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Book Review: Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
Title: Spindle's End
Author: Robin McKinley
Published: New York: Ace, 2000
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 354
Total Page Count: 159,894
Text Number: 467
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A retelling of Sleeping Beauty, following the fairy family that raised her. This is my seventh McKinely novel, and my favorite. I return to her because she's consistently pleasant, cozy and whimsical, female-focused, featuring small domestic magics within larger archetypal settings. Deerskin breaks that trend by approaching tragedy with the same local, magical focus, and so stands above her other novels. And so does Spindle's End—but here, McKinley achieves that by taking her normal style and focus further. This is her voice at its most lively and humorous, her domestic magics at their most prolific, and—
—and, it's important. This is Sleeping Beauty told with the intent of returning agency to the protagonist, and there's an endearing and necessary thematic transparency: the scene where the child princess insists she's not pretty, but rather intelligent and brave; when Katriona's aunt tells her one's inner magic and strength are always a little messy and inaccessible; when Rosie and Posey fail to engage in the female rivalry the text initially sets up, and instead become best friends. It's reminiscent of the film Maleficent in its emphatic emotional appeal wrapped in a charming magical atmosphere.
Spindle's End isn't flawless. The climax is particularly troublesome: the domestic magic, with its own internal logic, grows archetypal and intangible and, frankly, hard to follow. (The final denouement is blissfully free of that: it's a moment of simple, perfect clarity, and ends with a lovely bittersweet epilogue.) And if McKinley's style doesn't work for you, then this exaggerated example certainly won't. But if you've enjoyed any McKinley, or want to try just one book, this is some of her best work.
Author: Robin McKinley
Published: New York: Ace, 2000
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 354
Total Page Count: 159,894
Text Number: 467
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A retelling of Sleeping Beauty, following the fairy family that raised her. This is my seventh McKinely novel, and my favorite. I return to her because she's consistently pleasant, cozy and whimsical, female-focused, featuring small domestic magics within larger archetypal settings. Deerskin breaks that trend by approaching tragedy with the same local, magical focus, and so stands above her other novels. And so does Spindle's End—but here, McKinley achieves that by taking her normal style and focus further. This is her voice at its most lively and humorous, her domestic magics at their most prolific, and—
—and, it's important. This is Sleeping Beauty told with the intent of returning agency to the protagonist, and there's an endearing and necessary thematic transparency: the scene where the child princess insists she's not pretty, but rather intelligent and brave; when Katriona's aunt tells her one's inner magic and strength are always a little messy and inaccessible; when Rosie and Posey fail to engage in the female rivalry the text initially sets up, and instead become best friends. It's reminiscent of the film Maleficent in its emphatic emotional appeal wrapped in a charming magical atmosphere.
Spindle's End isn't flawless. The climax is particularly troublesome: the domestic magic, with its own internal logic, grows archetypal and intangible and, frankly, hard to follow. (The final denouement is blissfully free of that: it's a moment of simple, perfect clarity, and ends with a lovely bittersweet epilogue.) And if McKinley's style doesn't work for you, then this exaggerated example certainly won't. But if you've enjoyed any McKinley, or want to try just one book, this is some of her best work.
Rosie hated her curly golden hair. When she was old enough to hold minimal conversations, the itsy-bitsy-cutesycoo sort of grown-ups would pull the soft ringlets gently and tell her what a pretty little girl she was. She would stare at this sort of grown-up and say, "I am not pretty. I am intelligent. And brave."