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Most people know the story of Rapunzel, the girl with the
very long hair that people could climb, but like most fairy
tales the version we know today is not necessarily the only
version there has ever been. Fairy tales are traditionally
dark rather Grimm perhaps and this adult retelling is no exception.
It is the story of three women whose lives are intertwined
through stories. Firstly there is Charlotte-Rose de la Force
who has been exiled from the court of Louis XIV to a nunnery.
She hates the harsh life and yearns for the glitter of court
life again. She is a teller of tales, and the author of Rapunzel.
Then there is Rapunzel herself, or rather Margherita, ending
up through her mother's mistake in a witch's tower with just
her hair for company. Finally there is Selena Leonelli, courtesan,
witch and inspiration to the artist Titian…
This is essentially a story about women; their power through
love, sex and the Scheherazade-like telling of entertaining
stories and their downfall through these same things. It is
also a story about their lot in life and their roles as wives,
mothers, mistresses, nuns, entertainers, courtesans and witches.
The term fairy tale often leads people to expect something
aimed at the younger reader but this is a darker story with
scenes of rape and other varieties of violence. None of this
is gratuitous but rather shows why characters act the way
they do, and gives a well-rounded gritty picture of the past.
Versailles, Venice, Rapunzel's tower and the nunnery all come
to vibrant life here as do the many characters; this is a
book where the author has done plenty of research to get the
details right (or at least as right as they seem to a non-historian).
Like most long books this one could stand some editing, and
there are parts where nothing new is introduced and the tale
flags. But taken as a whole there is a lot in here, both to
enjoy and to think about afterwards. One to savor.
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