Books Reports, Week One

Since my sister, who has a master's in children's literature, came to visit this month, I've been on a huge young adult fiction kick. I love YA books because they are often (though, I've recently discovered, not always) clean tales with a moralistic outcome filled with colorful characters and interesting plots. I've read two YA book by Shannon Hale the past week that I've greatly enjoyed. I've read Shannon Hale's Austenland, an adult fiction tale of Austen obsession and found it moderately enjoyable for what it was, but I think Hale does much better with YA books, themes and fairy tale re-tellings.

The first book I read by Shannon Hale is called The Goose Girl, which is a re-telling of the Grimm's fairy tale of the same name. It is her first novel. I love re-tellings of fairy tales, most especially because the Grimm Brothers did not really sugar coat anything and modern authors add interesting twists to the tales. I'm not familiar with the original version of the story, but Hale's version tells the story of Anidala (Ani), the Crown Princess of Kildenree. She was born with the ability to talk with animals, taught to her by her aunt, but her parents dissuaded her from enhancing her gift and she was kept away from most animals, except her horse Falada. After her father died after a horse accident, Ani was told that her younger brother would become king and that she was to marry the prince in the neighboring kingdom of Bayern. On her long journey to Bayern, Ani's lady-in-waiting, Selia, turned on her and Ani was forced to flee and become a goose girl, tending the king's flock of geese while Selia masqueraded as the Crown Princess from Kildenree. Through her work as a goose girl, Ani re-learns how to speak to animals and control the wind and is able to confront Selia and her guards and take her rightful place as Princess and Bayern's future queen. Though the plot was, at times, rather formulaic (with all the usual and predictable twists), I still really enjoyed The Goose Girl and would recommend it to anyone. There are two books in the Bayern series (Enna Burning and River Secrets) which I've checked out from the library but have not read yet. They follow minor characters from the The Goose Girl.

After The Goose Girl, I picked up Princess Academy, another book by Shannon Hale. This is another fantasy book in the same mold as The Goose Girl and was, quite honestly, much different than I was expecting, but no less enchanting. Here again, we follow the story of Miri, a young girl born and raised on the distant peaks of Mount Eskel in Danland who is forbidden to work in the linder quarries with her father, sister, and the rest of the residents of Mount Eskel. Miri believes that her father considers her too weak and unworthy to work alongside him. Then, a royal messenger announces that the priests have discovered that the future princess of Danland will come from Mount Eskel. All the eligible girls of the town are taken to the "Princess Academy" where they learn to read, write, dance, and understand all matters of commerce, diplomacy and conversation in preparation for a ball with Prince Steffan, who will then choose his bride. During her time at the Princess Academy, Miri learns the truth of why her father won't let her work in the quarries and discovers that her new education can help improve the lives of her friends and family on Mount Eskel even if she does or does not become the princess. It's a quick read and a very enjoyable story, though I enjoyed The Goose Girl more.

Rounding out the books I read last week is Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, by Amanda Foreman. This biography was the inspiration for the recent movie The Duchess starring Keira Knightley (ick) and Ralph Fiennes. It's a very engaging biography of Georgiana Spencer, an ancestor of Princess Diana, who, at age, 17 become the Duchess of Devonshire when she married the Duke. Georginia was a fashion arbiter, amateur politician, hopeless gambler, and a friend to some of the most famous people of her time, including Charles Fox, Charles Grey, and the Prince of Wales (later George IV). Despite her beauty and social graces, she was largely unappreciated by her husband and took many lovers, including Charles Grey, the future British Prime Minister, while her husband had a long affair with their mutual friend, Bess. The Duchess was beset by many debts from her gambling addiction and her extravagant lifestyle and, in her later years, by ill health and a loss of self-confidence. But, until her death, Georgiana reigned as the most beloved and vilified aristocratic woman in Britain. Foreman's biography of the Duchess (her Ph.D. dissertation) is not over-bloated and long (a problem with MANY biographies I have read) though the chapters on the complicated political matters of the day dragged a bit. Foreman does a good job of placing the Duchess in her political context, but I wish she had had offered a more in-depth look at the social and cultural world that Georgiana inhabited. Also, the Duke is an ever enigmatic character in the book and I wish Foreman had perhaps delved a litter deeper into the Duke's personality, motivations, and biography as well. Overall, I found it to be a rather interesting biography of a very fascinating woman.

So there you have it. What do you think if you've read these books? Do you want to read them? Also, if you have any recommendations, please send them my way. Happy reading.