Bitter Greens by Kate
Forsyth is a totally engrossing tale of consisting of three story lines
with the fairy tale Rapunzel at its apex.
Charlotte Rose de la Force is banished from Versailles by Louis the IV,
the Sun King. Her scandalous affairs go
beyond even what is fashionable in that time period. Charlotte is also a French Novelist which
was a unique calling during this time period. She bonds with a mysterious older
nun Soeur Seraphina who calms and engages her with the glories of her herbal
garden. She also spins a tale about a
beautiful young girl with red gold hair locked in a tower. The story moves to the fate of Margherita
whose father steals bitter greens from the garden of Selena who demands the
first born child or the father will have his hands chopped off. In desperation the father promises this since
it is seven years away and likely anything can change in that time period. Of course it does not and Margherita is
spirited away soon after her seventh birthday and banished to the tower by
Selena. The novel then moves to the life
and times of Charlotte which resulted in her banishment and next to the life of
Selena and her mystical gifts and dark talents.
If the reader gets this far into the story it becomes a page turner
wherein the outcome of all three powerful women is eager sought. -The reader is pulled into another world of
where magical happenings were regular occurrences and ingenuity the part of
Charlotte Rose, Margherita and Selena have the reader cheering each of them
onward. A tale for any who want to be swept
away by a tantalizing fairy tale for adults!
Reviewed by Karen
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