Thornhedge
Written by: T. Kingfisher
Tor Books
2023
Kingfisher does it again with Thornhedge, delivering a retelling of Sleeping Beauty that subverts all expectations.
I absolutely loved Thornhedge, again bewildered and amazed by Kingfisher and her work.
Storytelling
This was not the story I was expecting. However, with Kingfisher, I have learned to expect the unexpected. This is a retelling, of sorts, of Sleeping Beauty. Toadling was stolen from her human family as a child and raised by the fairies, safe and loved.
But after a time, she is asked to return to the human realm to bless a princess. However, things don’t exactly go as planned. The child is a changeling, and Toadling’s words get a bit garbled up. So, to make amends, she becomes the child’s fairy godmother.
Easy enough, right?
Except there’s something wrong with the princess, something evil within her. The incidents start out small until they aren’t, and Toadling has no choice but to put the princess in an eternal sleep and keep her guarded. She has to keep the world safe from her.
Not what you were expecting, right?
But what I loved was that this was Toadling’s story. A kind-hearted knight has come to the tower covered in briars to wake the princess. That is until Toadling gives him the story, the truth of the sleeping beauty.
I love that I can imagine these characters; I can hear Toadling’s soft-spoken, gentle voice and feel the yearning in her voice to go home. This is not a long book; it’s a novella, but Kingfisher does a fantastic job with the characterization. She makes the characters come alive in such a short amount of time.
What I also thought was really interesting, and this may put some people off, was the discussion of religion. As the Knight and Toadling get to know each other, they discuss their pasts, beliefs, and religion. It wasn’t pushy, it wasn’t preachy, it just was, and I think it gave the story and the characters a stronger level of depth as they discussed the Knight’s religion.
And, for the record, I loved the Knight and his kindness, thoughtfulness, and acceptance of Toadling for who and what she was. The ending was happy if I ever saw one, with Toadling not only returning to her family but even finding love in the process.
Final Thoughts
I absolutely loved Thornhedge. It was short, sweet, and completely unpredictable. Once again, Kingfisher continues to subvert my expectations in brilliant ways.
Cynthia Ayala
Cynthia Ayala-Bujnicki majored in Writing and Publishing from Emerson College. Editor-in-chief of Cyn's Workshop, she loves to read and write while tending to her pepper plants. She currently lives in South Florida with her husband, two kids Dante and Selene and two furbabies Mr. J the Kitten who Thinks He's Batman (yes, that is his full name) and Nyx.
