The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley

Robin McKinley is one of my most favorite authors ever. She’s had me at The Hero and the Crown, and she hasn’t let me go since. I love the way she tells a story, and I think at this point I have read everything she has written.

The Door in the Hedge is a collection of four fairy tales, two reinterpretations of old tales and two new tales. In the first tale, called The Stolen Princess, is quite lovely in tone. In the kingdom that borders Fairyland, children are sometimes stolen from their beds, never to return. The Queen’s sister was one of those children, and now, her daughter is spirited away. Only this time, things will be different. In The Princess and the Frog, McKinley reinterprets the traditional fairytale of the princess losing her golden ball in a pond, only to promise a frog a kiss for returning it. McKinley’s version has a bit more meat to it, and this time around, the Princess isn’t passively accepting her fate. In The Hunting of the Hind, McKinley borrows from many tales I have read in my favorite fairy tale collection, the Andrew Lang fairy books. There is a golden hind who drives those who hunt her mad. The Princess’s brother hunted her, and now he is dying. The Princess decides to seek the Golden Hind and break the spell. In the final tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, McKinley doesn’t change much of the original story, except she fleshes out the hero and makes him a soldier who finally learns why he fought for his King.

I liked this small collection of fairy tales. McKinley has written similar reinterpretations in almost all of her works, with her greatest being the creation of Aerin the Dragon Killer and the world of Damar. If you like fantasy with a light feminist twist, you should read her more robust stories, Deerskin, the Outlaws of Sherwood, and Spindle’s End. If you have read her before and liked what you read, you should check out her collections of short stories. The Door in the Hedge was finally reprinted, and The Knot in the Grain has some Damar related stories.

Rating: 4 Purrs