A fairy tale novella by T Kingfisher.
Plot: Toadling is a hideous toad that lives in a forest cloaked with a spell to keep people out. Her job is to protect the forest and its secrets from the odd knight and adventurer that might try to break through, hoping to find riches and glory. It has been a long, long time since anyone has tried to come, but one day, sure enough, another knight comes through. Having nothing left to lose though, the knight is more persistent than others. Her job is clear – get him to leave. But he’s so nice. And she hasn’t had anyone to talk to for so long… Maybe a brief chat first. Shenanigans ensue.
I have a love-hate relationship with fairy tale retellings. On the one hand, I love these stories, but they are also in such dire need of a reality check. On the other hand, retellings tend to be either basically a reskinning of the story in a different context, which rarely produces a worthwhile new story, or change, at least in my view, the wrong stuff.
In this case, Kingfisher changes the story of Cinderella so much I forgot that’s what I was reading until halfway through. It is a story of love and loss and the inexorable march of time, whether you want it to speed up or slow down. It is a story of the power of our communities to fill our cups or empty them, and the value of new perspectives to unstick us from routines that aren’t serving us. But that’s Kingfisher for you.
It’s a little spooky and super atmospheric and I’d have happily stayed in that world for a full book, but the pacing also felt exactly right, so I appreciate that Kingfisher did not write more simply to satisfy my endless avarice.
