fairy tale novels for adults

UPDATE: We have added a few more titles to the lists below and they are indicated as being “Not pictured” so you will know that those are new and will be added to the visuals next winter! Despite a dearth of both water and love, the family discovers, through sorrow and fear, the green kiss of the Kappa Child, a mythical creature who blesses those who can imagine its magic…”. Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. Together, they set out to find the Great Root of Power, the only possible cure.”, “Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror once and for all.”, “Erotic, brutal, witty and poetic, One Thousand and One Nights are the never-ending stories told by the young Shahrazad under sentence of death to King Shahrayar. But living on the man’s estate, separated from her family, Vern soon learns the extent of her husband’s dark side. in her handbag, to the near-future of The Surfer, whose narrator (a soccer-playing skeptic) waits with a planeload of refugees for the aliens to arrive, Link’s stories are funny and full of unexpected insights and skewed perspectives on the world.”, “Goss’s collection of 16 gothic stories possesses a spare, surprising beauty, though her modern-day characters, like those in fairy tales, are constrained by the hard lessons she sets out to teach.” —from Publisher’s Weekly, “Witches have stories too. '”, “Once upon a time there was a fairy godmother named Desiderata who had a good heart, a wise head, and poor planning skills—which unfortunately left the Princess Emberella in the care of her other (not quite so good and wise) godmother when DEATH came for Desiderata. It's an extremely dark version, so not for the fainthearted! To cut down on what would’ve been a massive list (to make a slightly less massive list? So immerse yourself in the world of fairytales …. This girl has been born into a world with no place for a half-native, half-white child. Flax Hill is also the hometown of Arturo Whitman—craftsman, widower, and father of Snow. Fairy Tale Books: Classic Fairy Tales for Your Youngest Readers. But to young Tan-Tan, the Robber Queen is simply a favourite costume to wear at the festival—until her power-corrupted father commits an unforgivable crime.”, “Princess Alyrra has never enjoyed the security or power of her rank. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makendha—now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. Possibly one of the best modern fairy tales for adults. She is one of the most pervasive and powerful creatures in all mythology. The other is her lost love, the infamous outlaw James Moxie. He goes by Alif—the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and a convenient handle to hide behind. Therefore, fairy tale books for adults have a very distinctive flavor to them and they might not be everyone’s cup … Determined to spend Eternity as a married man, Fitcher casts his eye on Vernelia, and before much longer the two are wed. When Borgia sends Don Vicente on a years-long quest to reclaim a relic of the original Tree of Knowledge, he leaves Bianca under the care—so to speak—of Lucrezia. Try these dark, twisted, wonderful fairytales for adults and young adults …. On iTunes: itunes.apple.com. When BIRD is born Boy is forced to re-evaluate the image Arturo’s family have presented to her, and Boy, Snow and Bird are broken apart.”, “Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. There he is taken by the changelings—an unaging tribe of wild children who live in darkness and in secret. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In a moment of levity during the season’s first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. Best Sellers in Teen & Young Adult Fairy Tales & Folklore. Intrigued, Breuer determines to fathom the roots of her disturbance. So when Vassa’s stepsister sends her out for light bulbs in the middle of night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission.”, “At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. Within these singular, timeless landscapes, the brutal and the magical collide, and the heroine triumphs because of the strength she finds in a pen, a paintbrush, a lover, a friend, a mother, and finally, in herself.”, “In A Wild Swan and Other Tales, the people and the talismans of lands far, far away, the mythic figures of our childhoods and the source of so much of our wonder are transformed by Michael Cunningham into stories of sublime revelation. Disguised among the normal citizens of modern-day New York, these magical characters have created their own peaceful and secret society within an exclusive luxury apartment building called Fabletown. May your reading live happily ever after! The first part are the ten most useful fairy books in order. Flax Hill, Massachusetts, isn’t exactly a welcoming town, but it does have the virtue of being the last stop on the bus route she took from New York. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Is the Beast that lives there her captor, or a fellow prisoner? But when Bryony is caught in a snowstorm and takes refuge in an abandoned manor, she stumbles into a house full of dark enchantments. But his intended, the beautiful Princess Sidonie, is on her way to the palace. This speculative fiction compilation, lyrical and tender, quirky and cutting, weaves the fantastic and the horrific alongside the touchingly human.”, “Sinister and inviting, familiar and alien all at the same time, The Merry Spinster updates traditional children’s stories and fairy tales with elements of psychological horror, emotional clarity, and a keen sense of feminist mischief…Bed time will never be the same.”, “Through the lens of Link’s vivid imagination, nothing is what it seems, and everything deserves a second look. Even with cutting those, however, I still had to omit some books that I love! SNOW is mild-mannered, radiant and deeply cherished—exactly the sort of little girl Boy never was, and Boy is utterly beguiled by her. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life. This queen will decide her own future—and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems.”, “High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother, with only the books on his shelf for company. Any list of modern fairytales has to include something by Angela Carter. Where the rest of the world sees an enchanting love story, Laure sees royal incompetence and an opportunity to exploit it. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment. Beast or man, it has brought death to Rowan’s door once again. She comes to love him and will do anything to become a human woman to be with him.”, “Larissa Lai interweaves three narrative voices and their attendant cultures: an elusive fox growing toward wisdom and her 1000 birthday, the ninth-century Taoist poet/nun Yu Hsuan-Chi (a real person executed in China for murder), and the oddly named Artemis, a young Asian American woman living in contemporary Vancouver. At the convent, she is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of bitter greens…”, “Charlotte Miller has always scoffed at talk of a curse on her family’s woolen mill, which holds her beloved small town together. The inequities and betrayals of family life coalesce around and torment this magical being. Obviously, I have a bit of an obsessions. “Wuxia” novels: fairy tales for adults. Also you will discover number of the artistic adaptations of writers’ works. Only two people know of Carol’s eerie condition. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.”, “Be careful what you wish for. ), I decided to include only YA and Adult retellings. And as autumn gold fades, Rois is consumed with Corbet Lynn, obsessed with his secret past—until, across the frozen countryside and in flight from her own imagination, truth and dreams become inseparable…”, “Imogen and her sister Marin have escaped their cruel mother to attend a prestigious artists’ retreat, but soon learn that living in a fairy tale requires sacrifices, be it art or love. She is as hopelessly unbridled—and unsuited for marriage—as her betrothed sister Laurel is domestic. This list of must-read fairytale retellings for adults and YA readers is sponsored by Everywhere You Want to Be by Christina June, Blink YA Books. At this point, I’ve read so many fairy tales they’ve become metaphors for my life. What will his wife Daphne think of this sudden change in her husband? If you enjoy this tale about a mysterious orphanage, you'll be happy to know that the third in the series has just come out. The prize? Best Books for Kids Fairy Tales & Mythology OUP Authors. But did you know that fairytales weren't originally intended for children? Donoghue wrote 13 stories that queer the fairy tale as we know it. Marina Warner writes fiction and cultural history. Only this time, its appetite is insatiable.”, “Carol Evers is a woman with a dark secret. See more ideas about retelling, books, my books. As he gazes into the forest, desperate for a way out, Ronan glimpses a wonderful firebird perched on a nearby branch. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.”, “On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. Perhaps the secret lies in the locked room at the very top of the house—the single room that the Reverend Fitcher has forbidden to her.”, “The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, “Cannot a Beast be tamed?””, “Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Are you feeling in touch with your bad side this week? She has died many times…but her many deaths are not final: They are comas, a waking slumber indistinguishable from death, each lasting days. 6, 7. There's an illustrated edition to make it even more special. '”, “Happily Ever After is a star-studded book of fairy tales, featuring an introduction by Bill Willingham (Fables) and stories by Gregory Maguire, Susanna Clarke, Karen Joy Fowler, Charles de Lint, Holly Black, Garth Nix, Kelly Link, Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Briggs, and many other fantasy luminaries.”, “Writers and readers have long been inspired by the haunting wisdom and sheer imaginative power to be found in the fairy tales of the immortal Brothers Grimm. But Sorcha’s joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift—by staying silent. A club girl from L.A., awakening from a long sleep to the memories of her past, finally finds release from its curse. Rowan’s village was once a tranquil place, but now things have changed. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng’s majestic future. If you've always thought Peter Pan was too twee and saccharine, this updated reworking might be up your street. Krysta’s Papa is busy working in the infirmary with the ‘animal people,’ so little Krysta plays alone, lost in the stories of Hansel and Gretel, the Pied Piper, and more. With beautiful and enchanting prose, and a sure narrative hand, Lai combines Chinese mythology, the sexual politics of medieval China, and modern-day Vancouver to masterfully revise the myth of the Fox (a figure who can inhibit women’s bodies in order to cause mischief).”, “Rollrock island is a lonely rock of gulls and waves, blunt fishermen and their homely wives. Thankfully, my mom was not arrested and all turned out all right. In 1689 England, Lady Eliza Grey’s 11 brothers are turned into swans. Every single one of us grew up listening to fairytales. How does a child cope with the loss of his mother? When I started researching for this list, I went to Goodreads to see which books I’d marked as fairytale retellings. I’ve linked to the dominant fairy tales in each theme in the subheading, and linked to the other, similar fairy tales by each title. But one day a noble entourage makes its way up the winding slopes to the farm—and the world comes to Montefiore. Disconnected and uninterested in their new baby boy, Emma at first seems to be exhibiting all the signs of post-partum depression, but it quickly becomes clear that her troubles go far beyond that. This exhilarating collection restores their place in the literary canon.”, “Packed with award-winning authors, this anthology explores an array of fairy tales in startling and innovative ways, in genres and settings both traditional and unusual, including science fiction, western, and post-apocalyptic as well as traditional fantasy and contemporary horror.”. St. John Fox, celebrated novelist, hasn’t seen her in six years. If you think there's nothing new to add to stories like Little Red Riding Hood and Bluebeard (itself a pretty dark story), read this … but not if you're easily scared! To survive, his newest wife Shahrazad spins a web of tales night after night, leaving the King in suspense when morning comes, thus prolonging her life for another day.”, “This volume brings Moroccan poet Rachida Madani’s remarkable poems to English-language readers for the first time. Impossibly, a great white crane has tumbled to earth, shot through its wing by an arrow. A misstep at court forces him to retire to his long-deserted country estate, to rethink his plans and contemplate the next move that might return him to favor and guarantee his family’s prosperity. Found by the lunatic asylum, thin, head shaved, she claims to have no name, no feelings—to be, in fact, not even human. But are the fairies benevolent, and what happens if you make bargains with them? And perhaps I seemed like the kind of kid that would lie. Then, the third part, includes the final […] If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever.”, “This novel focuses on two outcasts on two journeys in two eras. Fairy tales have been with us for so long that it’s hard to argue their appeal. A … While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a world that is a strange reflection of his own—populated by heroes and monsters and ruled by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book, The Book of Lost Things.”, “A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, and a mystery. So now it’s up to Magrat Garlick, Granny Weatherwax, and Nanny Ogg to hop on broomsticks and make for far-distant Genua to ensure the servant girl doesn’t marry the Prince.”, “When a savage creature known only as the Adversary conquered the fabled lands of legends and fairy tales, all of the infamous inhabitants of folklore were forced into exile. From author Christina June comes a new young adult novel, Everywhere You Want to Be, a modern retelling of the Red Riding Hood story. Their father, moved by an incredible dream of optimism, decides to migrate from the lush green fields of British Columbia to Alberta. Life is hard for the families who must wring a poor living from the stormy seas. Drawing on the West African (Nigeria) Yoruba oral folktale tradition, Tutuola described the odyssey of a devoted palm-wine drinker through a nightmare of fantastic adventure. Her words are meaningless to a man mourning his dead wife and child, but they come to pass all the same; Ronan has not been home a day before his father insists on an arranged marriage. If Snow displays a certain inscrutability at times, that’s simply a characteristic she shares with her father, harmless until Boy gives birth to Snow’s sister, Bird. To meld princes ( charming or otherwise ), even as a German officer in... She hears him beckon she mutters an idle wish and, while standing in her,. Not least because she doesn ’ t exist secrecy and bureaucracy, and is! Questionnaire will help you figure out exactly which books I ’ ve become metaphors for my life into. Her people rely on the border, full of malevolent power, and a handle! 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