This is the second book that I read for the ‘Once Upon a Time’ challenge hosted by Carl..
I discovered ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’ by Jackie Morris, through Ana’s (from ‘Things Mean a Lot’) review of it. A fairy tale set in the cold northern lands, featuring a young girl and a polar bear – how can one resist it? I couldn’t wait to get it and read it and I finished reading it yesterday. Here is what I think.
‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’ is Jackie Morris’ retelling of the classic fairytale with the same name. There are two parts to the story. The first is a simple fairytale which reminds one of ‘The Beauty and the Beast’. The second reminds one of the story of Psyche and Cupid. In the first part, a polar bear one day enters a city and knocks at the door of a refugee family. When the father opens the door, the bear tells him in his native language that he has come to visit them. He later tells the family that he has come to invite the eldest daughter of the family, our heroine, to come and live with him. In return the bear will make all their problems go away. The family is reluctant to accept this idea, but the girl agrees and goes to live with the bear. The bear takes care of her and she is happy. But there is a secret (and here comes the Psyche and Cupid part). After the girl has fallen asleep in the night, the door quietly opens and someone enters the room and lies next to her. When the girl tries to light a lamp to find out who it is, the matches and the lamp don’t work. The girl keeps quiet about this and doesn’t mention it to the bear the next day. But this scene keeps recurring every night. One day the girl is homesick and asks the bear whether she can visit her family for a short while. The bear agrees and takes her home and tells her that he will be back after a month and a day to take her back. The girl discovers that her family has been well provided for and her parents and siblings are happy. When she tells her mother about the strange person who visits her room during the night, her mother gives her a box and tells her to use it when it happens the next time. A month and a day later, the bear comes back and takes her back to its home. That night, the bedroom door opens and someone comes in and lies next to our heroine. After this person has gone to sleep, our heroine opens the box her mother has given and finds a candle and some matches. She lights the candle and it works. She shows the light on the person lying next to her and discovers that he is a handsome young man. But this handsome young man wakes up and then there is sorrow in his eyes and he says that everything is lost. When the girl, who loves the bear by now, and who realizes that this handsome young man might be the person who appears as the bear during the day, asks him what was wrong, this young man tells his story. He tells her that he is a prince who has waited for her for a thousand years. He was supposed to marry the Troll queen’s daughter, unless he found a woman who loved him willingly when he was in the form of a bear and came to live with him and lived in his place for a year and a day. And he was not supposed to reveal his human form to her. But now that our heroine has lighted the candle and seen the prince’s original form before the year and a day period was over, he has to leave the next day to the castle which was at the east of the sun and the west of the moon and marry the troll queen’s daughter. The prince and our heroine spend the night in each other’s arms, mourning what they had lost. Our heroine tells him that she will come and find him wherever he is and get him back. The next day morning when the girl wakes up, there is no castle, there is no bear and there is no young man. She is lying in the forest with her bundle. She decides to go in search of her sweetheart and she is ready to go to the ends of the earth to get him back.
Is she able to do succeed in her quest? The answer to that is the rest of the story.
So, what do I think of ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’? I loved it. Mostly. Let me explain that more. I loved the story. The way the fairytale of the Beauty and the Beast merged seamlessly with the story of Psyche and Cupid, and the way it is set in today’s world in which the heroine of the fairytale is a girl who is a refugee from her homecountry and how that blended seamlessly with the rest of the fairytale – this was all beautifully done. I loved the heroine and the polar bear, the three women who help the heroine, the four winds. I liked even the troll’s daughter for the way she passionately loved the prince.
The watercolour paintings of Jackie Morris are stunning. I am not exaggerating here or praising Morris just for the heck of it. The paintings are really and literally stunning. The book can be read just for the artwork alone. And then there is Jackie Morris’ prose. Purple is one way to describe it. It is probably the very definition of purple. There are beautiful sentences in every page and I enjoyed reading those sentences again and again. Each of those sentences was sculpted by a fine hand and a sensitive mind. It was as if Jackie Morris was born to write and illustrate fairytales. To give you a feel for the flavour of Morris’ purple prose, I will include a few of those gorgeous sentences and passages here.
A flower of orange flame blossomed so bright and a petal caught to the candle wick.
…golden leaves of autumn played a beautiful tune with the breeze, and the light painted dappled gold pennies on the rich earth beneath horse’s hooves.
…the hot wind of the desert stroked her cheek like a kiss, and she turned to see, far out on the horizon, the sand moving like water, wave after wave rolling towards them, sand made liquid by the force of the wind.
All through the desert the wind teased her, tangling his fingers through her hair and winding it into tresses so that no matter how she tied it, before long ti would weave around her head like snakes. He stroked her cheeks, blew cooler air when the heat became too much. He played with her. He drew shapes in the sand with tumbling weed for her He swept up waves of sand and shaped them to run behind her like wild wind horses, a great herd, keeping pace with her horse. He caught snatches of music and carried them to her ears, at night, gentle lullabies, in the morning, birdsong. He blew a flower over the desert and placed it in her hand.
Did you like them?
So, we have a beautiful story blending fairytale and mythology, lovable characters, stunning artwork, purple prose. That should be enough to fall in love with a book for life, isn’t it? Yes, normally, it should. The book had one thing, though. It was the ending. In the original fairytale (you can read it here) the prince marries our heroine and they live happily everafter. That is not how it works out in Jackie Morris’ retelling. I am in two minds now. Should I write more about this or not? If I do, it will be a spoiler. If I don’t, I will be avoiding discussion on an important aspect of the book. I think I will tell you what I think about the ending. But I am marking it as a spoiler and so please ignore it if you are planning to read the book
*Beginning of Spoiler*
The first thing about the ending was that it was a surprise. It is not that I didn’t see it coming. Morris leaves clues for the reader and we half expect it. Still, it is surprising. A fairytale which doesn’t end with the prince and the princess marrying and living happily everafter, has a surprise ending. I wouldn’t say that I didn’t like the ending (or to use a stronger word – I wouldn’t say that I disliked the ending). The ending was good, though surprising, and in some ways it was geared to our modern way of thinking and was perfect in its own way. But there was a dissonance there when we related it to the rest of the story. Without telling you what the actual ending is, I will use the example of another fairytale. Let us take ‘Rapunzel’. After Rapunzel is thrown out of the tower by the witch and the prince goes blind, towards the end of the story, the blind prince hears Rapunzel’s voice singing in the wilderness and he finds her and they are united and Rapunzel’s tears of joy cures the prince of his blindness. The traditional fairytale ends after this with Rapunzel and the prince living happily everafter. Let us say that this story is retold and the reteller changes the ending and the new ending goes like this – after the prince is cured of his blindness, Rapunzel thanks him for saving her from the witch and also says that she is happy that the prince’s blindness is cured. But then she adds that now that both of them are free, they should be able to do what they want and the prince doesn’t need to feel obligated to marry her and neither should Rapunzel feel that way. Each of them can live their lives the way they want, fall in love with whomever they want, get married or not, travel the world etc. and enjoy their freedom. Well, it is not a bad ending, but it takes away the magic of the fairytale. Something like this happened at the end of Jackie Morris’ retelling. I didn’t dislike it, but I was disappointed with it.
*End of Spoiler*
So, would I recommend ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’? Yes, with all my heart. It is a stunningly produced book and the artwork and purple prose alone are good enough reasons to read the book. And don’t worry about the ending. Maybe you will like it more.
Have you read Jackie Morris’ ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’? What do you think about it?
I have to say that I’d run to get my hands on that retelling of Rapunzel 😛 The ending was what made this book for me, though of course I completely understand feeling differently. Have you read East by Edith Pattou? It’s another interesting retelling of this tale, though it’s lacking Morris’ absolutely stunning illustrations.
Thanks Ana 🙂 Looks like I might not be a bad fairytale reteller after all 🙂 Glad to know that you liked the ending. It was quite interesting and unexpected. I was happy for the heroine because she found happiness in the end, though I was a bit disappointed because it was not a fairytale ending we normally expect. Jackie Morris’ illustrations were stunningly beautiful and her prose was wonderful. I look forward to reading other books by her. It is a shame that ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’ wasn’t even longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. Because I liked it even more than ‘Flora & Ulysses’ which won the Newbery.
Thanks a lot for reviewing this book, Ana, and gushing about it in your review. I wouldn’t have discovered it otherwise. I loved what you said about what you expected in your Dream book version of the retelling of this fairytale.
I am sorry I forgot to reply to your question, Ana. I haven’t read ‘East’ by Edith Pattou. Thanks for telling me about it. I will add it to my wishlist and keep an eye for it. Would love to find out what Pattou thinks about this fairytale.
You’re most welcome! Swapping recommendations is what blogging is all about 😀 And do let me know what you think of East.
Thanks Ana! I will look forward to reading ‘East’.
I know what you mean about disappointing endings. This one doesn’t sound too bad though, even if the protagonists don’t end up together.
Yes, it was a little bit disappointing, Delia. But the ending was also nice and interesting in its own way, because the heroine finds her own version of happiness, which is different from what the reader might expect. It is still one of my favourite books of the year though 🙂
I read the original so I wouldn’t go for this..
Do you have a subscribe by e-mail option?
Thanks for stopping by, Guy. Nice to know that you read the original. I somehow seemed to have missed adding the ‘Subscribe by email’ option to the blog. I will add it soon and will let you know.
Thanks.
Another great review, Vishy! I agree with you that a fairytale should have a fairytale ending, but I must say your enthusiasm for the artwork tempts me. I recently read A Kingdom Far and Clear by Mark Helprin and while I wasn’t completely enthralled with the story the amazing illustartions made the book a joy to read nevertheless.
Thanks FictionFan 🙂 The artwork in this book is absolutely stunning. I hope you get to read this book and like it. I will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Thanks for telling me about Mark Helprin’s ‘A Kingdom Far and Clear’. I will add it to my wishlist and look for it. I love books with beautiful illustrations!
I’m with Ana on this. It think that’s a terrific ending. Although I’d love to read this, I still read your spoiler section. I was too curious.
I just like the way tradition is question in an ending like that. And giving back the freedom of choice, even if it’s just to a fairy tale character has a strong message.
But I really understand your more romantic feelings too. 🙂
I had a look at the artwork and it’s stunning.
Hi Caroline, Glad to know that you liked the ending. I knew that all of you Angela Carter fans will get together 🙂 The ending of the story was perfect and beautiful in its own way. I probably hoped for a different ending, but the heroine found happiness in the end and from that perspective it was still a beautiful ending. I liked what you said about tradition being questioned in an ending like that. One of the reviewers echoed your thought when she said that the book “upsets the boundaries of happy endings and asserts that heroines are not obligated to move in expected patterns.” Glad to know that you liked the artwork – it is stunning, isn’t it? I hope you get to read this book and like it. I will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Happy reading!
Thanks for the spoiler alert. I liked the sound of this book so I skipped past that part of your review so can try this for myself!! I recently read Phillip Pullmans Grimm Tales and what I loved most about it was the very fact that he’d avoided the temptation to change the stories at all. Nevertheless I like the sound of this – and influenced by some of the wonderful picture books I’ve read to my daughter over the years, I love books with great illustrations so I will look forward to getting to read this
I hope you enjoy reading this, Col. The illustrations are very beautiful and I hope you like them. The modified ending is beautiful too and will lead to a lot of discussions and conversation. Nice to know that you enjoyed Philip Pullman’s version of the Grimm fairytales.
Happy reading!
Interesting that the ending is a surprise. I have to give the author credit for being that bold. Not sure if I would like the ending (I didn’t read the spoiler) but I’m intrigued. And the artwork and language sound wonderful.
I hope you get to read the book and like it, TBM. The artwork is stunning and the language is beautiful and you might like the ending, many readers did. I didn’t dislike it, I just liked my alternate dream ending more 🙂 I will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it, if you get to read this book.
Sometimes it’s hard when you expect a certain ending and the author takes a different turn. It can be deflating.
I think I originally became aware of a different retelling of this story, but either way I want to read this one. I read your spoiler because with retellings I think you do expect a similar ending most of the time, and it’s nice to know if it’ll be different or not. It sounds an interesting one, but given what you’ve said about the rest of the story maybe not quite a good fit? Away from the context of a retelling, though, it must give you a lot to think about.
Nice to know that you are aware of a different retelling of this story, Charlie. Hope you get to read this book and like it. I think the ending which Jackie Morris has written is pretty good and beautiful in its own way. It is just that I preferred a different ending 🙂 But the new ending is definitely thought-provoking. I hope you get to read it and like it. I will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.
The cover reminded me of the His Dark Materials books by Philip Pullman, with the girl and the bear. I’m reading the third in the trilogy, but I suppose the similarities end there. It’s funny, I just read about a book called Ice by Sarah Durst and I was very tempted to buy it – turns out it was a retelling of this same fairy tale. This sounds endlessly interesting too – plus the idea of Beauty and the Beast meeting the Cupid and Psyche myth is fabulous. I skipped to the end of your spoiler, but it seems you were disappointed with the ending of this. Now I’m wondering which book to get! 🙂
Interesting to know that, Priya. I haven’t read ‘His Dark Materials’ but I remember watching parts of the first movie in the series. I remember that polar bear. I hope you are enjoying the book. Interesting to know that you also stumbled upon Sarah Durst’s retelling of this myth 🙂 The ending of Jackie Morris’ retelling was not bad and many readers loved it. It is just that it was not my preferred ending. The book is stunning work of art though and it is worth reading just for that. I hope you get to read it sometime.
For me, East of the Sun, West of the Moon was a song, so thanks for the discovery.
I’m not sure I agree with the idea of changing the ending of a traditional tale. It’s an interesting idea but if I want modern and realistic, I won’t read fairy tales.
You are welcome, Emma 🙂 Yes, the ending was a little bit disappointing, but it was more because I was expecting a traditional ending. The new ending was beautiful in its own way and many readers liked it.
[…] East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Jackie Morris – A beautiful, contemporary retelling of a famous fairytale. Jackie Morris’ writing is the very definition of purple prose and the illustrations in the book are gorgeous and that ending, which is very different from the traditional ending, will make you think. […]
[…] which is a Cupid and Psyche story and then I read a fabulous review on Vishy’s blog of East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Jackie Morris, another retelling of the same myth. I was all set to buy it, except: I didn’t find a Kindle […]