Re-imagined Fairy Tales

There are a few people who are rewriting fairy tales in a unique and interesting way, and Melanie Dickerson is the best. In her latest work, The Golden Braid (available everywhere Nov. 17), we meet her latest heroine.

Rapunzel has lived her entire life sheltered by her mother. The one thing she longs for more than anything else is to learn to read. And while her mother promises her it will happen, Rapunzel is beginning to doubt her assurances. When they pack up to move to the large city of Hagenheim, Rapunzel believes this may finally be her opportunity to get her greatest wish.

On their way, two ruffians attach Rapunzel and her mother, Gothel. The women are rescued from a knight, whom Rapunzel turns around and rescues right back. The two of them don’t get along at first, but Rapunzel refuses to let Sir Gerek’s surliness scare her away from getting what she’s longed for.

When Rapunzel defies her mother and takes a job at the castle, she learns a secret that changes everything she believed true.

The interactions between Rapunzel and Gerek are humorous and entertaining. As the two of them struggle with their internal emotions as well as their identities, they are drawn to each other more and more. And through everything, Rapunzel places her trust and her future in God’s hands.

I love how seamlessly Dickerson took an event from her previous book, The Princess Spy, and put it in this one from different character’s perspectives. This is only the second of her books I’ve read so I’m not positive, but she may do this with her other books. After reading a second one of hers, I just might have to read an earlier one to check into that.

Thomas Nelson Fiction provided me with a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.