Book Review - 'Snow White and Rose Red' by Patricia C Wrede

‘Snow White and Rose Red’ by Patricia C Wrede

Written in 1989, this is one of my favourite retellings, probably the one that eventually inspired me to try writing retellings myself. I haven’t read it in ages and, after my previous read, wanted something I knew I’d enjoy.

For those who aren’t aware, this has nothing to do with Snow White or Red Riding Hood or any other fairy tale character, but two sisters one of whom just happens to be called Snow White.

‘Once Upon a Time… there was a poor widow with two daughters, beautiful as roses – Blanche and Rosamund: Snow White and Rose Red.
Once Upon a Time… the queen of Faerie had two changeling sons; one was content in his mother’s Court, the other yearned to wander through the human lands.
Once Upon a Time… two human sorcerers, in an unwitting alliance with a spiteful spirit, forged an enchantment which trapped a changeling prince, and drew Snow White and Rose Red to befriend him, whatever the cost.
Journey to an Elizabethan England that never was, quite – where human science and faerie magic sometimes meet… and clash.
Patricia C. Wrede takes a classic fairy tale and gives it vibrant new life.’

I remembered that the story is set in England at the time of Queen Elizabeth, but I’d forgotten that Wrede has used some Elizabethan English in the dialogue – words like ‘nay’, ‘thee’, ‘thy’ and ‘thou’, ‘ne’er’, ‘belike’, ‘shouldst’ to name a few.

Their meanings are easy enough to work out, but there was one that confused me – ‘an’ – only because my mind kept trying to make it ‘and’. But it actually means ‘if’.

Weirdly, Wrede only uses it for the dialogue; the rest of the novel is in ‘modern’ English. Some might find that jarring but, after the first chapter, I didn’t find it a big deal.

Each chapter begins with a passage from the fairy tale, setting the scene for that chapter, for example, the first chapter begins:
‘Once upon a time there was a poor widow who lived in a tiny cottage near a lonely forest. In front of the cottage were two rosebushes, one white and the other red. The widow had two girls who were like the two rosebushes; one was called Snow White and the other Rose Red.’

Wrede then introduces us to her version of the widow and her two daughters …
‘The widow Arden and her two daughters lived in a one-room cottage just outside the village of Mortlak, less than a mile from the river Thames… The cottage lay hard by the forest, separated from Mortlak by fields and commons…’

There were some in the village who wondered if the widow had knowledge of witchcraft, but the majority of the villagers ignored such rumours ‘because the Widow Arden’s piety seemed too great to allow the possibility of witchcraft.’

Her daughters are in their mid-teens and both, along with the widow, can read and write.

Their names in this story aren’t Snow White and Rose Red but Blanche and Rosamund, and they’re described in clichéd fairy tale fashion:
‘Rosamund, the younger of the two girls, had inherited her mother’s rich, chestnut-colored hair and brown eyes. The elder sister, Blanche, had grey eyes and her hair was a much lighter brown. Both had perfect complexions, arched brows, and white, even teeth; both had slender figures and moved gracefully.’

Because the widow sells herbs and herbal concoctions to make ends meet, the girls are well-versed in herb lore and regularly go to the forest to gather herbs for their mother. As they know the forest well and always look out for each other, their mother doesn’t worry about their safety for she’s raised them to be sensible girls.

It’s never explained, but it becomes clear that she knows a great deal more about magic and spellcasting than she lets on. Being the age of witch hunts and that it didn’t take much for women, especially single women, to be accused of witchcraft, she takes great pains in keeping herself and, especially, her daughters free of any suspicion. 

However, the presence of one man in the village acts as an indirect shield, for if the ordinary folk are going to suspect anyone of sorcerous doings, it would be the one they fear and dislike no matter that he’s the Queen’s astrologer, Master John Dee.
‘Dee was well aware of the town’s hostility. He had faced accusations of witchcraft and sorcery at least twice, though the charges had come to nothing. For a long time thereafter he had kept quiet about his interest in things magical, but in recent years he had begun to experiment once more. He was aided in these activities by a like-minded friend, one Edward Kelly.’

Kelly is in his late twenties and Dee ‘nearly twice his companion’s age and his long beard was quite grey, but his face was handsome and well bred…’

Their latest experiment is causing some friction between them for Kelly wants to forge ahead while Dee prefers a more cautious approach.

As the impatient Kelly points out, ‘“We may have within our grasp the secret of the philosopher’s stone or the Elixir itself, and yet you hesitate!”’

The reason Dee is worried is because their endeavour requires the harnessing of Faerie power and as he states, ‘“Faerie is an un-Godly power…”’

But Kelly won’t take no for an answer and eventually manages to talk Dee around as its best if they’re both prepared for ‘“to capture Faerie power will be no easy task…”’ and two going to the forest on All Hallow’s Eve is surely better than one chancing the spellcasting alone.

It’s obvious that the forest is no ordinary forest for within it is the border to Faerie.

Blanche and Rosamund know about the border for they sometimes, not often, cross it to get better quality herbs although their mother is never comfortable with those little forays.

In winter, the Faerie border is closed to humans yet, as reluctant as she is to do so, the widow feels she has little choice in sending her daughters so close to the border in the cold season for she needs a good stock of herbs, Faerie ones, for the cold months when more people have need of her ministrations.

As winter draws near, we see the difference between the human side and Faerie side of the forest as the girls step over the border…
“… the grey-brown of the November forest flickered into life and color. Emerald leaves shone sharp and distinct against a cerulean sky; the mottled trunks of beech trees stood clearly defined against the dark oaks that brooded beyond. Bees hummed about a fragrant hedge of lavender that filled a path of crystalline sunlight, and in the dense shadows beneath the trees the ground was covered with a thick, springy moss the color of malachite.”

Despite their mother’s wariness, the girls aren’t afraid of crossing the border although they remain vigilant at all times.

Living in the realm of Faerie are the Faerie queen’s sons, not wholly Faerie for their father was a mortal man.

The younger brother, Hugh, is content to spend all his time in his mother’s kingdom but John, having spent his younger years with his father in the human world, has a wandering spirit and spends much time travelling amongst humans.

“The two were nearly of an age, and they shared the same high forehead and dark, wavy hair. Their heights were identical, too, and both men had wide-set brown eyes and square, determined chins. But Hugh’s eyes and smile held a coolness that set him apart from John, despite their physical resemblance, and the unearthly composure of Faerie was present in his expression and his stance.”

It is Hugh who warns John their mother has forbidden him to leave their realm; she has never approved of his wandering and her patience, it would appear, has come to an end.

Even if John tries to leave, ‘“the border would not be there for thee to find… She hath bespelled it against thee, that thou mayest not discover it without aid.”’

Although both brothers have mortal blood, John’s ties to his human side are greater because their father had had him baptised, and many of the Faerie folk hold that against him.

Three of them are actively conspiring to be rid of John completely for they believe his wanderings tie their land too closely to the human world.

The conspirators are a tall, black-haired woman, Madini, “her eyes were dark, and her lips were very red…”; a dwarf, Bochad-Bec, “short and twisted, with skin like wrinkled brown leather; his hair and beard were stiff and wiry, and several shades darker than his skin. His loose tunic was made of oak leaves stitched together, and he wore a red cap shaped like a toadstool…”; and Furgen, a silver-scaled creature “completely hairless… webs between its fingers” and a wide mouth “full of sharply pointed teeth…”

Although Dee and Kelly are totally unaware of the conspirators, they are very aware of the humans and their experiment to harness Faerie power, which the trio plan on covertly using to remove John. That way no suspicion will fall on them.

When Dee and Kelly begin their experiment in the forest on All Hallow’s Eve, they don’t do it at night, which is what Madini is expecting, but during the day and she’s caught unawares.

At the same time, Blanche and Rosamund are in the forest gathering herbs when they spy the men in the midst of their experiment. Overcome with curiosity, they hide and watch.

Instead of capturing John’s essence, the experiment, instead, ensnares Hugh, which leads to him being banished from the Faerie realm.

The story then follows John’s attempts to rescue his brother. And in this, he is helped a great deal by the widow and Blanche and Rosamund.

The original fairy tale is one of my favourites even though, to borrow Wrede’s words, it was “episodic and unconnected; characters appeared and disappeared without explanation, and the motives of nearly all of them were unclear…”

In my opinion, Wrede has done a good job tackling a retelling of it.

I appreciated the way the spells are done. Wrede gives just enough detail to add a layer of believability to the story. And, interestingly, she has the widow and girls ask for the Lord’s protection when they perform their spellcasting.

Wrede has used third person omniscient to tell this story, which fits the traditional style of written fairy tale.

While I wasn’t that bothered by it, and obviously it never bothered me before, this time I felt the story would have benefitted using a different style, one with a tighter point of view.

One thing with third person omniscient is there’s too much telling, not enough showing with little chance of building an emotional connection with the characters.

Even though I do not mind that at all when reading stories that feature a sizeable cast, for something like this, I think a tighter point of view makes for an easier connection.

Another thing is there’s a danger of being inundated with too many viewpoints over too few pages.

For example, in the first chapter alone, we have the widow Arden talking with a visitor from the village, Mistress Townsend; two characters in the Faerie realm; and Dee and Kelly.

By the time I finished the book, I realised that, despite being titled ‘Snow White and Rose Red’, I wasn’t aware of Blanche and Rosamund experiencing much in the way of change or growth.

In fact, there wasn’t much to distinguish between the two, apart from Blanche being even-tempered and quiet, while Rosamund is feisty and outspoken.

I felt I got to know their mother more instead of the titular characters. Though I would have liked a bit of a backstory as to how she’d learned magic, and if something had happened to her or someone she knew to make her so terribly fearful of being accused of witchcraft.

Also, there was more focus on the character development of John and Hugh, with John getting the lion’s share whereas, in the original fairy tale, the character of the enchanted prince’s brother is almost an afterthought.

From the first time I read this, there’s been one character whose inclusion has always left me scratching my head. She doesn’t add anything to the story and, as far as I’m concerned, does nothing to progress the plot.

And, in true fairy tale fashion, the ending is kind of abrupt.

Despite all that, I still enjoyed reading this; maybe not as much as I used to – a downside to becoming a writer methinks – but I’ll happily read it again, knowing it can comfortably remain on my list of reliable reads.