My rating: 4 of 5 stars
"Better a serpent than a stepmother!"
----Euripides
Donna Jo Napoli, an American author, has penned a retelling of Snow White in her entertaining and charming book called, Dark Shimmer which narrates the life story of the evil queen, where she is born as a giant and is looked upon as a disgrace or rather as a monster among her island of dwarfs but only loved and accepted by her own mother, until tragedy strikes.
Synopsis:
Dolce is a monster. A giant, a freak.
Dolce is a princess. She walks like royalty—until dark shimmers make her fall.
Dolce is a mamma. She has found her true family.
Dolce is beautiful. But beauty can’t hide the monster inside.
Dolce is the Wicked One.
Set in medieval Venice, this captivating fairy tale retelling by award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli explores belonging, beauty, and the transformative power of love through the eyes of a teenage girl. Dolce has grown up hidden away on an island in a lagoon. She is a giant, a freak, tormented by everyone but her loving mother. She spends her time learning the valuable secret of making mirrors. Following a tragedy, Dolce swims away and lands on an island where people see her as normal, even beautiful. Marin, a kind widower, and his little daughter bring Dolce to live with them in their grand palazzo. Eventually, Dolce and Marin marry. She secretly continues to make mirrors, not realizing that quicksilver endangers her . . . and so evil begins in innocence.
Dolce is born as a giant in the island of dwarfs where the people of that island thinks that she is some kind of a monster and that she doesn't belong there. Except her own mother, who thinks otherwise and loves her daughter no matter how she looks. Dolce's only salvation is when she makes mirror but fate has other plans for her as she is soon stripped away from her only piece of happiness which scares and makes her escape the island and reach Venezia, where she finds that everyone is like her and that she is provided shelter by a kind man with a little daughter in their mansion, where Dolce finally finds her peace and the love that she deserves, and people have also accepted her skill of making mirrors for the dwarfs, but this skill is taking a toll on her health as well as seeps into her pure heart to make it wicked. Can Dolce survive it?
The author's writing is articulate and has been laced with enough tension, twists and emotions to give this story a thrilling edge. The readers will be easily pulled into the depth of this story as Dolce's painful journey beginnings from the very first page. Dolce is neglected among the folks in her island yet she has a zeal to learn about making mirrors,l and all these factors will make the readers fall for her story. The narrative is enchanting just like a fairy tale, and will keep the readers interested into the story. The pacing is quite fast as the author wraps her one scene smartly with quick and vivid descriptions.
The author has also depicted a beautiful yet heart-breaking love story which has been layered properly with heart-felt emotions that holds the power to move the readers deeply. With a rich and almost mystical backdrop, the story proves to be a real treat for sore eyes. The author's painting of the city of Venice with her own imagination and some from the reality prove to be worthwhile as she has given birth to an enticing and extremely striking portrait of the city with her eloquent words that will easily make the readers transport to such a location through their minds' eyes.
The characters are enriching and multi-dimensional. The primary character, Dolce, will beg the readers for their sympathy with her sad story but her brave and fearless demeanor will ask the readers to support her. Dolce is the wicked one, but her loving and humane attitude will set an example for so many. Although Dolce never gives up even though she suffers a great deal through out the story instead she evolves into someone stronger and someone who can clearly distinguish between evil and good. There are many supporting characters who are equally compelling like Dolce and will keep the readers glued to the story.
Overall, this story is highly captivating as well as poignant and will definitely give the readers a reformed vision to look at one of the most evil character from the most popular fairy tale.
Verdict: An engrossing retelling of Snow White.
Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Donna Jo Napoli, for giving me an opportunity to read and review her book.
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Author Info:
Donna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and YA fiction.
Donna Jo has five children. She dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist. She loves to garden and bake bread.
At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to make the neighbors wonder. But dear dear Taxi died in 2009.
She lives outside Philadelphia. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She has since taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Swarthmore College. It was at UM that she earned tenure (in 1981) and became a full professor (in 1984). She has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), and Capital Normal University of Beijing (China), as well as lectured at the University of Sydney (Australia), Macquarie University (Australia), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa). In the area of linguistics she has authored five books (one of which is being translated into Korean), co-authored four (one of which is in Italian), edited one, and co-edited four (with a fifth in press), ranging from theoretical linguistics to practical matters in language structure and use, including matters of interest to d/Deaf people. She has held grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, and the Sloan Foundation.
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OOoh nice! This one's in my TBR mountain and I really want to read it! Sounded like a haunting and captivating read! Glad to hear it was even better than my initial expectations! Don't think I realized it was a fairy tale retelling of sorts! Great review!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! This is actually the first time I heard about this book and author. But it really looks and sounds absolutely amazing plus I love fairy tale retellings. Thank you for your awesome post.
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