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A Wild Winter Swan
After brilliantly reimagining the worlds of Oz, Wonderland, Dickensian London, and the Nutcracker, the New York Times bestselling author of Wicked turns his unconventional genius to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Wild Swans," transforming this classic tale into an Italian-American girl's poignant coming-of-age story, set amid the magic of Christmas in 1960s New York.
Following her brother's death and her mother's emotional breakdown, Laura now lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in a lonely townhouse she shares with her old-world, strict, often querulous grandparents. But the arrangement may be temporary. The quiet, awkward teenager has been getting into trouble at home and has been expelled from her high school for throwing a record album at a popular girl who bullied her. When Christmas is over and the new year begins, Laura may find herself at boarding school in Montreal.
Nearly unmoored from reality through her panic and submerged grief, Laura is startled when a handsome swan boy with only one wing lands on her roof. Hiding him from her ever-bickering grandparents, Laura tries to build the swan boy a wing so he can fly home. But the task is too difficult to accomplish herself. Little does Laura know that her struggle to find help for her new friend parallels that of her grandparents, who are desperate for a distant relative’s financial aid to save the family store.
As he explores themes of class, isolation, family, and the dangerous yearning to be saved by a power greater than ourselves, Gregory Maguire conjures a haunting, beautiful tale of magical realism that illuminates one young woman’s heartbreak and hope as she begins the inevitable journey to adulthood.
Following her brother's death and her mother's emotional breakdown, Laura now lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in a lonely townhouse she shares with her old-world, strict, often querulous grandparents. But the arrangement may be temporary. The quiet, awkward teenager has been getting into trouble at home and has been expelled from her high school for throwing a record album at a popular girl who bullied her. When Christmas is over and the new year begins, Laura may find herself at boarding school in Montreal.
Nearly unmoored from reality through her panic and submerged grief, Laura is startled when a handsome swan boy with only one wing lands on her roof. Hiding him from her ever-bickering grandparents, Laura tries to build the swan boy a wing so he can fly home. But the task is too difficult to accomplish herself. Little does Laura know that her struggle to find help for her new friend parallels that of her grandparents, who are desperate for a distant relative’s financial aid to save the family store.
As he explores themes of class, isolation, family, and the dangerous yearning to be saved by a power greater than ourselves, Gregory Maguire conjures a haunting, beautiful tale of magical realism that illuminates one young woman’s heartbreak and hope as she begins the inevitable journey to adulthood.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 6, 2020
251 people are currently reading
10958 people want to read
About the author
Gregory Maguire
112 books9,171 followersGregory Maguire is an American author, whose novels are revisionist retellings of children's stories (such as L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into Wicked). He received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children's Literature from 1979-1985. In 1987 he co-founded Children's Literature New England (a non-profit educational charity).
Maguire has served as artist-in-residence at the Blue Mountain Center, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Hambidge Center. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts.
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October 17, 2020
Once upon a time there was a princess. I don't know if she was beautiful but she probably was because what story ever has an ugly princess? They all get to be beautiful, which isn't fair to people in the real world but what can we do? Stop reading?
So anyway, there's this probably-beautiful princess named Eliza. She lived with her father the king and her eleven younger brothers. These were the days when pre-marital sex was taboo and the king tired of giving himself a hand. "Let me find a beautiful queen", said he. "My children need a mother and my ding needs a dong."
And so he issued a royal decree that the most beautiful woman in the kingdom be brought to him. Unfortunately for Eliza and her brothers, the king cared more about getting a dong for his ding than he did about getting a mother for his kids.
When the beautiful woman arrived at the palace, the king fell immediately in lust. Before even speaking to the woman, he called for the priest to marry them. As soon as the words, "You may kiss the bride" were uttered, the priest and onlookers were shooed out of the chapel. The royal couple fell upon the altar in a heap of silken robes and passionate cries and Ding-Dong, Ding-Dong was heard throughout the land.
The next morning, the happy king introduced his new wife to the princess and princes. Eliza felt a chill as her step-mother's cold gaze fell upon her. As for the new queen, she felt a stab of jealousy, thinking that this child would one day be more beautiful than she.
The hatred in her heart grew day by day until the queen could no longer stand to have Eliza around. She had her packed off and shipped to a peasant in the woods, telling her father that Eliza had run off with the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker.
The king was saddened that his only daughter should run off without telling him goodbye. "Like mother, like daughter," he said with a sigh.
Without their older sister to keep them under control, the eleven princes went wild, running through the palace, breaking things, and screaming at the top of their lungs. The queen could not stand this, especially because she was losing beauty sleep.
One morning, she gazed into her mirror and spotted both a grey hair and a tiny wrinkle on the side of her mouth. "Those damn children!" she cried. "They are ruining me!".
She immediately set off to find the best witch in the land. Thankfully for her, but not for the children, the church was only concerned with matters of sex. The clergy had yet to realise how much they abhorred witches and witchcraft and women who dared do as they please.
The best witch in the land was sitting outside her hut in the woods, slowly stirring a cauldron. It was autumn in the kingdom and she was trying out her new recipe for spicy pumpkin-scented lotion.
When she saw the queen, the witch jumped up, then fell down on her knees. "Get up, you old hag!" demanded the queen. "And get rid of this horrid concoction! Why does everyone want spicy pumpkin scented shit in the autumn? Whoever heard of pumpkin-flavoured coffee and Kit-Kats and Spam? Next there will be Pumpkin Spice Cheerios™ and that will be the death of us all."
A couple hours later, with a smile on her face, the queen set off back to the castle. That night, as the eleven princes slept, she sprinkled a fine dust upon them. There was a faint scent of pumpkin spice in the air, as the witch didn't have time to give her cauldron a decent scrub.
Murmuring the spell the witch had taught her, the queen watched as the boys' arms slowly morphed into wings, their noses grew into beaks, and their skin sprouted smooth white feathers. Before her eyes, the eleven princes turned into eleven wild swans.
Ok, that sums up what I read of the original story of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Wild Winter Swans". I hadn't been familiar with it before reading this book and looked it up. Unfortunately, I have a hard time reading an entire story on the computer so you'll have to wait til I find a Kindle version to find out the rest.
In the meantime, you can read Gregory Maguire's re-telling. His is set in New York City in the 1960s and Eliza is Laurita whose one brother has died and whose parents are gone and who now lives with her elderly Italian grandparents. It's the Christmas season and a boy-swan lands on the roof outside her window. As the household prepares for Christmas festivities, Laurita tries to help this one-winged boy.
I enjoy reading fairy tale retellings, when the original story gets turned on its head and you realise that what you thought was the story isn't it at all. Perhaps because I didn't know the original story, I wasn't as engaged with this book as I was with many of Gregory Maguire's other books.
Still, if you like fairy tale re-tellings, it's worth reading. Mr. Maguire is a master storyteller and it's difficult not to get drawn into his stories.
3.5 stars rounded up.
So anyway, there's this probably-beautiful princess named Eliza. She lived with her father the king and her eleven younger brothers. These were the days when pre-marital sex was taboo and the king tired of giving himself a hand. "Let me find a beautiful queen", said he. "My children need a mother and my ding needs a dong."
And so he issued a royal decree that the most beautiful woman in the kingdom be brought to him. Unfortunately for Eliza and her brothers, the king cared more about getting a dong for his ding than he did about getting a mother for his kids.
When the beautiful woman arrived at the palace, the king fell immediately in lust. Before even speaking to the woman, he called for the priest to marry them. As soon as the words, "You may kiss the bride" were uttered, the priest and onlookers were shooed out of the chapel. The royal couple fell upon the altar in a heap of silken robes and passionate cries and Ding-Dong, Ding-Dong was heard throughout the land.
The next morning, the happy king introduced his new wife to the princess and princes. Eliza felt a chill as her step-mother's cold gaze fell upon her. As for the new queen, she felt a stab of jealousy, thinking that this child would one day be more beautiful than she.
The hatred in her heart grew day by day until the queen could no longer stand to have Eliza around. She had her packed off and shipped to a peasant in the woods, telling her father that Eliza had run off with the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker.
The king was saddened that his only daughter should run off without telling him goodbye. "Like mother, like daughter," he said with a sigh.
Without their older sister to keep them under control, the eleven princes went wild, running through the palace, breaking things, and screaming at the top of their lungs. The queen could not stand this, especially because she was losing beauty sleep.
One morning, she gazed into her mirror and spotted both a grey hair and a tiny wrinkle on the side of her mouth. "Those damn children!" she cried. "They are ruining me!".
She immediately set off to find the best witch in the land. Thankfully for her, but not for the children, the church was only concerned with matters of sex. The clergy had yet to realise how much they abhorred witches and witchcraft and women who dared do as they please.
The best witch in the land was sitting outside her hut in the woods, slowly stirring a cauldron. It was autumn in the kingdom and she was trying out her new recipe for spicy pumpkin-scented lotion.
When she saw the queen, the witch jumped up, then fell down on her knees. "Get up, you old hag!" demanded the queen. "And get rid of this horrid concoction! Why does everyone want spicy pumpkin scented shit in the autumn? Whoever heard of pumpkin-flavoured coffee and Kit-Kats and Spam? Next there will be Pumpkin Spice Cheerios™ and that will be the death of us all."
A couple hours later, with a smile on her face, the queen set off back to the castle. That night, as the eleven princes slept, she sprinkled a fine dust upon them. There was a faint scent of pumpkin spice in the air, as the witch didn't have time to give her cauldron a decent scrub.
Murmuring the spell the witch had taught her, the queen watched as the boys' arms slowly morphed into wings, their noses grew into beaks, and their skin sprouted smooth white feathers. Before her eyes, the eleven princes turned into eleven wild swans.
Ok, that sums up what I read of the original story of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Wild Winter Swans". I hadn't been familiar with it before reading this book and looked it up. Unfortunately, I have a hard time reading an entire story on the computer so you'll have to wait til I find a Kindle version to find out the rest.
In the meantime, you can read Gregory Maguire's re-telling. His is set in New York City in the 1960s and Eliza is Laurita whose one brother has died and whose parents are gone and who now lives with her elderly Italian grandparents. It's the Christmas season and a boy-swan lands on the roof outside her window. As the household prepares for Christmas festivities, Laurita tries to help this one-winged boy.
I enjoy reading fairy tale retellings, when the original story gets turned on its head and you realise that what you thought was the story isn't it at all. Perhaps because I didn't know the original story, I wasn't as engaged with this book as I was with many of Gregory Maguire's other books.
Still, if you like fairy tale re-tellings, it's worth reading. Mr. Maguire is a master storyteller and it's difficult not to get drawn into his stories.
3.5 stars rounded up.
August 20, 2020
So I know it's supposed to be about a young girl growing up and getting out beyond herself. She finds herself somewhat in a story where a boy with one wing crashes into her house, and most of the book is about her hiding him and trying to find a way to help him. I know these are the reasons for it, but I just feel like this doesn't need to be a full novel. If anything, it could have been made into a short story and wrapped up just as easily. There are a few key events you can pick out from it and then if you just measure the breaks and information you'd get the same result. Also, Laura's nature as a writer but not didn't seem to have purpose. I mean she was in her own head a lot and the sentences she thought over were meant as a way to prove that she felt like she wasn't good enough or deserving to be in a story and that her imagination was lacking, yet it seemed like the opposite. I don't know. It was okay which is why I'm giving it two stars. The combination of her family life and the story of the swan was an interesting premise, but it doesn't capture me. I'm sure someone will be able to come up with a lot of insightful critiques about the meaning behind it and the artistry of the prose, but it just didn't sell it for me.
December 28, 2020
As I haven't really enjoyed the last two Gregory Maguire books I've read - Matchless and Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker, I was hesitant to take this one off the shelf, but I was curious to see what he'd do with Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans. For those of you unfamiliar with the tale, it involves several male siblings who are turned into swans by an evil queen. Their sister consults some fairies, makes cambric shirts, and tosses them over her brothers to change them back into humans once more. Unfortunately, the last brother's shirt was unfinished, and one arm was uncovered. He was left with a white, feathery wing instead of an arm . . . which leads us to Maguire's story.
Laura's an unhappy teen, living with her grandparents on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She's missing her own brother, who was killed in an accident, when a guy with one wing shows up outside her bedroom window. It's a dilemma, all right, and yet another problem Laura really doesn't need.
On the whole, I enjoyed this. I was fascinated by Laura's life with her Italian grandparents in their brownstone, and their struggle to maintain a lifestyle they can barely afford anymore. Tired of being bullied at school, Laura has done a bad, bad thing, and been expelled. She has a good relationship with the family cook, and I liked their repartee as the household residents prepare for the annual Feast of the Seven Fishes. Quite honestly, I felt the story was rich enough, and really didn't need a wayward swan in the picture. But, I assume he was also there to represent Laura's need to spread her wings and fly . . . maybe?
A good effort by an author I had all but dismissed. I'm truly looking forward to his next book.
Laura's an unhappy teen, living with her grandparents on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She's missing her own brother, who was killed in an accident, when a guy with one wing shows up outside her bedroom window. It's a dilemma, all right, and yet another problem Laura really doesn't need.
On the whole, I enjoyed this. I was fascinated by Laura's life with her Italian grandparents in their brownstone, and their struggle to maintain a lifestyle they can barely afford anymore. Tired of being bullied at school, Laura has done a bad, bad thing, and been expelled. She has a good relationship with the family cook, and I liked their repartee as the household residents prepare for the annual Feast of the Seven Fishes. Quite honestly, I felt the story was rich enough, and really didn't need a wayward swan in the picture. But, I assume he was also there to represent Laura's need to spread her wings and fly . . . maybe?
A good effort by an author I had all but dismissed. I'm truly looking forward to his next book.
July 2, 2020
I've always loved reimagined "standard" tales, and Gregory Maguire excels yet again at taking a story we know, in this case, Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans, and brings it to life in a new way. Here, he introduces us to the one brother that was left part swan, part human in Andersen's story and gives him a second chance at freedom. Weaving together the story of this boy's stand in 'sister' who is looking for freedom of her own. I especially loved the frustration both felt through the inadequacies of language to communicate, and how that plays through the whole story.
December 27, 2021
An okay book, but my 100th of the year, which I wasn’t sure I’d make. Yay!
March 24, 2021
A young Italian-American girl is forced to live with her grandparents after her mother is committed to an asylum. As she struggles to fit in in her new school, among her new peers and with her new caregivers, she is faced with attending a boarding school in Montreal. When a man with one arm and one wing crashes into her roof a few days before Christmas, Laura decides to take it upon herself to rescue the swan, and return him to his home. With the holiday upon her, and important guests coming, Laura struggles with keeping Hans a secret.
“A Wild Winter Swan” is Gregory Maguire’s retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale, “The Wild Swans”. I am not at all familiar with that story, so I did not have as much background going into this one as I did for any of Maguire’s other works.
Laura is sweet, naïve and misunderstood and right away, she is a character that I automatically rooted for. Desperate for friendship, she befriends a misfit swan-man, who, too, is alone in the world with no memory of his past. Laura’s grandparents are the epitome of Italian “Nonna” and “Nonno”’s everywhere, with their broken English and their presumed importance on appearances and presentation. They were a delightful couple, and they made me laugh more than once.
I cannot speak to how relevant to Andersen’s “Swan” was Maguire’s interpretation, but Maguire’s creativity and beautiful prose is definitely present in this novel. He tells stories in such a magical way, each page pulls me in. Descriptive settings, dreamlike characters, intermixed with the bustle of New York City at Christmas, there is no better modern day fairy tale storyteller than Maguire.
A short, cute little novel, “Swan” was one I could easily read through. Had it been any longer, I can see the plot dragging on in parts, but Maguire made it the perfect length, and I thoroughly enjoyed each page.
An avid Maguire fan, I wonder what will happen when he runs out of fairy tales to retell. On the other hand, it really doesn’t matter, as I’ll read whatever he writes all the same.
“A Wild Winter Swan” is Gregory Maguire’s retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale, “The Wild Swans”. I am not at all familiar with that story, so I did not have as much background going into this one as I did for any of Maguire’s other works.
Laura is sweet, naïve and misunderstood and right away, she is a character that I automatically rooted for. Desperate for friendship, she befriends a misfit swan-man, who, too, is alone in the world with no memory of his past. Laura’s grandparents are the epitome of Italian “Nonna” and “Nonno”’s everywhere, with their broken English and their presumed importance on appearances and presentation. They were a delightful couple, and they made me laugh more than once.
I cannot speak to how relevant to Andersen’s “Swan” was Maguire’s interpretation, but Maguire’s creativity and beautiful prose is definitely present in this novel. He tells stories in such a magical way, each page pulls me in. Descriptive settings, dreamlike characters, intermixed with the bustle of New York City at Christmas, there is no better modern day fairy tale storyteller than Maguire.
A short, cute little novel, “Swan” was one I could easily read through. Had it been any longer, I can see the plot dragging on in parts, but Maguire made it the perfect length, and I thoroughly enjoyed each page.
An avid Maguire fan, I wonder what will happen when he runs out of fairy tales to retell. On the other hand, it really doesn’t matter, as I’ll read whatever he writes all the same.
September 15, 2020
I received an advance galley of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Where A Wild Winter Swan succeeds is in evoking a magical early 1960s New York City at Christmastime, with Italian-born grandparents and an Irish cook and cold weather described with visceral ferocity. The atmosphere is incredible. Where it lacks, for me, is the entire fantasy concept that is supposed to form the heart of the book and the main character's development.
This book is definitely being marketed to a more 'literary' audience. I approach this as a well-read fantasy reader. I was frustrated as I read because the magical aspect completely lacks worldbuilding. Even worse, it feels contrived.
Laura is a teenage girl is a lot of rough edges, raised by loving but very old-world immigrant grandparents. She happens to present the Hans Christian Andersen tale of 'The Wild Swans' to kids that she reads to, at a time in life where her actions have led to her expulsion from school and a new year with an imminent exile to a Catholic boarding school in Montreal. Then late that night, she awakens to a terrible crashing noise. A boy about her age, with a wing as an arm, crashed onto the roof by her attic room. She hides him in the house, adding to the mayhem in a household already frenetic with preparations for an important Christmas meal.
The mysteries around the boy remain mysteries. If I'm supposed to accept that as being part of the magic of Christmas, I can't. It's too hand-wavey. In terms of plot, it's just plain too convenient. If I wrote this, I know my crit readers would be all over me for lazy worldbuilding, as they rightly should be.
But as this is a novel intended for literary audiences, I also wonder if this is a Life of Pi situation and the winged boy never existed at all--that maybe he's some representative of her feral teenage spirit and broken life. If that is the case, then I am even more disappointed in the book. (I hated the end of Life of Pi, too.)
I suppose I had higher hopes for the book. I wanted a fantastical Christmas coming-of-age story. The fantastical just wasn't there.
Where A Wild Winter Swan succeeds is in evoking a magical early 1960s New York City at Christmastime, with Italian-born grandparents and an Irish cook and cold weather described with visceral ferocity. The atmosphere is incredible. Where it lacks, for me, is the entire fantasy concept that is supposed to form the heart of the book and the main character's development.
This book is definitely being marketed to a more 'literary' audience. I approach this as a well-read fantasy reader. I was frustrated as I read because the magical aspect completely lacks worldbuilding. Even worse, it feels contrived.
Laura is a teenage girl is a lot of rough edges, raised by loving but very old-world immigrant grandparents. She happens to present the Hans Christian Andersen tale of 'The Wild Swans' to kids that she reads to, at a time in life where her actions have led to her expulsion from school and a new year with an imminent exile to a Catholic boarding school in Montreal. Then late that night, she awakens to a terrible crashing noise. A boy about her age, with a wing as an arm, crashed onto the roof by her attic room. She hides him in the house, adding to the mayhem in a household already frenetic with preparations for an important Christmas meal.
The mysteries around the boy remain mysteries. If I'm supposed to accept that as being part of the magic of Christmas, I can't. It's too hand-wavey. In terms of plot, it's just plain too convenient. If I wrote this, I know my crit readers would be all over me for lazy worldbuilding, as they rightly should be.
But as this is a novel intended for literary audiences, I also wonder if this is a Life of Pi situation and the winged boy never existed at all--that maybe he's some representative of her feral teenage spirit and broken life. If that is the case, then I am even more disappointed in the book. (I hated the end of Life of Pi, too.)
I suppose I had higher hopes for the book. I wanted a fantastical Christmas coming-of-age story. The fantastical just wasn't there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 12, 2020
*ARC received from Netgalley in return for an honest review*
This is the story of a young girl who is still trying to find herself. She is dealing with a lot of loose and heartache, but somehow she finds herself the keeper of a young boy with a wing for an arm. This is s story of growing up and learning more about yourself and the world you find yourself in.
I will start off by saying, this story was probably not written for me. It wasn't poorly written by any means but I struggled to connect with any of it. It took on a whimsical literary style that left a lack of emotion or world development in its wake. It meandered along with a little bit of a plot and ended several pages further long than it needed to be. This story could have been told maybe as a shorter novella, more than anything else.
The main point of this story seems to be Laura's growth out of childhood. Because of that, it was more of building up this childish atmosphere through wordplay and Laura's own thought, than any true plot. Laura herself felt vastly younger than the 15 years she was supposedly supposed to have lived.
This is a magical realism story but the same story could have been told without the magic which left me wondering why the boy with one wing was even there.
This is the story of a young girl who is still trying to find herself. She is dealing with a lot of loose and heartache, but somehow she finds herself the keeper of a young boy with a wing for an arm. This is s story of growing up and learning more about yourself and the world you find yourself in.
I will start off by saying, this story was probably not written for me. It wasn't poorly written by any means but I struggled to connect with any of it. It took on a whimsical literary style that left a lack of emotion or world development in its wake. It meandered along with a little bit of a plot and ended several pages further long than it needed to be. This story could have been told maybe as a shorter novella, more than anything else.
The main point of this story seems to be Laura's growth out of childhood. Because of that, it was more of building up this childish atmosphere through wordplay and Laura's own thought, than any true plot. Laura herself felt vastly younger than the 15 years she was supposedly supposed to have lived.
This is a magical realism story but the same story could have been told without the magic which left me wondering why the boy with one wing was even there.
August 1, 2020
Gregory Maguire is one of the authors responsible for my love of reading. Back in high school I discovered his twisted fairy tales and fell absolutely in love. Once I started reading his stories, I couldn’t stop reading anything I could get my hands on. In this new book from him coming this fall, he twists Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Wild Swans.” After Laura’s life is turned upside down, she goes to live with her grandparents in New York City where she finds a swan boy with a broken wing. As Christmas Day is coming soon, her grandparents are desperately trying to fix up their house and create a delicious meal for someone they hope to invest in their business. But the hidden swan boy is looming upstairs in Laura’s room as she is trying to nurse him back to health and then everything starts to go wrong. I love the dialogue, the inventive storytelling and vividness of the prose in this book. I can see it all playing out in my mind and I just love that. Highly recommended for lovers of twisted fairy tales and great stories!
August 20, 2020
A fantastic premise from an author whose prior riffs on fairy tales have been quite compelling, but this fell flat for me in execution. In the opening chapters, Maguire sets up a complete cast of richly drawn characters set against the backdrop of an Upper East Side townhouse in NYC in the early 1960s. The heroine Laura is a girl with a past - her father and brother are dead, and her mother mysteriously absent. Laura has been expelled from yet another school, and will soon be sent off to boarding school in Montreal. Her grandparents are grappling with business challenges, hoping a new family member will rescue them. And in the midst of that, a swan-boy shows up in the middle of a snowy night.
That's where the story began to unravel. Maguire establishes these multi-layered storylines, but fails to follow through each to its completion. For example, Laura secures assistance from other characters to help save the swan-boy. But that assistance comes from unlikely sources, without convincing reasons why those characters would actually help. And several story lines are left completely open, like the mystery of her mother's absence.
A good read for those who value atmosphere and strong character building. May not be your jam if you need a solid plot and character motivations.
That's where the story began to unravel. Maguire establishes these multi-layered storylines, but fails to follow through each to its completion. For example, Laura secures assistance from other characters to help save the swan-boy. But that assistance comes from unlikely sources, without convincing reasons why those characters would actually help. And several story lines are left completely open, like the mystery of her mother's absence.
A good read for those who value atmosphere and strong character building. May not be your jam if you need a solid plot and character motivations.
November 6, 2023
Wonderful escape from the darkness of the present. Maguire immerses us in a fairy tale version of New York city during the Kennedy era. Catastrophe threatens, but the ship of this story rights itself and sails on.
October 3, 2021
The story centers around Laura, an Italian American New Yorker in the 60s. Her father and brother died in different accidents, and her mother could not cope afterwards and is in a mental institution. Laura lives with her grandparents and is alone and bullied at school. She works with the first graders in her school after school, and before the holidays, she reads them Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans the day she is expelled from school for getting back at her bully.
The evening after she reads it, she is visited by a boy with one swan wing - the youngest brother from the Andersen story. She nurses the unwilling and belligerent Hans back to health and hides him in the house, all while her grandparents are trying to arrange a fancy family Christmas dinner and impress her aunt's fiancee, a potential investor in their company.
This was definitely an interesting book, although some parts were lacking. There are two very different stories going on here, but the more realistic one wins out. In fact, there are some points where it seems like the Hans thing is all in Laura's head, but it is very real. I enjoyed this, but some things were not explained well. As this was an ARC review copy, I hope the official copy has more to fill in the blanks, but it is definitely well-written.
I wanted to see a little more action with Hans, I feel like his story was only slightly explained, especially since he was out of his own time. But I guess the main focus was on Laura, her family, and her struggles. This kind of supports my theory that Hans never actually existed and was a figure of her overactive imagination and a symbol for her struggles and letting go of a part of herself.
I'd love to see a sequel, maybe with more of Maxine this time, or with her as a main character for another lesser known retelling. I think this sets up well for one, especially if we consider the girls' future and what that would look like. I hope there is one.
Disclaimer:
The evening after she reads it, she is visited by a boy with one swan wing - the youngest brother from the Andersen story. She nurses the unwilling and belligerent Hans back to health and hides him in the house, all while her grandparents are trying to arrange a fancy family Christmas dinner and impress her aunt's fiancee, a potential investor in their company.
This was definitely an interesting book, although some parts were lacking. There are two very different stories going on here, but the more realistic one wins out. In fact, there are some points where it seems like the Hans thing is all in Laura's head, but it is very real. I enjoyed this, but some things were not explained well. As this was an ARC review copy, I hope the official copy has more to fill in the blanks, but it is definitely well-written.
I wanted to see a little more action with Hans, I feel like his story was only slightly explained, especially since he was out of his own time. But I guess the main focus was on Laura, her family, and her struggles. This kind of supports my theory that Hans never actually existed and was a figure of her overactive imagination and a symbol for her struggles and letting go of a part of herself.
I'd love to see a sequel, maybe with more of Maxine this time, or with her as a main character for another lesser known retelling. I think this sets up well for one, especially if we consider the girls' future and what that would look like. I hope there is one.
Disclaimer:
October 8, 2020
While this was a relatively short book, I felt like the pacing at the beginning was so slow, that I really struggled to get into it. Had I not pushed on and made it past the 30% mark, I may have not finished it. However, once the story really begins to unfold, the pacing picks up and Laura becomes a much more likable and relatable character.
While I was not familiar with the story The Wild Swans, I was still able to enjoy the tale of Hans and Laura as a retelling of the classic fairytale. Maguire did a good enough job of introducing the plot of The Wild Swans that I never felt that the story was lacking in plot or character development. It was just such a slow story to start to the fact that I almost gave up on it that is cause for my 3 star rating.
While I was not familiar with the story The Wild Swans, I was still able to enjoy the tale of Hans and Laura as a retelling of the classic fairytale. Maguire did a good enough job of introducing the plot of The Wild Swans that I never felt that the story was lacking in plot or character development. It was just such a slow story to start to the fact that I almost gave up on it that is cause for my 3 star rating.
April 25, 2022
Oh wow, I'm honestly surprised by the low overall rating for this one.
Laura is a troubled teen for sure, and I interpreted the book as that she doesn't know how to express or relate to her own life, so she makes up elaborate stories and writes herself into them in order to make sense of .. Everything
There was a bit of confusion for me as far as whether or not the story of Hans the Swan Boy actually occurred at first, but now I think it was just the way that Laura decided to express her own nervous breakdown (which she did say at one point).
The only part that lapsed on that front was right at the end - I liked watching her make friends but I didn't see any one catalytic event that occured, it seemed like Laura just *snap* woke up and started relating better.
I see what McGuire was going for but he missed the execution at the end if I interpreted everything correctly
The part i really liked was the setting, it felt like I was walking around Midtown with Laura and seeing the Christmas displays. I liked the family time and how she had to mentally get to a certain point in her own story to relate to what her grandparents were going through and see them struggling as well
I liked those characters too, the grandparents were funny at times. The messages of hope, faith and christmas miracles are always good too. The cook was funny too, and the cat 😂
This is a good book for the winter / Christmas holiday season but it's s good read anytime. If you listen to the audio there is an author interview excerpt where he talks a bit about Wicked and answers some fan questions. Would recommend!
Laura is a troubled teen for sure, and I interpreted the book as that she doesn't know how to express or relate to her own life, so she makes up elaborate stories and writes herself into them in order to make sense of .. Everything
There was a bit of confusion for me as far as whether or not the story of Hans the Swan Boy actually occurred at first, but now I think it was just the way that Laura decided to express her own nervous breakdown (which she did say at one point).
The only part that lapsed on that front was right at the end - I liked watching her make friends but I didn't see any one catalytic event that occured, it seemed like Laura just *snap* woke up and started relating better.
I see what McGuire was going for but he missed the execution at the end if I interpreted everything correctly
The part i really liked was the setting, it felt like I was walking around Midtown with Laura and seeing the Christmas displays. I liked the family time and how she had to mentally get to a certain point in her own story to relate to what her grandparents were going through and see them struggling as well
I liked those characters too, the grandparents were funny at times. The messages of hope, faith and christmas miracles are always good too. The cook was funny too, and the cat 😂
This is a good book for the winter / Christmas holiday season but it's s good read anytime. If you listen to the audio there is an author interview excerpt where he talks a bit about Wicked and answers some fan questions. Would recommend!
October 22, 2020
It's nearing Christmas in New York City.
Laura lives with her grandparents in a Brownstone. Laura is a struggling student, not getting along with other students and letting her grades slip.
With all these problems Laura diverts her imagination to fairy tales; involving a handsome boy with a wing of a swan. He comes into her bedroom via a window, Laura cleans him up in the bathtub.
She wants to help him find his way out of her upstairs bedroom to free him.
He is very hungry, he got in to the special food for the Christmas dinner . Laura tells her grandmother
it was the cat this did all the damage. Grandma doubts this very much.
When all the family was asleep, Laura helped the Swan boy out of the house and into Central Park.
From there his find his way out of New York.
Laura changes her thinking as regards to school friends. She is able to now cope with new changes.
I won this free book from Goodreads First reads.
Thanks Goodreads.
Laura lives with her grandparents in a Brownstone. Laura is a struggling student, not getting along with other students and letting her grades slip.
With all these problems Laura diverts her imagination to fairy tales; involving a handsome boy with a wing of a swan. He comes into her bedroom via a window, Laura cleans him up in the bathtub.
She wants to help him find his way out of her upstairs bedroom to free him.
He is very hungry, he got in to the special food for the Christmas dinner . Laura tells her grandmother
it was the cat this did all the damage. Grandma doubts this very much.
When all the family was asleep, Laura helped the Swan boy out of the house and into Central Park.
From there his find his way out of New York.
Laura changes her thinking as regards to school friends. She is able to now cope with new changes.
I won this free book from Goodreads First reads.
Thanks Goodreads.
August 25, 2021
This was a gift to me through the Giveaway page, an A.R.E.. I wish I could give it a thrilling, wonderful review, but I just cannot.
Apparently this author has written many books taken from Hans Christian Anderson's and others fairy tales, and is responsible for the popular play and movie "Wicked." Therefore, there is a chance it could be just me. After all I've just finished reading Chris Colfer and Gerald N. Lund, so this was slow and boring in comparison.
I kept waiting for the tension to build but it never did. Even the ending was ho-hum, although a bit of a surprise written in. It takes place over the Christmas Holiday week when a teenage girl who lives with her grandparents has a swan fly into her window. Well, not really a swan. A one winged teen. From Anderson's The Wild Swans (1838), but takes place in modern New York City.
So, what would you do if a one-winged boy flew into your attic bedroom window? How do you think it ended? You may still enjoy this. Maybe read the fairy tale first.
Apparently this author has written many books taken from Hans Christian Anderson's and others fairy tales, and is responsible for the popular play and movie "Wicked." Therefore, there is a chance it could be just me. After all I've just finished reading Chris Colfer and Gerald N. Lund, so this was slow and boring in comparison.
I kept waiting for the tension to build but it never did. Even the ending was ho-hum, although a bit of a surprise written in. It takes place over the Christmas Holiday week when a teenage girl who lives with her grandparents has a swan fly into her window. Well, not really a swan. A one winged teen. From Anderson's The Wild Swans (1838), but takes place in modern New York City.
So, what would you do if a one-winged boy flew into your attic bedroom window? How do you think it ended? You may still enjoy this. Maybe read the fairy tale first.
December 7, 2022
So disappointed in this. I usually love Maguire's writing and ability to retell fairytales, but this isn't what I wanted it to be at all. I needed more Hans and actual retelling of the original tale instead of the ins and outs of Laura's school and family life. What was promised and what was delivered was too off balance.
October 18, 2020
A WILD WINTER SWAN opens in 1960s New York with teenager Laura, a heartful and misunderstood loner. Still emotionally sore from a family tragedy that left her abandoned by her mother, Laura is expelled from the last high school that will take her. She has the rest of her winter break to make up for her misdeeds, or she will be sent away to Montreal. But without even a single friend or any hint of a second chance, she feels hopeless.
Meanwhile, the Italian relatives who took her in prepare for the most important Christmas dinner of their lives --- one that, if it goes wrong, could cost the family their well-being. A few nights before the big meal, a troublesome boy shows up at the window. A boy with a wing. To Laura, who needs this holiday to be absolutely perfect, this is anything but a fairy tale, no matter how mysterious he may be.
Gregory Maguire wrote WICKED and AFTER ALICE, two acclaimed novels that brilliantly reimagine the worlds of their classic stories. Here, he takes inspiration from the Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Wild Swans,” in which a young princess works tirelessly to save her brothers by turning them from swans to humans. No prior knowledge of the original is needed to fully enjoy Maguire’s new take, and it is summed up for those who haven’t read it. Those who have will notice fun hints of the story hidden throughout the novel. It should be said that A WILD WINTER SWAN is not a retelling of the original. Rather, it is a realistic exploration of what could happen if the aftermath of the fairy tale were to collide with the turning point of an unrelated girl’s life.
The story is intimate and personal, digging deep into New York’s Upper East Side in ways that sometimes feel slice-of-life. The characters are small in the big city, but the stakes are high for them. Laura is thoughtful of the world around her. We get the sense that she doesn’t understand how to take responsibility for mistakes she has made, no matter how much she wants to do so. The family’s housemaid, Mary Bernice, is empathetic and friendly, even when kitchen shenanigans go haywire. Even minor characters, like the two handymen who repair leaks in Laura’s apartment, are bursting with personality. The most powerfully written character is her grandmother, known as Nonna, who pushes Laura to face her past. Nonna is like a real grandmother, at times horrifying and threatening. Her goodwill has been hardened from surviving as an Italian immigrant in New York.
We take in the smells and sounds of the city through these three-dimensional characters. Their gifts to us, through Maguire’s beautiful prose, are kids slipping in snow, tiny owls, featherlike snowflakes, apartment parlors, teen holiday angst and baked bread. Children make jokes about JFK, the grandparents stress over the risks they will take to stay in America, and Mary Bernice connects us to a more destitute New York, where friends are necessary tools for survival.
At times, A WILD WINTER SWAN feels less like a fantasy novel and more like a family drama play with elements of magical realism. Conversations are deep and rich in subtext. Seemingly insignificant family details could mean life or death. And every step of the way, the imagery perfectly captures the feelings of the characters without ever stepping off the page and telling you why they are there. For example, much of the story involves wounds and the healing of them, whether they be painful memories, unhealed wings or bloody noses. Broken pipes leave the school closed off, apartments drool with leaks after a snowfall, and a battle with nature pursues in bathtubs, streets and ceilings. It’s quite an experience to watch the author make symbolic gestures that connect with the story at hand and then slowly grow them as the plot evolves.
You won’t find the clunky language of fairy tales here, but rather a strong voice that has been charmingly inlaid with Maguire’s sympathetic style. It feels nice to slow down and take in the poetry of the language. Certain sentences stand out as incredibly poignant, connecting facts and fancies of swans to a Christmas falling apart. The topic of swans is revisited at every opportunity, until the only reasonable way to make the story true is to involve the fairy tale version of one. When magic is finally included, it gives the impression of a dream overlayed on the otherwise accurate world. It’s that subtle sort of storytelling trick that, looking back on the novel, we can’t remember what was real or made up. It doesn’t matter, because it was all true.
This is a novel that is meant to be read in a book nook with thick socks and a winter sweater. It is a very comfortable read, where moments of stress and sadness bloom into scenes of real mystery and beauty. The climax brings cathartic surprises without becoming too overwhelming or explosive. It’s also a book that might be helpful to anybody going through a grievous Christmas. We get to see Laura navigate that experience, which might give the freedom to relax and sink into sweet words.
The characters, the reveals and the tensions are all brilliantly interwoven, which made me wonder at certain points: How did Maguire DO this? How did he explore these feelings? And make them all feel somehow aching, yet keep me grateful for and interested in these characters? By the end, I felt somewhat sad that I had finished spending time with Laura, her grandparents and the boy with one wing. A WILD WINTER SWAN is unlike anything I have read in a long time --- in its intimacy, simplicity and welcoming solace.
Reviewed by Austin Ruh
Meanwhile, the Italian relatives who took her in prepare for the most important Christmas dinner of their lives --- one that, if it goes wrong, could cost the family their well-being. A few nights before the big meal, a troublesome boy shows up at the window. A boy with a wing. To Laura, who needs this holiday to be absolutely perfect, this is anything but a fairy tale, no matter how mysterious he may be.
Gregory Maguire wrote WICKED and AFTER ALICE, two acclaimed novels that brilliantly reimagine the worlds of their classic stories. Here, he takes inspiration from the Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Wild Swans,” in which a young princess works tirelessly to save her brothers by turning them from swans to humans. No prior knowledge of the original is needed to fully enjoy Maguire’s new take, and it is summed up for those who haven’t read it. Those who have will notice fun hints of the story hidden throughout the novel. It should be said that A WILD WINTER SWAN is not a retelling of the original. Rather, it is a realistic exploration of what could happen if the aftermath of the fairy tale were to collide with the turning point of an unrelated girl’s life.
The story is intimate and personal, digging deep into New York’s Upper East Side in ways that sometimes feel slice-of-life. The characters are small in the big city, but the stakes are high for them. Laura is thoughtful of the world around her. We get the sense that she doesn’t understand how to take responsibility for mistakes she has made, no matter how much she wants to do so. The family’s housemaid, Mary Bernice, is empathetic and friendly, even when kitchen shenanigans go haywire. Even minor characters, like the two handymen who repair leaks in Laura’s apartment, are bursting with personality. The most powerfully written character is her grandmother, known as Nonna, who pushes Laura to face her past. Nonna is like a real grandmother, at times horrifying and threatening. Her goodwill has been hardened from surviving as an Italian immigrant in New York.
We take in the smells and sounds of the city through these three-dimensional characters. Their gifts to us, through Maguire’s beautiful prose, are kids slipping in snow, tiny owls, featherlike snowflakes, apartment parlors, teen holiday angst and baked bread. Children make jokes about JFK, the grandparents stress over the risks they will take to stay in America, and Mary Bernice connects us to a more destitute New York, where friends are necessary tools for survival.
At times, A WILD WINTER SWAN feels less like a fantasy novel and more like a family drama play with elements of magical realism. Conversations are deep and rich in subtext. Seemingly insignificant family details could mean life or death. And every step of the way, the imagery perfectly captures the feelings of the characters without ever stepping off the page and telling you why they are there. For example, much of the story involves wounds and the healing of them, whether they be painful memories, unhealed wings or bloody noses. Broken pipes leave the school closed off, apartments drool with leaks after a snowfall, and a battle with nature pursues in bathtubs, streets and ceilings. It’s quite an experience to watch the author make symbolic gestures that connect with the story at hand and then slowly grow them as the plot evolves.
You won’t find the clunky language of fairy tales here, but rather a strong voice that has been charmingly inlaid with Maguire’s sympathetic style. It feels nice to slow down and take in the poetry of the language. Certain sentences stand out as incredibly poignant, connecting facts and fancies of swans to a Christmas falling apart. The topic of swans is revisited at every opportunity, until the only reasonable way to make the story true is to involve the fairy tale version of one. When magic is finally included, it gives the impression of a dream overlayed on the otherwise accurate world. It’s that subtle sort of storytelling trick that, looking back on the novel, we can’t remember what was real or made up. It doesn’t matter, because it was all true.
This is a novel that is meant to be read in a book nook with thick socks and a winter sweater. It is a very comfortable read, where moments of stress and sadness bloom into scenes of real mystery and beauty. The climax brings cathartic surprises without becoming too overwhelming or explosive. It’s also a book that might be helpful to anybody going through a grievous Christmas. We get to see Laura navigate that experience, which might give the freedom to relax and sink into sweet words.
The characters, the reveals and the tensions are all brilliantly interwoven, which made me wonder at certain points: How did Maguire DO this? How did he explore these feelings? And make them all feel somehow aching, yet keep me grateful for and interested in these characters? By the end, I felt somewhat sad that I had finished spending time with Laura, her grandparents and the boy with one wing. A WILD WINTER SWAN is unlike anything I have read in a long time --- in its intimacy, simplicity and welcoming solace.
Reviewed by Austin Ruh
February 23, 2023
A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory Maguire was a decent read overall. The prose was reasonably engaging, and the story kept me intrigued to the end. One thing I felt Maguire did well was capture what it's like to be a 15-year-old girl without making the narrative feel too YA/aimed at younger readers.
Despite the intriguing premise (a boy with a swan wing for an arm tumbles out of the sky and onto our protagonist's roof), to me the book ended up feeling sort of bland. The pacing was a bit off - the main event doesn't happen until about halfway through the book.
For me, the relationships between the main characters felt a bit undercooked, and the story didn't really seem to go anywhere. It felt like Maguire had a lot of unused potential on his hands. This book certainly wasn't a bad read, and it was quite enjoyable at times, but overall it felt sort of forgettable. 3 stars.
Despite the intriguing premise (a boy with a swan wing for an arm tumbles out of the sky and onto our protagonist's roof), to me the book ended up feeling sort of bland. The pacing was a bit off - the main event doesn't happen until about halfway through the book.
For me, the relationships between the main characters felt a bit undercooked, and the story didn't really seem to go anywhere. It felt like Maguire had a lot of unused potential on his hands. This book certainly wasn't a bad read, and it was quite enjoyable at times, but overall it felt sort of forgettable. 3 stars.
February 13, 2025
This one’s not going to be for everyone.
I think the character of Laura was actually well conceptualized and I liked the author’s subtle, show, not tell style when it comes to some of her struggles (like, what I’m 90 per cent sure is dyslexia or some other kind of learning disability) without being condescending or looking down on her character at all.
The swan thing though, it’s a little harder to tell what the whole purpose of that was.
I think the character of Laura was actually well conceptualized and I liked the author’s subtle, show, not tell style when it comes to some of her struggles (like, what I’m 90 per cent sure is dyslexia or some other kind of learning disability) without being condescending or looking down on her character at all.
The swan thing though, it’s a little harder to tell what the whole purpose of that was.
December 13, 2021
I just can't get into this. Laura seems like a spoiled little girl, and fifty pages in I sincerely do not care or identify with the story whatsoever. Sorry to the author as I adored Wicked but this just wasn't for me. 2 ⭐
October 29, 2020
I haven't read one of Maguire's books in awhile. But I have read quite a few of them previously; especially loved the Cinderella one set during Tulipomania. But there's some I haven't cared for as much; and sadly, this book falls into that.
I don't know the Wild Winter Swans fairy-tale, it's not come under my radar although now that I've heard of it, it sounds intriguing. But that's what this book is based off of (and even alludes to within). Laura lives with her grandparents after several devastating losses in her family. Recently expelled from school, she's quite put out with her life, until she has a bit of adventure in the form of a boy with one giant swan wing crashing into her window.
Laura is kind of dull. I felt some form of sympathy towards her because of her past, but not enough to want to read through the tedium of her thoughts and actions. She goes from being completely capable to almost catatonic (ok, that might be a stretch) and everywhere in between without much rhyme or reason. I suppose depression could be an explanation; but it's hard to tell. Probably the best character was either Maxine (the girl who got her expelled) or the help in the kitchen (Mary Bernice). They had a little bit of energy to them which made them more engaging. The boy with the wing; well; he might as well have been a lamp that liked to eat fish for all he contributed to the story.
And I guess that might be where most of my problem lay. Here's this compelling thing that's happening; the thing that makes it relate to the fairy tale, and he's not at all interesting in his own right. Nor is the mystery about him particularly interesting. He just kind of 'is' and mainly exists as a problem for Laura. The cynical part of me (and don't continue reading if you don't like spoilers) thinks that maybe he didn't exist at all and this is just Maguire acting out extreme trauma with Laura and her wrecking things without realizing (and warning, this is a spoiler for another book, but that could also just be because I just finished 'I'm thinking of ending things' and have that on the brain). Either way; it was a little too real to be that subtle, but not real enough to make it compelling. The 'excitement' of him doesn't really get introduced until almost halfway through the book; which by that time I was already bored with the anticipation of the dinner party that was going to happen.
Meh, just not for me. It won't put me off Maguire, but will remind me that it can be a hit or miss with him sometimes when it comes to my taste in books.
Review by M. Reynard 2020
I don't know the Wild Winter Swans fairy-tale, it's not come under my radar although now that I've heard of it, it sounds intriguing. But that's what this book is based off of (and even alludes to within). Laura lives with her grandparents after several devastating losses in her family. Recently expelled from school, she's quite put out with her life, until she has a bit of adventure in the form of a boy with one giant swan wing crashing into her window.
Laura is kind of dull. I felt some form of sympathy towards her because of her past, but not enough to want to read through the tedium of her thoughts and actions. She goes from being completely capable to almost catatonic (ok, that might be a stretch) and everywhere in between without much rhyme or reason. I suppose depression could be an explanation; but it's hard to tell. Probably the best character was either Maxine (the girl who got her expelled) or the help in the kitchen (Mary Bernice). They had a little bit of energy to them which made them more engaging. The boy with the wing; well; he might as well have been a lamp that liked to eat fish for all he contributed to the story.
And I guess that might be where most of my problem lay. Here's this compelling thing that's happening; the thing that makes it relate to the fairy tale, and he's not at all interesting in his own right. Nor is the mystery about him particularly interesting. He just kind of 'is' and mainly exists as a problem for Laura. The cynical part of me (and don't continue reading if you don't like spoilers) thinks that maybe he didn't exist at all and this is just Maguire acting out extreme trauma with Laura and her wrecking things without realizing (and warning, this is a spoiler for another book, but that could also just be because I just finished 'I'm thinking of ending things' and have that on the brain). Either way; it was a little too real to be that subtle, but not real enough to make it compelling. The 'excitement' of him doesn't really get introduced until almost halfway through the book; which by that time I was already bored with the anticipation of the dinner party that was going to happen.
Meh, just not for me. It won't put me off Maguire, but will remind me that it can be a hit or miss with him sometimes when it comes to my taste in books.
Review by M. Reynard 2020
July 6, 2023
There’s no shortage of fairy tale retellings, but it’s always a refreshing treat when Gregory Maguire tussles with one, carefully picking its seams apart before piecing it together as something else entirely.
In Hans Christian Anderson’s telling of “The Wild Swans”, a wicked queen turns eleven brothers into the titular swans. Their sister crafts a shirt for each of them that reverses the transformation. However, the youngest boy’s garment is missing one sleeve, leaving him with one remaining swan wing at the tale’s end.
In Maguire’s world, there’s Laura. Quiet with an edge only a teenager can get away with, Laura is recently expelled from her Manhattan high school. With the possibility of being shipped off to a boarding school in Montreal, she finds herself retreating from the hustle and bustle of her grandparents’ Christmas preparations … and then a boy with one swan wing lands on their roof. It’s the 1960s and magic is still alive.
In this, A Wild Winter Swan is less of a retelling and more of a what-comes-next. A large part of the appeal here is that most of the action rests on Laura, a girl simply stumbling through the trials of school and a tumultuous family life. She’s thoroughly without magic in the most literal sense. Yet, primarily through Maguire’s tender exploration of her complicated familial and platonic relationships, Laura both grounds the tale while hinting at the enchantment cast by everyday life.
All of this isn’t to suggest the boy with one wing isn’t just as compelling. He stumbles into the story as confused as Laura, and Maguire seems to revel in hinting at his origins. Though to be fair, Maguire’s language almost revels in itself—each line practically becomes an isolated poem, whether he’s exploring a snowy Christmas evening or a leak-damaged ceiling. With so many spells cast in the prose, the swan boy feels right at home, even as his existence in this world is perplexing.
Packed with humor, heart, and Maguire’s trademark sense of wonder, A Wild Winter Swan humanizes the fabulous and makes the world all the better for it.
Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
Review also posted at https://pluckedfromthestacks.wordpres...
In Hans Christian Anderson’s telling of “The Wild Swans”, a wicked queen turns eleven brothers into the titular swans. Their sister crafts a shirt for each of them that reverses the transformation. However, the youngest boy’s garment is missing one sleeve, leaving him with one remaining swan wing at the tale’s end.
In Maguire’s world, there’s Laura. Quiet with an edge only a teenager can get away with, Laura is recently expelled from her Manhattan high school. With the possibility of being shipped off to a boarding school in Montreal, she finds herself retreating from the hustle and bustle of her grandparents’ Christmas preparations … and then a boy with one swan wing lands on their roof. It’s the 1960s and magic is still alive.
In this, A Wild Winter Swan is less of a retelling and more of a what-comes-next. A large part of the appeal here is that most of the action rests on Laura, a girl simply stumbling through the trials of school and a tumultuous family life. She’s thoroughly without magic in the most literal sense. Yet, primarily through Maguire’s tender exploration of her complicated familial and platonic relationships, Laura both grounds the tale while hinting at the enchantment cast by everyday life.
All of this isn’t to suggest the boy with one wing isn’t just as compelling. He stumbles into the story as confused as Laura, and Maguire seems to revel in hinting at his origins. Though to be fair, Maguire’s language almost revels in itself—each line practically becomes an isolated poem, whether he’s exploring a snowy Christmas evening or a leak-damaged ceiling. With so many spells cast in the prose, the swan boy feels right at home, even as his existence in this world is perplexing.
Packed with humor, heart, and Maguire’s trademark sense of wonder, A Wild Winter Swan humanizes the fabulous and makes the world all the better for it.
Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
Review also posted at https://pluckedfromthestacks.wordpres...
December 6, 2020
Laura is living with her grandparents after a series of tragedies in her family. Her grandparents struggle to understand her and she is bullied at school. Life takes a turn when a boy/swan arrives.
I didn’t really enjoy this book. It was very descriptive, which I liked at first but then found to be just too much. The whole plot line of Hans, the boy swan, is unexplained (unless it is just imagined by Laura) but paves the way for a transition in Laura’s life. I wished there was more to the story.
I didn’t really enjoy this book. It was very descriptive, which I liked at first but then found to be just too much. The whole plot line of Hans, the boy swan, is unexplained (unless it is just imagined by Laura) but paves the way for a transition in Laura’s life. I wished there was more to the story.
September 12, 2020
*I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*
To be fair, magical realism generally isn't a literary feature I enjoy and this book is not an exception to that rule. This book makes for a depressing, moody tale with Laura spending much of her time angry at the world for no particular reason, or rather, angry with the way her life was unfolding without articulating what she did want and what would make her happy. She spends much of her time isolated in her own room and then a boy with a wing instead of an arm comes into her life, causing trouble to ensue. I'm certain many would enjoy this book, but I just couldn't connect with the characters and struggled to reach the end of a relatively short novel.
To be fair, magical realism generally isn't a literary feature I enjoy and this book is not an exception to that rule. This book makes for a depressing, moody tale with Laura spending much of her time angry at the world for no particular reason, or rather, angry with the way her life was unfolding without articulating what she did want and what would make her happy. She spends much of her time isolated in her own room and then a boy with a wing instead of an arm comes into her life, causing trouble to ensue. I'm certain many would enjoy this book, but I just couldn't connect with the characters and struggled to reach the end of a relatively short novel.
did-not-finish
October 17, 2020I received a copy of this a little early and having never read any Gregory Maguire before, I was really excited! I love the fairy tale of The Wild Swans!
Alas, it was not meant to be. I was over halfway through the novel when something magical finally happened and by then I was so bored with the "heroine" and her circumstances, I just moved on to a different book.
I'm not saying it's not well written, perhaps just not as fast-paced as I usually like. Maybe this will be someone else's favorite book?
Alas, it was not meant to be. I was over halfway through the novel when something magical finally happened and by then I was so bored with the "heroine" and her circumstances, I just moved on to a different book.
I'm not saying it's not well written, perhaps just not as fast-paced as I usually like. Maybe this will be someone else's favorite book?
November 22, 2022
I’m not really the target audience for this but got it in a book club and decided to give it a chance. It starts with a pretty standard YA premise: lonely sullen teenage girl having trouble in school. I never quite understood why Laura was so angry and didn’t have any friends but it worked ok. But what drew me in was her family, the wonderfully weird Italian grandparents with their crumbling old house, the temperamental cook and their amazing food. He really made that work.
Then swan boy arrived and it took on an interesting surreal quality. Who is he and where did he come from? So far so good, swan boy’s presence in the middle of Christmas preparations added pressure and suspense but oh god then there was romance. With someone who behaves like an animal and eats raw eels. Thankfully not much of it but she did fuck the swan, right? I didn’t misread that?? Bestiality is an unusual subject for a YA novel, I’ll give it that. I’ll also never read anything else by this author ever.
Someone else here said the novel would have been much better without the swan, and I agree.
Then swan boy arrived and it took on an interesting surreal quality. Who is he and where did he come from? So far so good, swan boy’s presence in the middle of Christmas preparations added pressure and suspense but oh god then there was romance. With someone who behaves like an animal and eats raw eels. Thankfully not much of it but she did fuck the swan, right? I didn’t misread that?? Bestiality is an unusual subject for a YA novel, I’ll give it that. I’ll also never read anything else by this author ever.
Someone else here said the novel would have been much better without the swan, and I agree.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2020
It's Christmas time, early 1960s and a young man, who has a swan wing for one of his arms, crashes into teenager Laura's window in the midst of her school expeltion, readying the house for holiday guests and family turmoil. Maguire twists another fairy tale - observing it from a different point of view. (Is it satisfying to know your niche or frustrating that there is now an expectation?) As GM states" There was always a before to every story".
Solid read, I enjoyed it in just a couple of days. My favorite quote:
"The world wanted so hard to be poetic, and really it was only stupid "
Solid read, I enjoyed it in just a couple of days. My favorite quote:
"The world wanted so hard to be poetic, and really it was only stupid "
October 19, 2023
This hurts me so much, since Wicked is one of my favourite books, but my god, this was boring. I first started reading it in October 2022, and it took me so long to get through the audiobook that it was returned before I could finish it. Now, a year later in October 2023, I finally finished it. I was slightly less bored during the parts I'd already listened to, but I was almost fully checked out by the end. I was not a fan of the narrator, and the story itself just wasn't engaging.
Honestly, my biggest takeaway from this is that the entire thing could've been a novella at most, and the whole thing with the swan boy could've been skipped.
Honestly, my biggest takeaway from this is that the entire thing could've been a novella at most, and the whole thing with the swan boy could've been skipped.
February 22, 2023
In a word: boring. Nothing happened for chapter after chapter and when something finally did, it was nonsensical and immediately over. The story made little to no sense and then just ended.
This story could have been told in about 6 pages and the book dragged on and on and on. I only finished it because 1) I kept expecting it to get better based on the author's reputation and 2) I was reading it for a reading challenge prompt that needed to be completed asap. Ugh, unless you're a die hard Maguire fan or a die hard fairy tale retelling fan, I suggest steering clear of this one.
This story could have been told in about 6 pages and the book dragged on and on and on. I only finished it because 1) I kept expecting it to get better based on the author's reputation and 2) I was reading it for a reading challenge prompt that needed to be completed asap. Ugh, unless you're a die hard Maguire fan or a die hard fairy tale retelling fan, I suggest steering clear of this one.
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