Happy Ever After

by Adèle Geras

The Tower Room: Loosely based on Rapunzel, this is the story of a sudden, unexpected, passionate relationship and the unforessen yet inevitable results of defying convention. When Megan glimpses Simon from her tower room, their worlds are changed forever. Watching the Roses: A modern version of Sleeping Beauty, this is a haunting tale of treachery and betrayal. An ill-wishing has been placed on Alice, and it seems to be coming true. Pictures of the Night: A retelling of the Snow White fairytale, this is a thirlling story of jealousy and enchantment. Is Bella's stepmother really as wicked as she believes?

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Fairy Tales, Historical Fiction, Retellings, Fiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2005

About the author

Adèle Geras FRSL (born 15 March 1944) is an English writer for young children, teens and adults. Her husband was the Marxist academic Norman Geras and their daughter Sophie Hannah is also a novelist and poet.

Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine. Her father was in the Colonial Service and she had a varied childhood, living in countries such as Nigeria, Cyprus, Tanzania, Gambia and British North Borneo in a short span of time. She attended Roedean School in Brighton and then graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford with a degree in Modern Languages. She was known for her stage and vocal talents, but decided instead to become a full-time writer.

Geras's first book was Tea at Mrs Manderby's, which was published in 1976. Her first full-length novel was The Girls in the Velvet Frame. She has written more than 95 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her best-known books are Troy (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) Ithaka, Happy Ever After (previously published as the Egerton Hall Trilogy), Silent Snow, Secret Snow, and A Thousand Yards of Sea.

Her novels for adults include: Facing the Light, Hester's Story, Made in Heaven, and A Hidden Life.

Geras won two prizes in the United States, one the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the My Grandmother's Stories and the National Jewish Book Award for Golden Windows. She has also won prizes for her poetry and was a joint winner of the Smith Doorstop Poetry Pamphlet Award, offered by the publisher of that name.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason I ever read this the first time round was because it's one of Carrie Hope Fletcher's favourites. When I was fourteen, I gave this four stars. Three years later and having done my time at a real all-girls high school, the entire Egerton Hall Trilogy only just about merits a two star for me.

The concept is original, I'll give it that. Three modernish fairy tale princesses sharing a Gothic 'tower room' at a 1960's boarding school sounded pretty intriguing. The ambience of the setting was stunning... but it's the only real tie I have to this story. I think it's just sentimentality on my part - it definitely brought back a flood of school memories, so I think my love of this aspect can be put down to nostalgia.

'A deep friendship' claims the blurb. Really? The characters are so flat. The relationship between the three 'fairy tale princesses' was almost entirely unconvincing. I don't think three such characters would plausibly be friends in real life - they didn't appear to even connect on any psychological level.

Speaking of dubious relationships, oh my God, the instalove. Possibly my worst pet peeve (after the love triangle) because it is just so unrealistic. None of the love interests were particularly swoon-worthy at all; for the most part, they were sadistic and obsessive morons. The guy in The Tower Room (a retelling of Rapunzel, supposedly) basically has a hair fetish. See what I mean?

Watching the Roses had more substance, but I think that was only due to one harrowing event that took place at the very, very end. Why were these stories told in a jumble of retrospect and present? Why? The non-linear structure was messy. It made the ending ultimately predictable, but the journey there was a long and painful slog.

The pacing in general was an issue. The writing, at first, is promising. Nice imagery, nice atmosphere. Then it builds to a convoluted crescendo with no warning, before plateauing and eventually fading away into nothing. There's far too much unnecessary detail in some places, and far too little where it was actually needed.

Ultimately, there was no closure whatsoever to this story and that's what completely killed it for me. Pictures of the Night was a complete and utter train crash. A rushed ending with so many plot holes is the very definition of a cop out.

I've definitely outgrown this one. 'Not for younger readers' warns the blurb. The subject matter of Watching the Roses certainly merits a trigger warning, but on the whole, the real audience for this book are younger than those that it has been geared towards.

[Jaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four and a half stars.

So pleased with this book. I loved the Boarding School setting (Geras paints such a vivid and convincing picture), the combined themes of friendship, coming-of-age, and the subtle fairy-tale element that flows through out. I thought the author did this aspect really cleverly, for instance, the Seven Dwarves in the retelling of Snow White, were represented as a music band that had seven members, a band that Bella/Snow White was part of. So there were hints of the fairy-tale, done in a mature way, which never felt over-bearing, cutesy or juvenile.

My favourite of the three girls had to be Megan/Rapunzel - a real soul sister ;-) And I was surprised to like Bella as much as I did, as I thought she came off as being a bit frivolous and flouncy in the beginning when seen through Megan's humble eyes.

I enjoyed the way we started off with Megan, who really set the scene for Egerton Hall Boarding school (where she lives with her Guardian/Teacher) and also introduces us to her two best friends - Alice and Bella - fellow boarders who go on to tell their own stories later on, and in this way give conclusion and closure to Megan's story. It flowed nicely this way.

The author created likable, believable characters and produced a re-telling that was sophisticated, with a gentle fairy tale edge.

Beautiful and highly recommended!

(I think I'm going to miss these girls!)

P.S. Who didn't want to visit The Old Forge cafe and sit beneath the beams eating teacakes and sipping tea?

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This truly is one of my favourite books. I can't remember when I bought Happy Ever After or why (probably just liked the cover as I had never heard of it), but I am so glad I did pick it out from the corners of my local town's tiny, yet quaint, bookshop. It is set in the fifties and tells three separate, yet connected, stories revolving around three best friends finishing their A levels at a remote girls' boarding school. This might sound very malory towers I assure it is not. This book has a sinister edge to it which I think makes it more real. The elements of the roses in the 2nd story and the hinted at magic (or dark magic) in the 3rd make this book so unique. I think this book possibly started my love affair with Paris at a very early age as the descriptions of Parisian life in the fifties, the city of lights, was simply enthralling. No one else I know has heard of/read this book and that makes me sad. If you are a teenage girl, any kind of teenage girl, you MUST read this book. Although I suppose it is a young adult book I still enjoy it as a technical adult (only 18!) I love all the characters and certainly the fairytale element is wonderfully done. I am in love with this charming book.

[Alex Ankarr · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a long time, but I just remember this as the sweetest love story I ever read.

[Jess The Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a modern re-telling of three fairy tales: Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. The three "princesses" are school girls in a boarding school and best friends, and each part of the book tells of each girl's story and love interests.

I really enjoyed this adaptation. It was really fun right in the beginning to figure out which girl was which princess and it was really cleverly done how the story lines from each fairy tale were interpreted and introduced.

I highly recommend this for any lover of fairy tales.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this to read sort of misunderstanding the premise - they are modern day versions of Disney stories but aimed at probably a slightly younger audience. I had read a review from a blogger who said it was one of their favourite books - she must have meant from when she was a teenager. Still, pleasant enough, just a bit....young.

[sengnura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fascinating!
Love it!

[Ruthsinnamon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book i look forward to your next. Book

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding this book was a bit of an ordeal-according to its copyright page, the separate works appear to have been published in the UK and Canada exclusively and this particular omnibus was briefly priced at a cool $500 online, thus its removal from my TBR for a time. These stories are the anti romance (with the exception of Watching the Roses) retellings, instead placing emphasis on empowering adolescent female friendship, and waging a war against the idea of giving up one's dreams/wishes for "love/lust". Here are my individual ratings/thoughts per tale:

*The Tower Room (three stars) Retelling of Rapunzel: This had the added burden of setting up shop for the next two stories, introducing us not only to the girls in the Tower Room, but the love interest meant to steal Megan away. I enjoyed the sprinklings of the OG fairy tale, what Megan's deceased mother having a craving that her guardian fulfilled, her long golden locks, but what I adored most was the original spin this placed on the HEA. Think of this a "what happens next" scenario post The Graduate (shout out to Mr. Deaton for that required watching in English Comp. II); once Megan and Simon (who was honestly a bit creepy with his long hair fetish) ran away in blaze of "love" and glory, she faced a reality of having no parental guidance, no education, and no real place of her own beyond Simon. She returns to school, not in an "I was a bad girl for having lustful thoughts and must be chaste" schtick. But rather, she saw the need to cultivate her mind and gain roots before branches.

*Watching the Roses (four stars) Retelling of Sleeping Beauty: This takes Sleeping Beauty all the way back to her dark roots (the original saw the titular princess raped by the prince while still in her deep sleep, waking up to give birth to twins. Yikes) and the name itself is a nod to another name for the tale "Briar Rose". Instead, this sleeping beauty is put into a deep depression, making her unable to stay awake for too long/leave her bed after being sexually assaulted at her eighteenth birthday party fairly early on. The rest of the household feels the effects by way of depression and similar sleep pattern, but the story also references the many aunts bestowing Alice (AKA Sleeping Beauty) with gifts of their own design at her christening, an outsider aunt cursing the baby, and the mentions of blue vs. pink for the party dress, as well as blue, green, and pink cigarettes smoked by the aunts themselves. Thankfully, this tale ends happily, having Alice be "awakened" by a man who truly treasures her.

*Pictures of the Night (two stars) Retelling of Snow White: Hmm... one of these things is not like the other. Perhaps I should've known this would be rated low by the title having no real connection to the OG story, unlike the previous two. Bella (Snow White) was kind of the rebellious one of the trio, and honestly the most annoying (she talked a big game about sex, but honestly she'd never done the deed, opting to lie and gain some cool points, basically the ramblings of spoiled rich girl). Snow White is supposed to gain our sympathy through kindness, honesty and yes, have skin of snow with lips of blood red, but her story had little to no resolution for the way her stepmother treated her, and her "soulmate" was only mentioned twice. It did have nice callbacks to its source material (she ran off to Paris for a time to live with seven men-only this time, they were grown bohemian rock n' roll musicians, an old woman comes 'round with trinkets meant to harm her, and her stepmother feeds her a champagne, whose base is apples). So many questions with this one: was Marjorie the old lady selling her the cinched belt? Is her father going to remain married to Marjorie after all she's done?

We also have mentions of famous poets/poetry (particularly the Romantics), musicians/actors that were popular in that time, (i.e. Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando) and of course fantasy stories/fairy tales (Red Riding Hood and Alice in Wonderland were the most memorable). This collection was surprisingly dark, but a little Grimm never hurt anyone... beyond repair anyway...

[Caitriona · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely one of the most intriguing books I've ever read, both stylistically and content-wise. It's a trilogy of books that are all written in their own individual style. Additionally all the books focus on a set of three best friends and their final years at a 1960s boarding school - but they are also retellings of some of the best-loved fairytales ever written. Interesting. I shall now review each one separately, so that you get the full idea.

THE TOWER ROOM
This one follows Megan, whose story is loosely based on Rapunzel. She has very long hair which has come to define her (though not as long as the ubiquitous princess's, obviously), is looked after by a guardian who turns out to be a witch (of sorts), and lives in a tower that a lover must scale to get to her. It sounds fine, and it is - the story was intriguing, and the Megan character was the one of all the three girls whom I saw myself in. But it wasn't brilliant or overtly Rapunzel-esque -just good.

WATCHING THE ROSES
Alice is our heroine this time around, and she's supposed to be Sleeping Beauty. It has all the ingredients of a perfect Sleeping Beauty retelling: many loving aunts and one evil one, a rich heroine, and a curse that dooms her to die on her eighteenth birthday. Only she doesn't physically die - she dies a death that's far, far worse and falls into a state of mental breakdown that only love can overturn. Of all the stories, this one's the best by far. The character is most realistic and likeable, the events seem more than plausible but POSSIBLE (the evil aunt and her 'curse' notwithstanding) and it is by far the most creative fairytale retelling I've ever read. Definetely the best of the lot.

PICTURES OF THE NIGHT
The final story follows Bella, our Snow White figure who leaves her school and 'wicked' stepmother behind to play in a band in Paris. Somehow, however, her stepmother's plots to kill her just seem to follow her wherever she goes. This one is definitely the weakest in the trilogy. The character of Bella is irritating, the attempts to put Snow White in a 1960s setting stretch the boundaries of plausibility to breaking point (seven men in one band? an evil cat-hating stepmother with assassin minions all over the world?) and the ending was vague and rushed. Not the best way to end the book.

All in all, mixed results notwithstanding, it was a very enjoyable read. Check it out if you want to see how modern-day fairytale retellings SHOULD be done.

[Mariana Gómez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book.

Happy ever after is a compilation of 3 fairytales, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, but told in a modern kind of way (the story is placed in the fifties). The 3 of them live together in a boarding school, away from the world and from men.
Rapunzel falls in love with a teacher, and goes away to live with him, but realizes that she has bigger plans for herself, so she dumps him and goes back to her friends and her school.
Sleeping Beauty has the most tragic story of the book, and the best one in my opinion. She is raped, and the entire story is about how she tries to deal with that trauma, at first only giving hints about what happened to her, and when she tells the whole story, it´s just powerful.
The third story was the worst to me. Snow White has a stepmother who hates her, so Snow tries to stay away from home as much as possible, with a band of 7 jazz musicians. Her stepmother tries to kill her several times, and the last time, NO ONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED, because the author gives such a quick ending, that the story is not properly finished. Snow White is poisoned, the love of her life gets there and somehow saves her, and they live happily ever after, without explaining anything. I needed some closure to the story, because there´s not. At least it could have mentioned what happened to the stepmother, or why Snow was seeing a white cat when an attempt of murder was about to happen.

In conclusion, it is a good book to read, but the last story could had been better written, and for me it was not pleasant to finish, because of all the doubts it left me with

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me just say. I dont know. I really just have no clue as to what I just read. So let me give you guys some background info on how I got my hands on this book. It was a Valentine's book date thing going on at my library and this happened to be the random book I chose. hmm. Ok, let me admit. The title does not make me want to read it, so no credit to the cover artist or author there. So that was a really big fail. Anyways, moving on to my personal feelings before even opening the cover. It was kinda flat. I thought it would be your typical lallalala thing but it actually surprised me.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it was good, but it wasn't what I expected and that is good. So kudos to you, Adele. Also, I found it interesting how the whole notion of changing the characters from your traditional run of the mill fairytales was not at all what I thought it would be. I have never heard anyone say anything about this book, so I guess I am kinda glad I read it.

I need to stop judging books by their cover. ok, so I actually only liked the first book of this 3 part series thing but I gotta say, the quality declined slowly or maybe my interest just dwindled to nothing.

I really am going to say, sometimes just getting a random book is good and changes up your reading style and everything. I would never have picked up this book on my own, unfortunately and that is a sad thing because I wish i was more accepting of all books.

So no rating, because 3 and a bit. is my final rating.

[Rea Bailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Im giving this a 2.5 stars. There were some parts I really enjoyed, I loved putting together which re-telling was which and I also loved the friendship between the three girls. However the one main problem I had with these stories was that the girls were supposed to be 18 and the way they were talking was like they were 16 years olds. I think as the book progressed they felt a little more mature but only by a little bit and with the situations they were in it was just so out there that I couldn't connect with any of the characters so didn't really care what happened to them. I almost wanted this book to be much darker and I really feel like the stories were such an interesting re-tellings but they just needed a little bit more. If each story had another 50pages I think it wouldn't feel so rushed as it felt like they were all falling in love in the space of 10secs. Also HUUGGEEEE trigger warning for rape - I was not expecting it to be this in depth so just FYI if you are thinking of reading this.
I'd like to try more of Adele's work as I think her ideas are super interesting but this one just didn't connect with me.

[Natasha den Dekker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vapid. Plotholes. Characters so pointless that I didn't really care what happened to them. I picked this up thinking it would dark and bloody with hints of eroticism. What followed was rather more lacklustre. 3 girls are at boarding school together and become Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow Shite. Each of the girls is utterly gorgeous (but in their own way) and live out the stories. I read them all because amidst the bad there were some kernals or originality. Like how Sleeping Beauty came to 'seem like she was sleeping'. And snow white,probably the most 'gripping' story and very faithful to the original BUT NO RESOLUTION. I kept flicking between pages to see if I'd missed anything. I hadn't. The author had though. :s Also, there was the theme of always being rescued by a man - happy endings cannot happen unless if you have man was an underlying thread.

If you want a decent 'modern fairytale' try Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper or 'The Black Swan' by Mercedes Lackey. Not these. Definitely not these.

[India · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. To me, this book is simply perfection. Here's the blurb:

Once upon a time, Megan, Alice and Bella shared the Tower Room. Theirs was an enchanted world, and the deep friendship that grew through the final year of school helped them to survive betrayal, treachery, jealously and a terrible act of violence.
Based on the fairytales of Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, this haunting trilogy explores our most turbulent emotions and speaks to our deepest memories.

This trilogy is indeed haunting. It made me feel nostalgic, but for what I'm not sure. The words and language were perfect, it was smooth and turbulent at the same time. It is simply wonderful. The three different points of view worked for me, they all had a different voice and a different story, a different character. I don't know what else to say, really, except that this book is perfection.

[Lavender Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book especially the first two stories about Megan and Alice. They had a lovely fairytale feel to them. I liked the setting of their boarding school for the first story and Alice's parents beautiful house for the second. I cared about these two and was interested and enchanted by their stories.

The third story was Bella's which was mainly set in Paris and this was my least favourite. The fairytale aspect felt very contrived unlike the other two. I wasn't really that keen on the character of Bella either as I found her a little irritating - not to mention all those dreadful song lyrics! The ending felt very rushed and a bit silly really - a shame as it did detract from the other two stories.

[Worm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imogen for Worm's Magical Library of Books: www.wormslibraryofbooks.blogspot.co.uk

Really enjoyed this book!

The characters included in this book were more than loveable and the stories interlinked beautifully. No stone was left unturned at the end and I was not left wondering about what happened to whats-his-face-who-went-to-london.

The stories were well re-told and still kept their fairytale theme, whilst maintaining a certain level of modernity, which was very refreshing.

I hope to read more in future from this author!

ONE SENTENCE: Reminisce (with childhood) and refresh with new twists on classic tales

[Charlotteswonderland · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Once upon a time Megan, Alice and Bella shared the Tower Room. Theirs was an enchanted world, and the deep friendship that grew through the final year of school helped them to survive betrayal, treachery, jealousy and a terrible act of violence."
A wonderful modern day retelling of the fairytales Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. This book is a combination of three stories, one from Megan, one from Alice and one from Bella. As well as dealing with the situations from the original fairytales it also deals with modern day situations too which makes the characters even more relatable. I lovely read that you won't be disappointed with!

[Ella Seabrook-Wafer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another of the books I picked up as a teenager but never ended up reading until now. Honestly, I was disappointed. While the idea of traditional fairytales re-written into modern, even haunting stories of school-girl escapades sounds enticing, this book was not engaging. I felt I could happily put it down and forget about it for a while before going back to it. While there were elements of beauty in the descriptions of the friendship between the girls, the writing felt stunted. Potentially one for younger teenagers in terms of writing style, although the themes within the book may not be suited to such an audience. A great premise, but poorly executed. 2.4 stars

[Ruth Mcauley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three stories in one book, all based on re-written fairy tales. The stories are interlinked, and primarily deal with three 1960's girls who are finishing school and wondering what to do next with their lives, dealing with adult relationships for the first time and find their place in the world. A good read - I always enjoy a re-worked fairytale. Could have been a lot darker, but still does deal with serious issues like rape. You can feel the bones of the original stories under the new tales, the characters are recognisable.

[Marjolein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying this reviewing thing for the first time. I thought I would like these 3 books but they were alright. It was difficult for me to get into some of the characters. A few were likable (Simon) others were not (Bella). It's awfully difficult to read through a book when you don't like the main character. I did like that it was escape from all the fantasy I am currently reading too. Overall it was nice especially the fairytale references.

[Holly Barlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first fairytale retelling that i have read and i thought that it was 'ok'.
It had very interesting takes on the fairytales of 'Rapunzel', 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Snow White' and the writing style was very fitting of the time period that the story is set in.
While i did find this book quite slow to get through (which i put down to me not empathising with the characters) it has definitely not put me off retellings and i can't wait to get my hands on another one.

Holly

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst reading stories from Angela Carter's 'The Bloody Chamber', one of my students recommended this book to me. Despite my low star rating, I don't regret having read it. Indeed, I regret my age -- or the fact that it wasn't written and published when I was much, much younger. If I'd read this book when I was 18 years old, I think I would have appreciated these updated fairy tales much more.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a good book that manages to do a modern retelling of three fairytales that manage to tie them all together. I enjoyed reading it as much as I did when I first read it years ago when I was younger. I found myself sucked into the stories, attached to the characters, hoping that they would get what they wanted in the end.

[Lottee Houghton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book but it was absolute rubbish. It's supposed to be 3 girls that are 17 years old but the writing makes it seem like they are about 12 because of all the childish remarks throughout each story. I didn't enjoy it at all, they were loosely based on the fairy tales but you really had to look for the connections.

[Capucine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the merge of the fantasy fairy tale and the modern world we live in. I thought it was an interesting take on the fairy tales we grow up with and made them even more relevant for an older audience.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

took a while to get into the book, the way the first part was written required too much concentration to understand it as i was reading it, the last two sections were much more enjoyable and easier to read

[Beth Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant, rewritten fairy tales, took me months to read this and I don't know why because I very much enjoyed it.

[Silvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely retelling of Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. I was expecting a little bit more of romance in this book but still it was very enjoyable and sweet.

[Janina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked the writing but the 'modern' fairytales were awful and extremely predictable.