Marvelous Transformations: An Anthology of Fairy Tales and Contemporary Critical Perspectives ed. by Christine A. Jones, Jennifer Schacker, and: The Teller’s Tale: Lives of the Classic Fairy Tale Writers ed. by Sophie Raynard (review)

Fairy tale scholars have much to look forward to in the two books Marvelous Transformations and The Teller’s Tale. Although both books are intellectually stimulating, the breadth and depth of Marvelous Transformations, as well as its strong folkloristic orientation, makes it more suitable for classroom use as well as perusal for research or pleasure.

Christine A. Jones and Jennifer Schacker’s guiding aim in creating their anthology, Marvelous Transformations, is a historical orientation. Their focus is on re-integrating the histories of fairy tales across national, linguistic, generic, and communicative boundaries (p. 22). The anthologized tales are thus arranged chronologically, thereby highlighting continuities over time and space. In part 1, canonical tales appear alongside lesser-known tales, and even experienced fairy tale scholars are guaranteed to discover something that is new to their interests. The broad range of tales included in the volume reveals many contrasts, such as those between the ornate language of literary tales and the differing styles of orally collected tales. The Comtesse de Murat’s description of a carriage that a fairy made from a giant’s skull illustrates the whimsical element of many tales:

The giant was ninety-six feet tall: she had his skull reworked in such an agreeable manner than everything necessary could be found in it from the undercarriage to the wheels, and as she only wanted to travel by night, she had it painted with a black veneer; she had harnessed to it two great mastiffs to whom she attached the wings of Indian bats who are, in that country, as large as cows.

(p. 212)

Contemporary tales that encompass modern rewritten tales, as well as recently collected and/or translated tales, also occupy a range of linguistic and social positions. Amid well-known adaptations such as those of Anne Sexton and Robert Coover, tales such as Sylvia Townsend Warner’s “Bluebeard’s Daughter,” which tells of the serial killer’s daughter growing up and marrying, display delightful surprises.

Furthermore, the editors’ attention to the normative role of criticism in shaping our ways of reading and interpreting fairy tales is compelling. Their introduction offers suggestions for ways to read fairy tales, and their treatment offers insights for both longtime scholars and newcomers. One especially relevant example of their insightful overview is a new and persuasive reading of the language in “Little Red Riding Hood.” The critical essays in part 2 of the book are similarly informative and enjoyable. The interlocking categories of genre, ideology, authorship, reception, and translation receive stellar treatment from folklore and literary scholars alike.

The aim of The Teller’s Tale is somewhat different. The book’s editor, Sophie Raynard, explains that “this collection of newly researched biographies of the best-known authors of European fairy tales rectifies false data, adds new information, and provides a reliable historical context for Europe’s fairy tales” (p. 3). Covering primarily Italian, French, and German writers, this collection of essays is thought-provoking and informative. The essays expand upon many of the known facets of European writers’ life histories, illuminating the effects of social context, market forces, and personal tastes on fairy tale authorship and collecting. I found the summaries of stylistic trends and social interconnections, especially within the French salon scene, particularly helpful and intriguing. For instance, while I have read a handful of Catherine Bernard’s fairy tales, Lewis C. Seifert’s analysis of two of her tales guided me to think about her body of work in a new way. Seifert shows that both tales are dystopic and explores how they support Bernard’s novel’s...