. Excellent story!
This is a good read. It is long, but it has three stories intertwined. A very interesting and detail-filled story of Rapunzel and Louis XIV’s court and a touch of magic. It was an engrossing read with strong women whose personalities practically leap off the page.
I liked the telling of Rapunzel and it’s attempt to unravel the story’s origin but Charlotte came across mostly annoying and it wound up I was just skimming through her story to get back to the other.
Weird. Certainly not the fairy story I remember. However, it did give insight into it’s author and the time period in France was interesting.
If I am being completely up front, I had no idea what I was getting into with this book. It was a suggestion made by my local library to fulfill an activity on their (amazing!) Summer Reading Challenge. I had no basis of knowledge when it came to “fairy tales retold” so I just scrolled the list of suggestions and landed on “Bitter Greens”. And what a pick it turned out to be. (insert all the starry eye emojis right here)
What I liked about “Bitter Greens”:
Three stories perfectly intertwined – The book covers the stories of three different characters — Charlotte-Rose, Margherita, and Serena — moving effortlessly between timelines, locations, and character personalities. I could not believe how easy it was to switch from one character to the next and back again. I was never lost. And I was constantly on the edge of my seat, wondering what was happening next in all three character arcs.
The character development – As the pages turned deeper between the book’s covers, the characters became ever more nuanced, richly layered, along with the setting. The pace and depth of development was perfectly executed.
Versailles – Having watched the television drama “Versailles”, I had the images from that show in my mind as I pictured what I was reading. With this benefit, I could see it all playing our in my imagination, in all its decadent magnificence, as I read.
The blend of genres – Perfectly balanced between fairy tale fantasy and historical fiction, it was precisely what I never knew I wanted from the retelling of a fairy tale.
What I didn’t care for:
The necessary Googling – My sole complaint lays with the fact that I needed to Google, on more than one occasion, to get the translation of something said in another language. In some places, the translation was provided naturally in the dialogue, but not always. And I always wanted to know because I didn’t want to miss a word of this story.
A warning:
There are a fair amount of references to “bedroom activities” in this book. While some of them were a bit graphic, they didn’t bother me because they served a distinct purpose in telling the story. (I strongly oppose the use of gratuitous sex for the sole purpose of having a steamy scene. This was not that.) However, I know that this content is *not* for everyone, which I understand and respect, and I felt it was worthwhile to mention in my review.
“Bitter Greens” is an an enchanting retelling of the fairy tale “Rapunzel”. It is a masterfully blended story of redemption and mercy that held me captivated from start to finish, with a twist that, like Rapunzel’s braid, tied all three strands together into a magical story. The best kind of surprise ever for a reader: the unexpected treasure!