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Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins
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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780064407724
ISBN: 0064407721
Label: HarperTeen
Manufacturer: HarperTeen
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: April 30, 1999
Publisher: HarperTeen
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: February 27, 1999
Studio: HarperTeen
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Editorial Review:
At age 28 Emma Donoghue is already a marvel. The author of two critically acclaimed novels, a fascinating work of lesbian history, and a series of successful stage plays, Donoghue can apparently do anything. With Kissing the Witch, a collection of revisionist fairy tales, she has proven once again that she is a great writer. In these 13 interconnected tales she finds new meanings in old stories: Cinderella runs off with her fairy godmother, Snow White's awakening is more erotic than romantic, and Rapunzel discovers that her freedom, although not her salvation, is in her hair. Donoghue writes about women, some lesbians and some not, and makes them the center of her fantastical world. The bold, daring boys of the Grimm tales are not here, but in their place are vibrant, knowing, and brave women and girls who are finding out what the world holds for them.
Thirteen tales are unspun from the deeply familiar, and woven anew into a collection of fairy tales that wind back through time. Acclaimed Irish author Emma Donoghue reveals heroines young and old in unexpected alliances--sometimes treacherous, sometimes erotic, but always courageous. Told with luminous voices that shimmer with sensuality and truth, these age-old characters shed their antiquated cloaks to travel a seductive new landscape, radiantly transformed.Cinderella forsakes the handsome prince and runs off with the fairy godmother; Beauty discovers the Beast behind the mask is not so very different from the face she sees in the mirror; Snow White is awakened from slumber by the bittersweet fruit of an unnamed desire. Acclaimed writer Emma Donoghue spins new tales out of old in a magical web of thirteen interconnected stories about power and transformation and choosing one's own path in the world. In these fairy tales, women young and old tell their own stories of love and hate, honor and revenge, passion and deception. Using the intricate patterns and oral rhythms of traditional fairy tales, Emma Donoghue wraps age-old characters in a dazzling new skin.
2000 List of Popular Paperbacks for YA
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Bright, Refreshing, and Perfect.
Kissing the Witch is an amazing book. Not just because of the subjects explored, but because every story tells another secret that every girl should be told in life. Every deep, frightening secret you can't quite express for yourself is unfolded for you, taking you further and further through those pangs of love, loss, freedom, and excitement.
It is a liberating, invigorating book, and I hope to share it with all of the strong, wonderful people in my life.
Rating:  - An Enchanting Read!
Kissing the Witch is billed as a collection of "revisionist" fairy tales and I'd say that is pretty accurate. Donoghue gives the reader 13 interconnected stores based on classic fairy stories (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, etc.), with a lesbian twist to each story. I actually didn't know this when I ordered it (it was recommend to me because I love fairy tale retellings). I particularly liked the way each story led into the next...each with a little poem or ditty that provides some clues ... Read More
Rating: - What a gem!
I love different takes on familiar stories, and am esp enchanted by changes in fairy tales. Of all of the stories I've read, I think this collection is the finest. For one thing, Donoghue's writing style is the same with short stories as it is with her novels - readable storytelling with compelling characters. In this set of stories, she takes fairytales and has one charcter from each form the start of the next story. Some of the tales twist and spin like so much twine, and sometimes you wonder where ... Read More
Rating: - For readers who love fairy tale re-tellings
This is a wonderfully imaginative re-telling of mostly familiar fairy tales each of which are linked to the next. Each tale tells of the liberation of its female character. It will especially appeal to women who read the traditional tales as girls and long for new endings. Emma Donoghue is a talented, witty and entertaining writer. I hope she does more of this kind of thing!
Rating:  - Intriguing, but I admit to reservations
Virtually all the other reviewers have commented on the books wonderful and novel takes on these stories. And they are actually, quite interesting. And there are some amusing references to recent popular retellings of the tales -- the witch in the version of the Little Mermaid is rumored to be "an octopus below the waist." Sound familiar?
But I have to admit to some problems. One of them might be my own unfamiliarity with some of the stories -- I can't figure out, exactly, what fairy ... Read More
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