The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David Meredith | Book Talk
What happens when "happily ever after" has come and gone?
On the eve of her only daughter, Princess Raven's wedding, an aging Snow White finds it impossible to share in the joyous spirit of the occasion. The ceremony itself promises to be the most glamorous social event of the decade. Snow White’s castle has been meticulously scrubbed, polished and opulently decorated for the celebration. It is already nearly bursting with jubilant guests and merry well-wishers. Prince Edel, Raven's fiancé, is a fine man from a neighboring kingdom and Snow White's own domain is prosperous and at peace. Things could not be better, in fact, except for one thing:
The king is dead.
The queen has been in a moribund state of hopeless depression for over a year with no end in sight. It is only when, in a fit of bitter despair, she seeks solitude in the vastness of her own sprawling castle and climbs a long disused and forgotten tower stair that she comes face to face with herself in the very same magic mirror used by her stepmother of old.
It promises her respite in its shimmering depths, but can Snow White trust a device that was so precious to a woman who sought to cause her such irreparable harm? Can she confront the demons of her own difficult past to discover a better future for herself and her family? And finally, can she release her soul-crushing grief and suffocating loneliness to once again discover what "happily ever after" really means?
Only time will tell as she wrestles with her past and is forced to confront The Reflections of Queen Snow White.
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This story was sent to me by Mr. David Meredith for an honest review.
We enter a deeper understanding of the life of Snow White. After her husband's passing Snow White falls into a deep grief and despair that only she can pull herself out of. She encounters the magical mirror her evil step mother once had and learns that she, Snow White, is a stronger and braver than she makes herself out to be.
The story is told in the same style as the classic fairy are told. Short and sweet sentences that ooze magic and lessons to children. Meredith would make the classic story tellers such as the Grimm Brothers proud following their format of lessons through stories.
I would not recommend this story if you want a sweet fairy tale. The Reflections of Queen Snow White has emotional and physical abuse/violence, and if you are faint of heart it might not be for you. This story is about handling grief and not clinging to what you lost. ( There is also some sexual content but it is not overwhelming. Just their wedding night and conceiving a child )
"You cling to the ghost of my memory and have forgotten to live..."
Moving along with the story, and a bit of the more nitty gritty stuff. The Reflections of Queen Snow White falls true to it's time setting of the 1800s, from clothes, setting and the language used. (The King/Prince uses a lot of reference to God just like noblemen from the 1800s would use). I had to look up certain words, because I just did not know what they meant!
Mr. Meredith doesn't make everything happily ever after for Snow White, he explores dark subject with the classic princess. We get glimpses of events that occurred before and after the classic tale. Abusive from her step-mother, moments with her dad, post-rescue from Charming, noble and court life. And it is quite dark, much like the classic fairy tales, the real fairy tales, not the Disney ones. I personally think Meredith's evil queen is the darkest I have encountered to date, most of the other evil queens I have read or seen having mean and evil, but this was just down right violent and physically abusive....it was scary.
While it was an overall good re-telling, and I enjoyed this deep aspect of Snow White, I found myself a bit bored at times and would catch myself skimming certain paragraphs. (Then I had to go back and re-read what I just read). I especially enjoyed Meredith's take on the magic mirror. Rather than some magical object that can see magical things and do magical thing, it just shows people's reflections at a subconscious level. In this story the mirror shows Snow White critical moments in past so she can realize how strong she is as woman, and aid her in the grieving of her dead husband. (My favorite version of the mirror to date...even though Once Upon a Time's version is pretty cool too)
My minor complaint, it is really silly, but I felt a bit uncomfortable with Snow White being barely 17 and Charming being almost 30. I know during that time period that massive age gap was normal and very common between nobles and peasants, but I still found it disturbing.
You guys should still check the story out. It is available on Kindle!
4/5
"...it is foolish to despair...there is always hope."
Simply a girl who loves tea, blogs about her ever exciting life and wants to make her dreams come true.
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