Rumpelstiltskin
Timeless Fairy Tales 4
By K. M. Shea
Number of Pages: 236
Synopsis: (From Amazon)
Things look grim for Gemma, a seamstress, when she is ordered under the threat of death by the insane King Torgen to spin straw into gold. Unwilling to forfeit her life, Gemma tries to escape her royal prison, earning her the respect of the mysterious mage, Stil. Stil offers to complete the impossible task…for a price.
Review:
My goodness. This is probably one of my favourite fairy tale retellings of Rumpelstiltskin.
Gemma is well developed and talented, but she also is very empathetic towards others. Stil, though we are uncertain of him for a while, is kind and helpful. The reader likely realizes what is going on long before Gemma, and the most annoying thing is Gemma’s absolute denial. Does it come from her inability to think of herself as worthy of attention because she is not a noble or because she thinks poorly of herself? The reader doesn’t know. What is shown is how intelligent and resilient Gemma is.
The depth of this story is amazing. The reason why no one stands up to the king, the reason why Stil is willing to help her, everything comes together to make this an amazing retelling. While he is not the Rumpelstiltskin you would remember, he is so much better! The underlying politics really add to the novel, and I absolutely adored the ending.
Author Biography: (From Amazon)
K. M. Shea is a fantasy-romance author who never quite grew out of adventure books or fairy tales, and still searches closets in hopes of stumbling into Narnia. She is addicted to sweet romances, witty characters, and happy endings.
She is also extremely committed to her readers—who have set up their base camp at kmshea.com—and lives in the idyllic Midwest with her furry pet, Perfect Dog.
Amy S. Brown 