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melanirobison

The Reading Jackalope

Sold for Endless Rue

Sold for Endless Rue - Madeleine E. Robins Loved this retelling of Rapunzel. It's just amazing. It's set in 13th century Italy in Salerno and the medical school there, and it's so, so perfect. You absolutely sympathize with Laura (the witch) and can see how she became the person who not only stole Bieta, but also became so afraid of loosing her she 'locked' her up in the tower. Robins also uses the story to look at women's roles in this very male dominated society and it's not at all preachy or over the top.

My one little quibble with the book is that Bieta never meets her birth parents. After giving her up/having her stolen, in one of the most wrenching chapters in the novel, her mother just sort of disappears, and I wish that had been handled differently.