The Door in the Hedge, by Robin McKinley

[sophia_sol]

I don't know how many years it's been since I last read this book but it all came back to me, instantly familiar. This is a collection of four short-to-medium-length stories; two are retellings of specific fairy tales and two are inspired by fairy tales.

1. The Stolen Princess - One of the two longer ones. The opening and worldbuilding and scene setting for this story are so so familiar to me, like going to meet an old friend. But I don't really love the actual story McKinley is telling here. The moment we go to the other country, it feels to me like it all falls apart, like McKinley is too caught up in how a story like this "ought" to go to think about what she is writing.

2. The Princess and the Frog - A short but good retelling of the fairy tale, I really like this one!

3. The Hunting of the Hind - All the stories in this book are extremely heterosexual but this one is the worst of the bunch. Come on, there's way more basis for Sellena/Korah than for the two het ships that the narrative apparently intends! And anything about how a woman is SO PRETERNATURALLY BEAUTIFUL that all men who see her fall desperately in love with her is, uh, not my favourite trope (and very heterosexual). Also, the confrontation scene is super anticlimactic.

4. The Twelve Dancing Princesses - An extended retelling in which we discover exactly zero about what any of the princesses think about anything that happens. I mean, the story is more interested in establishing a connection between the soldier and the king than between the soldier and any of the princesses! And there's much focus on the deep sadness of the poor poor king who IMPRISONS HIS DAUGHTERS. Yikes.

In conclusion, I still somehow love this book despite.....only liking one of the stories in it.......... Childhood nostalgia is a powerful force. And McKinley is very good at setting a mood even if I want to argue with just so many of her narrative choices.

Comments

[aurumcalendula]

Now I kinda want to re-read this (although I suspect it might end up annoying me). I re-read Spindle's End a few years back and was irked at how very heterosexual it is *pokes at AO3 looking for any Rosie/Peony fic*

[sophia_sol]

ohhhh I hadn't thought of that, I haven't read Spindle's End since the days I assumed I myself was heterosexual (hah!), but now that you say Rosie/Peony I INSTANTLY want fic

[anne]

same on all counts! whew

[holyschist]

McKinley is definitely one of those childhood authors who has...not held up well for me (and judging by her blog, which I recall tended towards word salad, I suspect her editors had a LOT to do with making her work readable). Which is a shame, because I crave fairytale retellings and Beauty was one of my most frequent rereads as a kid, but...IDK, not enough authorial self-examination.

[sophia_sol]

Yeahhhh I LOVED McKinley's works when I was younger because I've always been all about the fairy tale retellings, and I even actively followed her blog for multiple years, buuut I have a lot less patience for overlooking her flaws as a writer these days.

[anne]

OMG SAME AGAIN

idk how we made it this long without meeting each other...

I loved the Damar books from middle school all the way up until I made the connection between The Blue Sword and 19th century India, at an embarrassingly advanced age. I can't bear to get rid of my copies, but I also don't think I'll ever reread them. (But you'll take my riffs on the God who Climbs and Falls out of my cold dead hands, because I contain multitudes.)

[sophia_sol]

yes!! HI! I did make the connection between Damar and 19th century india fairly young but I didn't make the connection that the way it was depicted was a problem for a while unfortunately.... The racial/colonial dynamics in those books are. not good. I doubt I'll ever reread them either, even though there ARE some aspects of them that are truly amazing.

[chestnut_pod]

I wandered over here (where it's been trapped in my million tabs of doom for like weeks) bc you mentioned your take on this book in a recent post of mine and I was interested in more of your thoughts on this version of 12 Dancing Princesses!

I have a new interest in McKinley's villainous and/or morally feeble kings since my big reread. The worst is of course the Fairytale King of Deerskin, but I think there's something of that same character in her Richard the Lionheart, and then the spectrum continues to run down to the ones who are simply unable to or uninterested in controlling their courts. In this 12DP, I think the soldier basically scorns the king for his emotional/moral weakness, while also being compassionate, which quality is what allows him to win the quest. I think the king in the Princess and the Frog story is actually written along similar lines, so too even Arlbeth in THatC (though he's the most semi-heroic).

Can't disagree that I would've like more interiority from the princesses, though!

[sophia_sol]

million tabs of doom: RELATABLE.

that's a great point about McKinley's kings! I haven't paid a lot of attention to them before as a group but I think you're very right about them. interesting!