If you know me, you know that a good fairytale retelling or interpretation is totally my jam. Robin McKinley had me by the throat for years thanks to Beauty, Deerskin, Spindle’s End, etc. So when I learned that T. Kingfisher, an author whose books I’ve previously enjoyed (and who is a delightful follow on used-to-be-Twitter), had a re-telling of Sleeping Beauty, I was more than down.
Thornhedge is the story of Toadling, who was stolen by the faeries as a newborn babe, adopted by a group of monstrous water creatures, and grew up safe and beloved in the waters of Faerie. Until the Hare Goddess comes and demands she perform a task. The changeling who took her place is about to be christened, and the Goddess wants Toadling to stand as her godmother and give her a gift. But the gift is a strange one – Toadling is to give her the gift of doing no harm.
Because in the world of Thornhedge, changelings are more than misfits who cry too much and don’t like the touch of cold iron. The changeling who took Toadling’s place is a monstrous child who delights in the torture of animals and will watch a man die slowly rather than call for help. Fayette is a little girl of remarkable beauty and terrible temper, who only becomes more frightening as she gets older. Toadling isn’t strong enough to stop her, but she can put her to sleep. A sleep that will last a millennia, as long as Fayette remains in her tower, undisturbed.
Centuries pass, and Toadling stands guard, cultivating the brambles that have grown around the tower, keeping curious passer-by away. Until a knight approaches. Halim will admit that he’s not much of a knight, but he loves stories, and found a story of a princess in a tower, cursed by an evil faerie. Can Toadling convince him to leave well be? Or, if he insists on forging ahead, can she convince him of the truth that lies at the center of the thorn hedge? Or will Fayette’s evil be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world?
Thornhedge is a story of loneliness, of desperation, of never quite fitting in, and of longing for the places where you do belong. It is a quick read, but that doesn’t negate its beauty or its impact. There’s a paragraph near the end that had me crying at my desk! If you’ve liked T. Kingfisher’s other works, or liked other fairytale retellings, Thornhedge is the book for you.
