Grimm’s Fairy Tales, she points out that female narcissism spurts from being objectified by a male-dominated civilization, which is the quintessence of Gaiman’s retellings too. In ‘Transformations’, Anne Sexton compares the fragility of Cinderella’s cheeks to cigarette paper. Writers have toyed with the conventional fairytale earlier to re-examine Androcentric culture. Instead there are princesses who call off their weddings, wear a mail shirt, carry a sword and gallop away on a horse braving unforeseen danger. In this deconstructed version there are no damsels in distress no knights in shining armours. It would be the end of her life, if life was a time of choices. Here, Snow White fears marriage and wonders how it would feel to be a married woman. With the precision of a potion-maker, Gaiman weaves together They stumble, they stagger, they move like children wading through rivers of treacle, like old people whose feet are weighed down by thick, wet mud.” The little one read out to me while I did the dishes. The Sleeper and the Spindle the way it is meant to be read - along with a 10-year-old. In Gaiman’s fairy tale, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are neighbours. The neighbouring queen puts off her own wedding to rescue this town. A spectacular book that deserves a spot on every bookcase.Cobwebs curtain the town the townsfolk and their princess are plagued by sleep frozen like statues. Even the production of the book is exquisite, with its stunning cover and black and white print highlighted with flashes of gold. Chris Riddell's illustrations are simply incredible, dark, luscious and filled with intricate detail that match the tone of the words exactly. His female protagonists are powerful and in charge of their destiny, a far cry from the usual female role in a fairy tale.Įvery page is filled with magic and menace as the story winds towards its climax. Neil Gaiman weaves a tale in which 'happy ever after' is not the end, and beauty and youth should not be trusted as a sign of innocence and goodness. This magnificent book combines two well-known fairy tales and challenges everything familiar about them. But things in this far away kingdom are not as they seem, and rescuing the princess may not result in a happy ever after.

Postponing the wedding and swapping her sumptuous gown for chainmail armour she sets off with the dwarves to locate the sleeping princess whose curse is engulfing the land. When three dwarves inform her of a sleeping sickness that is travelling over the mountains causing everything in its path to fall into a deep, deep slumber, the queen knows she must act to save her people. In a magical land far away, a beautiful young queen prepares for her wedding, wondering if these will be the last few days she has control of her life and unsure if she really wants to get married.

The sleeper and the spindle book