Snow White and Rose Red

[marycatelli]

Snow White and Rose Red by Patricia C. Wrede

Being a retelling of the fairy tale of the same name.  Note that the original German name is not even the same one as Snow White -- they are in different dialects.

The tale itself takes place in Elizabethan England, where Widow Arden and her daughters Blanche and Rosamund live and gather herbs in the woods.  Rosamund meets a peddler, who goes to meet his brother in Faerie -- John and Hugh are the sons of Thomas the Rhymer and the Fairy Queen.  The queen is not pleased with the way John wanders in and out of Faerie and tries to prohibit him.  Doctor Dee and Ned Kelly try to trap some fairy magic, three fairies who really, really, really hate the mortal realm decide to use it against John, and Hugh gets caught in the middle.

It's after that he blunders on Widow Arden.

And the rest of the tale involves taking a message to Faerie, trying to use All Hallows' Eve, gathering herbs, a woman trying to seduce John, a bear hunt, a witch-hunter whose report is so malicious it gets dismissed, and a fairy appearing as a girl whose dress changes color.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I like Patricia Wrede, so I think I'd trust her handling of fairies. Your summary makes it seem interesting.

[marycatelli]

There are nastier versions out there, but these are definitely the -- ehem -- Good Folk.