Tuesday, June 23, 2015

#54 Beauty’s Sister- James Bradley


#54 Beauty’s Sister- James Bradley

This is a fantastical tale with witches, and spells, and towers and a beautiful maiden. It’s a re-imagining of Rapunzel, the girl in the tower with the long hair. In this version, she has a sister Juniper who lives near by with their mother, both wish to see her sing from the window.

As Juniper gets older and befriends the witch, Jinka who keeps Rapunzel trapped away from the world, the sister’s become acquainted. Juniper slowly grows into an independent woman and sees herself as some of the town does, similar to the Witch.  But unlike, Jinka, Juniper doesn’t seek power or spells:

“I wonder now exactly why I gave myself to Jinka. Was it for Rapunzel’s sake? For my own? Or was it because I saw in her a way to harm my mother, to make her suffer for coldness, her lack of love?” “Beneath it all, though, I suspect she was just cruel, and took pleasure in people’s fear of her, in the power that it gave.”

Beyond the things they all covet, each character gets what they deserve in the end:

“We want what is forbidden, yet we have to take what is available.”

Notable Passage: “…it was that there seemed to be an absence in our lives, a space that could neither be identified or acknowledged.”



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