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The Golden Princess and the Moon: A Retelling of the Fairy Tale "Sleeping Beauty"
The Golden Princess and the Moon is a classic retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,” steeped in legend and magic. The beautiful but spoiled Princess Rosamund (Rosa for short) has squandered the seven faerie gifts given her on her christening day. She must reclaim these gifts in order to face a terrible curse cast long before her birth. Prince Erik grew up hearing stories of a sleeping princess, but all does not end happily when he wakes her. For what happens when a princess of legend awakens in a world that fears all to do with the old kingdom and Faerie? Intertwined in both Rosa’s and Erik’s lives is the figure of the Golden King and the ancient curse that separated him from his faerie bride. The luminous world evoked by Anna Maria Mendell in this, her first full-length work, is unforgettable, and will delight readers of all ages. “A deeply felt tale of faery, richly mixing elements from the brothers Grimm, George MacDonald, and even (did I sense at times?) The Princess Bride. Read, and enjoy!”--MICHAEL WARD, author of Planet The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis “Anna Maria Mendell’s debut novel is a masterly re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty story. At a time when shallow agendas dominate the revival of the fairytale genre, she sets a fresh narrative one drawing equally from modern depth psychology and traditional symbolism. The author conjures a rich, imaginative landscape peopled with believable characters, as she works toward the final eucatastrophe. A ‘joyous turn’ not easily and this is perhaps the chief lesson of Mendell’s gripping excursion into the realm of faerie.”--LÉONIE CALDECOTT, co-editor of Second Spring and director of the Centre for Faith & Culture “With passages of striking beauty, this splendid re-telling of the fairy tale ‘Sleeping Beauty’ touches evocatively on timeless human themes and achieves a poignant depth reminiscent of the work of George MacDonald.”--MARK SEBANC, co-author of the “Legacy of the Stone Harp” series
- GenresFantasy
358 pages, Paperback
Published June 9, 2016
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57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 22, 2018
My goodness. Wow. My eyes are still filling with tears.
This book was too much.
So, this is one of those books where you think, "Okay, happy ending, cool--forty pages left, but who's counting? lol"
And then the lols are gone because you're heartbroken and crying and wishing death upon evil.
But really, this whole book was a beautiful, lilting ROLLERCOASTER OF A FAIRYTALE. Seriously, so beautifully told. At first, I was like "ehhh" (because I'm a shallow little stink who didn't really like the cover art) but... But... BUT THEN.
It's told as it should be--a fairy tale. The characters were written so clearly, full of life and humour and doubt and love. So simple, but so many unknowns and questions and answers. I wish I could read this book anew, because I doubted it for the first little bit. Yes, it was entertaining and funny from the start, and always a little sad--I didn't expect it to actually make me laugh and then wrench my heart out so.
LIKE WOW ANNA MARIA MENDELL.
THANKS FOR THE PAIN.
I loved everything. The prince. The princess. The Faerie. The friends. By the end, it's so hard to think back to their innocent childhoods without feeling sadness--so unaware of the pain they were to endure.
But, I guess that's how life is.
SO PLEASE READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND CRUEL AND WONDERFUL AND DARK AND BRIGHT AND OUCH MY HEART GOODBYE.
This book was too much.
So, this is one of those books where you think, "Okay, happy ending, cool--forty pages left, but who's counting? lol"
And then the lols are gone because you're heartbroken and crying and wishing death upon evil.
But really, this whole book was a beautiful, lilting ROLLERCOASTER OF A FAIRYTALE. Seriously, so beautifully told. At first, I was like "ehhh" (because I'm a shallow little stink who didn't really like the cover art) but... But... BUT THEN.
It's told as it should be--a fairy tale. The characters were written so clearly, full of life and humour and doubt and love. So simple, but so many unknowns and questions and answers. I wish I could read this book anew, because I doubted it for the first little bit. Yes, it was entertaining and funny from the start, and always a little sad--I didn't expect it to actually make me laugh and then wrench my heart out so.
LIKE WOW ANNA MARIA MENDELL.
THANKS FOR THE PAIN.
I loved everything. The prince. The princess. The Faerie. The friends. By the end, it's so hard to think back to their innocent childhoods without feeling sadness--so unaware of the pain they were to endure.
But, I guess that's how life is.
SO PLEASE READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND CRUEL AND WONDERFUL AND DARK AND BRIGHT AND OUCH MY HEART GOODBYE.
February 28, 2024
Read and rated by my daughters 14 and 12. I haven't read it yet but they loved it and said it reminded them of George Macdonald.
July 12, 2017
A deep story with stunning imagery.
September 14, 2016
Fairy tales are some of the most timeless and important stories of a culture. They get passed down from generation to generation, can impart wisdom/lessons, and can even find their way into other cultures. It's a big reason the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and others still survive to this day. Sleeping Beauty is one of the more well known fairy tales as both the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault re-told this story, which actually had its origins in the 14th Century. It has since been told and re-told in popular media, most notably by Walt Disney. Recently, Angelico Press released a re-telling of this story entitled The Golden Princess and the Moon.
The book begins with a young Prince Erik crying in the woods, An old woman, named Ninny Nanny, hears him and offers give him something to eat and a place to rest. He is wary at first because he has heard that she is a witch. However, he relents to her offer after she informs him that she knew his deceased mother. Prince Erik's mother believed in magic and the old world. However, his father, the king, tried to stamp out anything magical in his land. When he goes back to Ninny Nanny's cottage, he rests for a while and has a dream about a princess. Her name is Rosa. She is a mere child and a spoiled brat at that. Prince Erik was disgusted with her but Ninny Nanny warned him that he must allow children time to grow up and mature. The rest of the book then focuses on this three characters, their maturation, their struggles, and their identities. I want to tell you more, but I don't want to spoil the book either.
It is no secret that I am not a fiction fan. For that reason, if I request to review a fiction book, I must truly believe that the book is very special or has enormous potential. This book has both. The author, Anna Maria Mendell, has an evocative writing style that draws the reader in. Her imagery and character development give us fleshed out characters, which creates a richer story as opposed to a two-dimensional plot with a predictable ending. She also steeped this story in religious symbolism without beating the reader over the head with it. Her use of faeries and magic made this book have a classic feel, but with a fresh coat of paint. I look forward to what else this author has to offer in the future and hope she decides to tackle other fairy tales with the same depth and beauty as she did this one.
The book begins with a young Prince Erik crying in the woods, An old woman, named Ninny Nanny, hears him and offers give him something to eat and a place to rest. He is wary at first because he has heard that she is a witch. However, he relents to her offer after she informs him that she knew his deceased mother. Prince Erik's mother believed in magic and the old world. However, his father, the king, tried to stamp out anything magical in his land. When he goes back to Ninny Nanny's cottage, he rests for a while and has a dream about a princess. Her name is Rosa. She is a mere child and a spoiled brat at that. Prince Erik was disgusted with her but Ninny Nanny warned him that he must allow children time to grow up and mature. The rest of the book then focuses on this three characters, their maturation, their struggles, and their identities. I want to tell you more, but I don't want to spoil the book either.
It is no secret that I am not a fiction fan. For that reason, if I request to review a fiction book, I must truly believe that the book is very special or has enormous potential. This book has both. The author, Anna Maria Mendell, has an evocative writing style that draws the reader in. Her imagery and character development give us fleshed out characters, which creates a richer story as opposed to a two-dimensional plot with a predictable ending. She also steeped this story in religious symbolism without beating the reader over the head with it. Her use of faeries and magic made this book have a classic feel, but with a fresh coat of paint. I look forward to what else this author has to offer in the future and hope she decides to tackle other fairy tales with the same depth and beauty as she did this one.
January 30, 2023
This is a book I will read to my children at bedtime. The characters are real and the story is lightly reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings in its magic and sense of ancient history. In a word, this book is wholesome to the core, yet it deals with themes that we, too, must face in our lives.
February 15, 2019
A good retelling of a classic fairy tale. I thought the quality, was a little lacking. It may be that the author was aiming a "young adult" audience but i for one would have enjoyed a little more depth. However, I did greatly appreciate the concept of magic and its connection to the universe/world. I was most disappointed with the latter part of the book as it embarked upon post-marriage conflict mainly because it seemed so hurried and abbreviated . I normally would rather have one good book than a series of three or so books but perhaps this was one that deserved a sequel. I hope to see Ms. Mendell continue to write and i look forward to her next book.
November 29, 2024
Ugghhhhh, this book is sooooo good!
I have read this novel two to three times and each time I discover new layers of depth and lovingly created detail that I find hard to believe are contained within a 21st century fairytale retelling! This novel manages to be beautiful, relatable, deep, and moving whilst also being incredibly difficult to put down once started. I wish it were more widly known. It's such an adventure to be lost in! It may be cliche to say, but THIS novel is truly a diamond in the rough. 10/10 would recommend to adult, teenager, and child alike.
I have read this novel two to three times and each time I discover new layers of depth and lovingly created detail that I find hard to believe are contained within a 21st century fairytale retelling! This novel manages to be beautiful, relatable, deep, and moving whilst also being incredibly difficult to put down once started. I wish it were more widly known. It's such an adventure to be lost in! It may be cliche to say, but THIS novel is truly a diamond in the rough. 10/10 would recommend to adult, teenager, and child alike.
September 13, 2022
The numinous weirdness of Faerie, medieval cosmological symbolism, Christological allegory that isn't horribly heavy handed, actually well developed characters that grow and change naturally over the course of time? All here, and rarer these days than I'd like them to be. I would like some more please.
June 27, 2023
4.5☆
The golden princess and the moon is a retelling of the classic fairytale "sleeping beauty" but it goes far beyond the fairytale.
In this retelling, the main story of sleeping beauty pricking her finger and falling asleep is a small part of the story of Rosa and Erik.
The best parts of this adaptation is mostly Rosa, she starts off as a spoiled kid who wishes for impossible things like the moon and throws tantrums when she doesn't get it, she's then sent to live with her godmothers who are faeries. The story progresses her as a character beautifully and all the bad choices made in sleeping beauty are given more backstory to make them seem like the best possible choice. The pricking of the spinning wheel is a choice that never made sense to me. you could argue she was under some spell that made her attracted to pricking her finger but I liked how this retelling framed it as an informed decision from Rosa, If shee didn't prick her finger her kingdom would suffer so she makes the mature decision to go into eternal slumber.
I also like how they changed the faeries, in the Disney movie they just seemed kind of blundering while maleficent was evil they didn't even feel like they were the same race. In the book the faeries are much wiser and are on the same level as the antagonists.
I also enjoy the more mature route this book went for with some real life problems, I never would have thought about the poverty that impacted the weavers in the kingdom whose spinning wheels were destroyed it was a really interesting take.
I think the only thing I didn't like about this story was how sort of relaxed it was. I had some trouble getting through this book because nothing really grabbed me, the climax was pretty good but a lot of points in the story just felt dull.
Overall an amazing retelling, a great story, but slow paced for my taste
4.5☆ ▪︎ 346 pages
The golden princess and the moon is a retelling of the classic fairytale "sleeping beauty" but it goes far beyond the fairytale.
In this retelling, the main story of sleeping beauty pricking her finger and falling asleep is a small part of the story of Rosa and Erik.
The best parts of this adaptation is mostly Rosa, she starts off as a spoiled kid who wishes for impossible things like the moon and throws tantrums when she doesn't get it, she's then sent to live with her godmothers who are faeries. The story progresses her as a character beautifully and all the bad choices made in sleeping beauty are given more backstory to make them seem like the best possible choice. The pricking of the spinning wheel is a choice that never made sense to me. you could argue she was under some spell that made her attracted to pricking her finger but I liked how this retelling framed it as an informed decision from Rosa, If shee didn't prick her finger her kingdom would suffer so she makes the mature decision to go into eternal slumber.
I also like how they changed the faeries, in the Disney movie they just seemed kind of blundering while maleficent was evil they didn't even feel like they were the same race. In the book the faeries are much wiser and are on the same level as the antagonists.
I also enjoy the more mature route this book went for with some real life problems, I never would have thought about the poverty that impacted the weavers in the kingdom whose spinning wheels were destroyed it was a really interesting take.
I think the only thing I didn't like about this story was how sort of relaxed it was. I had some trouble getting through this book because nothing really grabbed me, the climax was pretty good but a lot of points in the story just felt dull.
Overall an amazing retelling, a great story, but slow paced for my taste
4.5☆ ▪︎ 346 pages
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2016
Such a beautiful retelling of a classic story!
Sleeping Beauty was never my favourite fairy tale, mostly because you didn't really get to know the princess because she spent most of the action asleep! This retelling though, gives the princess character aplenty! I really enjoyed how the fairies' gifts to the princess had to be accepted for them to become active, and how much of the way the curse was enacted depended on her attitude towards the curse itself. She was never a passive character, which I absolutely loved.
All the characters are beautifully fleshed out, and the descriptions are just magical. I felt truly immersed in the world that she built. I was sorry to finish the book so quickly, while at the same time obsessed with finishing it because I wasn't quite sure how it was going to end!
I think my favourite part though, was when one of the characters gives a short reflection on beauty, which made me pause in my reading so I could write it down, it was that good.
"Beauty reminds us of a time when the world was unbroken, when there was a harmony and love in all things. And when a heart is moved by beauty, it strives to return to the time when things were unbroken."
How gorgeous is that?
In short, read this book. Quickly!
Sleeping Beauty was never my favourite fairy tale, mostly because you didn't really get to know the princess because she spent most of the action asleep! This retelling though, gives the princess character aplenty! I really enjoyed how the fairies' gifts to the princess had to be accepted for them to become active, and how much of the way the curse was enacted depended on her attitude towards the curse itself. She was never a passive character, which I absolutely loved.
All the characters are beautifully fleshed out, and the descriptions are just magical. I felt truly immersed in the world that she built. I was sorry to finish the book so quickly, while at the same time obsessed with finishing it because I wasn't quite sure how it was going to end!
I think my favourite part though, was when one of the characters gives a short reflection on beauty, which made me pause in my reading so I could write it down, it was that good.
"Beauty reminds us of a time when the world was unbroken, when there was a harmony and love in all things. And when a heart is moved by beauty, it strives to return to the time when things were unbroken."
How gorgeous is that?
In short, read this book. Quickly!
August 2, 2016
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
This is a perfect faerie story.
It starts slow, then builds and builds. Sleeping Beauty has never been my favorite fairy tale, but in Anna Maria's hands, it becomes a tale that transports you to a world that you almost believe really exists. And it's a world that you want to visit—full of the everyday magic and beauty of nature. It's a place where, even though there is a larger thread of fate weaving everything together, the choices you make have consequences. Which, really, is all that a faerie story should be.
(Also, this book features some stand-out horse names. They're descriptive and suitably epic, yet choices I'd never heard before: Lodestar and Embermane.)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews