Mirror Mirror: A Novel

Mirror Mirror: A Novel
“E-Book Extra: “Little Snow-White” by the Brothers Grimm (read the original version of the classic fairy tale)Think you know who’s the fairest of them all? Think again. Bestselling re-imaginer of classic fairy tales sets the Snow White story in Renaissance Italy, where the madly vain Lucrezia Borgia plots a dire fate for seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada (a.k.a. Snow White).A lyrical work of stunning creative vision, Mirror Mirror is set in Renaissance Italy, where Gregory Maguire draws a connection between the poison apple in the original Snow White story and the Borgia family’s well-known appetite for poisoning its foes. In Mirror Mirror Snow White is called Bianca de Nevada. She is born on a farm in Tuscany in 1495, and when she is seven, her father is ordered by the duplicitous Cesare Borgia to go on a quest to reclaim the relic of the original Tree of Knowledge, a branch bearing three living apples that are thousands of years old. Bianca is left in the care of her father’s farm staff and the beautiful — and madly vain — Lucrecia Borgia, Cesare’s sister. But Lucrecia becomes jealous of her lecherous brother’s interest in the growing child and plots a dire fate for Bianca in the woods below the farm. There Bianca finds herself in the home of seven dwarves — the creators of the magic mirror — who await the return of their brother, the eighth dwarf, long gone on a quest of his own. In the evocative style of Maguire’s earlier novels, Mirror Mirror is a fresh, compelling take on a beloved classic tale.

Customer Review: I’m bummed, this book was bad!
Ones taste in books is highly subjective. This one was bad in my opinion. I really wanted to like it. It was boring and the plot never came together. It feels like it was written by a completely author than Wicked and Confessions.

The good thing is it is a quick read.

Customer Review: Hypnotic
Mirror Mirror: A Novel, is as you dear reader probably already knew, a retelling of the wellknown fairytale Snow White in 16th century Italy.

The Good: The story is moderatly interesting, and it has some a few really great characters, namely Lucrezia and the seven dwarfs, as well as the old priest and the cook. Maguire’s prose is poetic and beautiful, and the dialogue is masterful- its both smart and sensitive, and tells so much about the story. And because the plot is so intriguing you’re pulled along-not so much in wanting to know what happens next, but needing to know what happens.

The Bad: This was undoubtly a very intersting book, yet sometimes it felt that Maguire was confined in his story of Snow White. There seemed to be so many things he wanted to do in his story, yet he couldn’t necessarily fit them in, or get them to make sense because as a fractured fairytale, his storytail had to have some sembelance to Snow White. Also, at times there were a bit too many unnecesarily descriptions- Maquire went on and on about certain things without getting to the root of the story. We know he can write well- now can we please get to the root of the story? Likewise, there was no fresh breath of newness or uniqueness in the character Bianca (or the Snow White). Though she was set up as a contrast to Lucrezia, she spent most of her time asleep- we never got to know or care for her. Personally, i think this was a result of all the conflicting plot threads the author had running through the story- this book would have been much better if the prose was more sparse, and if he said less with more words more often. This book definatly could have benefited with staying generally in the perspective of the dwarves and Lucrezia, as they were undoubtly the strongest characters in the book. Likewise, sometimes the symbolism in the story felt convoluted.

The UGLY: Actually, there wasn’t much of it. While some of the descriptions boarded on unneccesary, there was still a bit of vile, bitter beauty about them which actually added to the book’s charm. Of course, the prudish in all of us will be revolted with many of the incest undertones throughout the book, it did make the villian seem impossibly more human, and way more interesting.

Overall rating: It’s worth a read, but you’ll either really enjoy and admire this author or you’ll toss it across the room—- but for it’s many faults, Maguire is still arguably, a genius.

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