Book Review: Lies, Knives, And Girls in Red Dresses

There’s a dark, twisted underbelly to fairytales that modern parents generally do not acknowledge.

Early fairytales were often moralizing, cautionary tales with very real messages: do not walk into the woods alone, do not always trust the honeyed words of strangers, not every fair face is your friend.

In the original tale, the Little Mermaid feels like she is walking on swords when she uses her legs and dies in the end of a broken heart, returning to the sea as foam.

Edmund Dulac

 Our contemporary, sanitized and Disneyfied stories are pastel-colored and always have a happy ending. While there are dark moments (notably Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty terrorized me), we are comforted and secure in the knowledge that our protagonist will succeed in their quest, often accompanied by crooning crabs.

Failure, ruin and despair don’t have much play in modern fairytales, except in books like Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses by Ron Koertge (illustrations by Andrea Deszo).

Koertge makes no bones about his dark retellings; he writes on the first page:

“Do you want to sleep? Find another storyteller. Do you want to think about the world in a new way?

Come closer. Closer, please. I want to whisper in your ear.”

Even the cover promises dark dreams: a lascivious red tongued wolf threatening to gobble a girl in a red dress.

These are true retellings. Do not look here for many happy endings. At best, his characters end up with their expected version of happiness, which isn’t so permanent after all. At worst, maiming, suffering and beautiful death.

If you enjoy the original Grimm Brothers stories, if you like your tales with a razor’s edge, Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses will be your cup of tea. The finely designed laser-cut illustrations from Andrea Deszo give the look of old-world woodcuts, adding a perfect punctuation to the dark-rimmed stories.

Here are twenty reimagined tales, written in free verse ranging from poetic prose to rhymed couplets. It reads like stories rather than poetry, though, and is quite easy to slide into.

My favorite is a series of five stories on Rapunzel, from the point of view of the mother, the father, the witch, the prince and Rapunzel. It will make you rethink Happily-Ever-After.



Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses is available for pre-order on Amazon. It releases July 10, 2012.

Thanks to Candlewick Press and Raquel Matos for the advance copy to review.

Once Upon a Time Writing Contest: Theme!

If you are here, you are wondering about the #tweetofdoom, also known as Once Upon a Time Flash Fiction Writing Contest (tag #ouatwriting on Twitter). That, or you stumbled onto my blog due to the surplus of John William Waterhouse paintings.

There are only two general types of people who visit Yearning for Wonderland: writers/those who love good writing and art thieves. For those who are the latter, please help yourself to the lovely Waterhouse sketch below (only kidding, totally ganked this from the Wikipedia page). I do encourage you art thieves to stay and read on a bit, however. Especially if you also write.

A Female Study, John William Waterhouse

So today’s post (not to completely digress) regards the super secret extra exciting announcement of the wondrous theme of the Once Upon a Time Writing Contest. *cue bombastic music with lots of cymbals clashing and soaring horns*

Oh, you wanted to know the theme! The theme for the Once Upon a Time Writing Contest is:

UNEXPECTED FAIRY TALES

Take that as you will. Perhaps it is a fairy tale set in an unexpected place, like a gas station. Perhaps it is a fractured fairytale, a fairy tale turned on its head, a fairy tale that isn’t one till the end. There are fairy tales all around us, should we only care to look.

Given the awesome breadth of the Fairy Ring Contest, I have every confidence that our unexpected fairy tales will be equal parts lovely, charming, terrifying, inspiring, and daunting. Plus, this contest is now international and co-sponsored by the lovely British flash fiction writer, Susi Holliday (@SJIHolliday on Twitter), so you know there will be twists even I cannot foresee.

copyright Ulrika Kestere

The photos are by the talented Ulrika Kestere, described as: “a woman whose drying laundry is taken by a sudden storm, and as she travels the countryside discovers her clothing has taken an unexpected form.” You can see her work here.

Copyright Ulrika Kestere

More details to come, be sure to add #ouatwriting on Twitter. Ask me, if you don’t know how to do a tag search and be sure to use it when sharing about the contest.

As the theme is unexpected fairy tales, please try to honor that. You do not have to use the words “Once Upon a Time” in your story. The title is not included in the word count.  If you have other questions, feel free to comment, tweet or email me. Please no erotica or slasher fiction.

So go forth, my fictionlings, and ponder this unexpected magic. I expect great things from you!