(Re) Imagine That!
/A Literary Restoration…
If you delve deeply enough into the books we choose to read, more often than not you will reveal a connection to something recognizable. That in fact they capture contemporary narratives from the bones of centuries of storytelling. Mythologies, legends, classics and fairytales have all been plundered for plot in myriad of ways and a upon myriad of occasions that proves incalculable. We keep coming back to these incarnations because the essence of their themes endure and they are as relevant today as they were hundreds, or even thousands of years ago.
As a voracious reader with decades of dedication to the cause of book loving under my belt, I love discovering contemporary authors brave enough to conquer the challenge of a retelling.
There’s a certain delight in distinguishing the parallels as well as the deviations from the original text, discovering whether the author adheres to the plotline or simply uses it as a springboard in a new direction. Is the material approached with reverence, or maybe even better yet, irreverence? An adept retelling doesn’t result in the disappearance of the known, but rather it unveils an alternate pathway to the reader.
The selections I have compiled for you are in celebration of the embarrassment of riches that these tales have given us over the years. These authors have unearthed parts of the stories that were lying dormant and breathed new life into them. They have laid claim to a new depth, and in some cases, a new darkness. They have given voice to those in the background. Their ability to weave fresh tales from beloved works without losing any of the original magic is nothing less than literary sorcery.
So, open the door and take a peek. A bevy of beauties, an abundance of adversaries, a cast of creatures, kings and queens, hags and ingénues, stepmothers and godmothers, pixies, giants and gladiators; which will you find? And what else might await you…
The Fairytales…
Cinderella Is Dead – Kalynn Bayron – Origin Is Cinderella
It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girls’ display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again. Until one day a girl decides to flee and hides out in Cinderellas mausoleum, where she meets some unexpected characters.
Unbury Carol – Josh Malerman – Origin Is Sleeping Beauty
Carol is a woman with a dark secret. She has died many times, but it never seems to stick. Each coma lasts for days, a waking slumber indistinguishable from death. Torn between the husband who married her for her fortune and her lost love, she battles to save herself and emerge from a terrible fate.
Girls Made Of Snow & Glass – Melissa Bashardoust – Origin Is Snow White
Mina is a motherless young woman with a vicious magician father. She begins to wonder why her heart has never beat with love for anyone, never guessing it’s been replaced with one made of glass. Then she plans to win the Kings heart to become queen, the catch being she will become a stepmother to a beautiful young girl. Can both find a way to reshaped themselves and their ages old story…
The Lunar Chronicles – Marrisa Meyer – Origin Is Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel & Red Riding Hood
Futuristic retellings of these beloved fairytales give the reader something entirely new to love. Cinder is a teenage cyborg dealing with an evil stepmother and handsome prince. Scarlet is a spaceship pilot determined to solve the mystery of a missing loved one with the help of a street fighter named Wolf. Cress is a computer hacker imprisoned by a Queen and Winter is a princess in love with a commoner. The best part, these tales are all intertwined.
The Wrath & The Dawn – Renee Ahdieh – Origin Is A Thousand & One Nights
Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Each night he takes a new bride only to have her executed at sunrise. It’s a surprise when a young woman volunteers. Despite a clever plan up her sleeve, things go awry.
Curse So Dark & Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer – Origin Is Beauty & The Beast
Fall in love, break the curse…It once seemed so easy to Prince Rehn, cursed to repeat his 18th year over and over. But there’s a catch, at the end of that time he would turn into a vicious beast bent on the destruction of everyone and everything in his path.
Spinning Silver – Naomi Novik – Origin Is Rumpelstiltskin
Miryem is descendant from money lenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left the family on the edge of poverty. So, she sets out to claim what is owed and gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold.
All The Ever After’s – Danielle Teller – Origin Is Cinderella
A luminous retelling, told from the perspective of Agnes, Cinderella’s “evil” stepmother. As rumors of the cruel upbringing of beautiful newlywed princess Cinderella swirl, her stepmother records her story. The true story…
Crimson Bound – Rosamund Hodge – Origin Is Red Riding Hood
A young woman serves the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone for a reckless straying from her destined path years earlier. But the threat of eternal darkness still looms.
Beauty In Thorns – Kate Forsyth – Origin Is Sleeping Beauty
A spellbinding reimagining set amongst the wild bohemian circle of pre-Raphaelite artists and poets. Following three women lured to be muses in unique ways. A story of love, obsession and heartbreak.
Burning Roses – S.L. Huang – Origin Is Red Riding Hood
Rosa is done with wolves and woods! Hou Yi the Archer is tired and longs to retire. But the world has something else in store for these two. When deadly birds begin to ravage the countryside, threatening everything they have grown to love, they must join forces. A tale of sacrifice and bravery.
What Big Teeth – Rose Szabo – Origin Is Red Riding Hood
Eleanor has been estranged from her wild family for years. When she flees boarding school, she heads to the only place she thinks is safe. But when she gets there she struggles to fit in with her monstrous relatives, who prowl the woods in the dark of night. A dark fantasy that delights!
The Myths…
Lavinia – Ursula K. LeGuin - Origin Is The Aeneid
Fought for by the heroine in the Aeneid, Lavinia never utters a single word. Here she is given a voice. Rather than be at the mercy of omens and prophecies like many of her time, she takes her destiny into her own hands.
Circe – Madeline Miller - Origin Is The Odyssey
In Homer’s Odyssey, Circe is an enchantress who falls in love with Odysseus and tricks him into staying with her after she turns his men into pigs. This iteration of the character is made much more complex and enriched in this fascinating retelling. She has the power of witchcraft and the patience to hone her skill and bide her time.
The Silence Of The Girls – Pat Barker - Origin Is The Iliad
A woman at the heart of the Trojan War has been silent…until now. A witness that history forgot, Briseis is now slave to Achilles, who mercilessly butchered her family. Can she somehow become the author of her own story?
The Wolf Den – Elodie Harper - Origin Is Women Of Pompeii
Amara was once a beloved daughter, until her father’s death plunged her family into penury. Now she is a slave in Pompeii’s infamous brothel, owned by a man she despises. Sharp, clever and resourceful, Amara is forced to hide her powers as a she-wolf. Can she find a way to reverse her fortune as she finds other’s like herself?
The Penelopiad – Margaret Atwood - Origin Is The Odyssey
Atwood recasts Homer’s account of Odysseus’s return to Ithaca from the point of view of the hero’s wife. Delving into the question, why did Odysseus kill not only Penelope’s suitors but her twelve maids as well. Atwood’s Penelope rejects how her portrayal is used as a stick to beat other women down.
Mythos – Stephen Fry - Origin Is Greek Myths
Transformed adventures of Zeus and The Olympians that add emotional resonance and humor. This is a celebration that embraces the richness of these myths and layers on cultural context, fresh wonder and beautiful artwork! Also available by Mr. Fry is Heroes…
Labors Of Hercules – Agatha Christie - Origin Is Hercules
Like the labors of Hercules, the twelve cases that Poirot must solve in this captivating collection of short crime fiction stories are dangerous, demanding and diabolical. The heroic feats here are those of only of brilliance.
The Cold Is In Her Bones – Peternelle van Arsdale - Origin Is Medusa
A sheltered girl learns that the village she is never allowed to visit is cursed by a demon who possesses girls at random. Now Mila must uncover secrets of the past to save her friend from this terrible curse.
Food For The Gods – Karen Dudley - Origin Is Pelops
Once Prince of Lydia, Pelops was chopped into stewing meat and served to the gods for tea by his not so loving father. Remade by the Gods and blessed with a gift for the culinary arts, he flees his painful memories in hopes of making a life for himself as a celebrity chef. With that past? Done!
Dark Wife – Sarah Diemer - Origin Is Persephone/Hades
This story is a metaphor for defiance in following the rules set out for us by others as Persephone forges her own path. Rallying against restrictive traditions and finding her place in the world. And in this edition, Hades isn’t so bad after all!
The Classics…
The Mere Wife – Maria Dahvana Headly – Origin Is Beowulf
A modern retelling, set in American suburbia as two mothers, a housewife and a battle-hardened veteran, fight to protect those they love. For those inside this gated community, its an untouchable paradise. For those outside, an unreachable prison.
Frankenstein In Baghdad – Ahmed Saddawi – Origin Is Frankenstein
From the streets of occupied Baghdad, our main character, a scavenger, collects human body parts and stitches them together to create a corpse with the purpose of having it be recognized as human and given a proper burial. Then the corpse goes missing and bad things start to happen. Well, other bad things…
These Violent Delights – Chloe Gong – Origin Is Romeo & Juliet
A retelling set in 1920’s Shanghai with a blood feud between two rival gangs gripping the city in chaos. As Juliette takes her rightful place as leader of one of the gangs she squares off against the leader of the other, her first love. You might think you know where this is going…but think again.
The Diabolic – S.J. Kincaid – Origin Is I, Claudius
A senators’ daughter is summoned to the galactic court as a hostage, but in reality, is the galaxy’s most dangerous weapon in disguise. Nemesis is a diabolic created to kill in order to protect the person she is assigned and sacrifice her own life to do so. As the Empire fractures and rebellion looms, everything becomes more complicated.
Queen Of Hearts – Colleen Oakes – Origin Is Alice In Wonderland
An imaginative and twisted book tackling the most infamous of villains…The Queen Of Hearts. This is not the story of the Alice In Wonderland we all know, and Alice hasn’t fallen down any rabbit hole. It’s rather a maze of lies and secrets that must be navigated in order to reign over the Kingdom of Wonderland and possess the throne.
The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova – Origin Is Dracula
In exploring her father’s library, a young woman finds an ancient book along with a cache of letters. She is plunged into a world she never imagined; one full of secrets and incomprehensible evil. Unveiling a centuries long quest in search of the truth of the legend of Dracula. A bold reinvention of existing mythologies marries beautifully with new adventures on a monumental scale.
Mists Of Avalon – Marion Zimmer Bradley – Origin Is King Arthur
An epic and powerful reimagining of the Arthurian legends. Here we see the tumult and adventures of Camelot through the eyes of the women who bolstered the Kings rise to power and schemed for his fall from grace.
Ayesha At Last – Uzma Jalaluddin – Origin Is Pride & Prejudice
Ayesha’s dreams are set aside so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. Lonely despite being surrounded by her boisterous Muslim family, she doesn’t want an arranged marriage. A mirror image of the original that reflects the complexities of today’s world
My Plain Jane – Cynthia Hand – Origin Is Jane Eyre
An irreverent spin on Jane Eyre; a tale of mischief, romance and supernatural mayhem reminiscent of The Princess Bride. An adventure of gothic proportions with a certain gentlemen hiding more that skeletons in his closet.
The Anthologies…
The Bloody Chamber – Angela Carter
Subversive and sensual spins of familiar fairytales and legends with a gothic edge. Tales with a twist…for the twisted!
Merry Spinster – Mallory Daniel Ortberg
Darkly mischievous new stories based on classic fairytales. Prepare for them to be deconstructed and destabilized as we are invited to explore the emotional complexities of the story’s we tell ourselves, and others, as we settle in for the night.
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me – Kate Bernheimer
New stories sewn together from old skins, inspired by the classics. A wonderful celebration of fairytales, taking the adventures into bold and imaginative new directions.
Kissing The Witch – Emma Donoghe
These age-old characters shed their antiquated cloaks to travel a seductive new landscape. Brilliantly and radiantly transformed! A weaving of new tales out of old and somehow magically interconnected.
His Hideous Heart – Dahlia Adler
Edgar Allen Poes most surprising, unsettling and popular tales are reimagined for a new generation. Unique and unforgettable.
