#CBR15 Passport Challenge: Books I already own
CBR15 Bingo: Violence
15-word-review: Princess Marra has to complete three impossible tasks to kill her brother-in-law. A quest follows.
Longer review: Marra, the youngest princess in a small, rather insignificant kingdom, who has spent half of her life in a convent and so is almost, but very significantly not, a nun, has been set three impossible tasks by a dust-wife (a magic-wielding woman who can communicate with the dead). She must spin thread out of nettles and fashion a cloak in less than a night and a day, and she must make a dog out of cursed bones and wire. Her final task is to capture the moon in a jar. All of these tasks are to find a way to kill her brother-in-law, the prince of a neighbouring kingdom. The prince married her eldest sister, who died after less than a year. Then the second eldest princess was married off to him, and although inexperienced and naive after a very sheltered upbringing first in a palace and then in a convent, Marra discovers that her sister has been abused and tortured, and keeps trying to stay pregnant so her husband doesn’t hurt her as much. Marra wants to avenge her oldest sister and save her remaining living one but is rather powerless on her own.
In fairy tales, the impossible frequently becomes possible, and Marra succeeds in her impossible tasks against all odds and is granted the aid of the very powerful dust-wife who set her the tasks. Along with the dust-wife and her demon chicken, accompanied by her bone dog, and eventually also an exiled (if very gentle) killer and a wicked godmother, Marra slowly travels to her brother-in-law’s kingdom to try to stop him from ever hurting her family ever again.
Full review here.