Many of the writers whose work I cherish, across different genres and through different media, have captured my attention because of something they do and do well: they craft marvelous tales out of the folklore, mythology and fairy tales of past generations. Mike Mignola mines folklore for his creation Hellboy; the Coen brothers borrow heavily from Homer’s Odyssey for their film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?; Neil Gaiman has used all three in many of his novels. The newest member of this group to excite my reading interest is Shannon Hale.
The Goose Girl is Shannon Hale’s first published novel. She currently has 3 young adult novels on the shelves with a fourth due soon. Shannon Hale has taken the very short tale by the Brothers Grimm, of the same name, and used it as the foundation upon which to build her fascinating fairy tale The Goose Girl. The story follows the life of Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Ani for short, who is born the Crown Princess of Kildenree. Early intervention from an outcast aunt provides Ani with the knowledge that many people are born with different gifts. Some, like her mother the queen, have the gift of people-speaking and can influence others with their words. Crown Princess Ani appears to have the gift of being able to talk with animals and understand their language. In other rare instances there are those born who can develop their gift of being able to speak the language of the very elements of the earth. Like all fairy tales there are early indications that happily-ever-after will be a journey away and it is not long before the reader discovers, along with our heroine, that said journey may be an arduous one.
The fairy tales and folklore of the Brothers Grimm and those who have gone before are often entertaining, slightly to extremely dark tales meant to convey some lesson while spending precious little time on characterization. What makes Shannon Hale’s take on these stories unique is that she has a knack for giving these characters flesh and making them real. Princess Ani is a very real young woman with real faults and real struggles and Hale makes it easy for the reader to empathize with her plight. You can see yourself in Hale’s characters, both the good and the bad. Hale’s “bad guys” are also very real. There is a recognizable quality to their deceit and selfishness. Shannon Hale has also created a very realistic world for her characters to live in. For The Goose Girl Hale researched the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus as well the old world Germany that was home to the Brothers Grimm. She based her fictional world of Bayern loosely on this research to give a sense of place and time, and a depth, to her world. The research pays as you feel like you are reading a tale told by successive generations about a very real place. Another strength of Hale’s writing style is she does not write down to children. This is a very intelligently written tale and Hale works some of the darker parts of the original story into this tale in a way that is serious but not frightening. The language is rich and attractive to readers both young and old. You will like Ani and the people she befriends, you really will. This is a delightfully engaging story.
Shannon Hale has a wonderful website, something not enough authors take the time to do. Her professed love of movies shows in that each of her books on her site has “extras” including background on how the story came about, the original Grimm fairy tale, deleted scenes, a “lost chapter”, discussion guides, book quizzes. It is a very fun place to go especially after you’ve read the story. Shannon Hale has incorporated a blog into her site and also has an entire section devoted to writing that is fascinating and very down to earth. One feels very encouraged after reading her advice to writers and those who want to be writers. The presence of games and quizzes makes this a fun site to visit for both adults and children.
If you are looking for something magical to read to yourself or to your children I highly recommend a visit to Shannon Hale’s Bayern via the pages of The Goose Girl. Her second book, Enna Burning, is a sequel of sorts featuring some of the characters of The Goose Girl but is a stand alone story in and of itself. Shannon Hale’s latest is an unrelated story entitled Princess Academy which has recently been recognized as a Newbery Honor Book. All three of Hale’s stories have won multiple awards and if the rest are as good as the first I can unequivocably declare that the awards are well deserved. Shannon’s next book, River Secrets, will return readers to the characters and world of Bayern. The great thing about The Goose Girl is that if you love the characters, and you will, they continue to live on in these future stories. I poured through the 384 pages quite rapidly as it was a book I did not want to put down. The Goose Girl is a wonderfully put together volume with terrific cover art by Alison Jay and will be a book that you want to own, to treasure, and to share.
