The Fairest of Them All

and came up with more than a few of the twists and turns inside it. I love you.

TOUCHSTONE READING GROUP GUIDE

THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL

An exploration of what happens when fairy-tale heroines grow up and don’t live happily ever after, The Fairest of Them All brings new life to the stories of Rapunzel and Snow White.

Living in an enchanted forest, Rapunzel spends her days tending a mystical garden with her adoptive mother, the witch Mathena. When Rapunzel’s beautiful voice and golden locks attract a young prince, even Mathena’s considerable power cannot stop him from climbing Rapunzel’s hair and falling into her arms. But their afternoon of passion is fleeting, and the prince must return to his kingdom betrothed to another. Years later, the prince is now a king, and his wife, the queen, has died under mysterious circumstances, leaving him with a young daughter, Snow White. At last free to marry the woman he has never stopped dreaming of, the king returns for Rapunzel and makes her his queen and a mother to Snow White. But when Mathena’s wedding gift of an ancient mirror begins speaking to her, Rapunzel falls under its evil spell, and the king begins to realize that Rapunzel is not the beautiful, kind woman of his dreams.

TOPICS AND QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. How is The Fairest of Them All different from the fairy tales upon which the novel is based? What are some of the similarities?

2. Many fairy tales have omniscient narrators, yet this novel is told from the point of view of Rapunzel. Why do you think the author made the decision to give us Rapunzel’s perspective? How did this influence what you felt about Rapunzel’s choices?

3. Many of us dream about living in a world of princes and princesses, where magic is real and a part of life. What aspects of Rapunzel’s and Snow White’s lives were appealing to you? What are some of the challenges you didn’t expect them to face?

4. Talk about what it’s like to revisit fairy tales you were familiar with when you were younger. What were some of your favorite fairy tales? What other “updated” fairy tales or myths have you read or watched recently?

5. Princes, kings, princesses, and witches are all common characters in fairy tales, and all exist in The Fairest of Them All. How do the characters in this novel compare to the stereotypical princes, kings, princesses, and witches in other fairy tales? When did their actions surprise you?

6. Love of beauty and the complications of aging are important themes in The Fairest of Them All; the king and Rapunzel are particularly obsessed with beauty. Discuss some of the pitfalls of a life lived in luxury and the need for everything to be beautiful.

7. At the end of the novel, Rapunzel thinks of Snow White: “She will be a good queen. One day, she will be a great one.” Why do you think Snow White would make a good queen? What made her father such a bad king?

8. Describe Snow White’s character and the changes she goes through over the course of the story. What did you think of her initial rejection of Rapunzel? How did their relationship evolve?

9. Although Rapunzel and Mathena know a great deal of genuine magic, much of their knowledge is simply an understanding of the earth and of the uses of nature. Why do you think this is associated with witchcraft? Recall some of the magical elements in the novel and their relationship to Mathena (for example: the stag and the magic mirror).

10. Death and rebirth are important themes in the novel. Rapunzel herself says, “. . . out of death comes life. Always.” What do you think this means in the context of the novel? Do you think this is also true of the world in which we live?

11. The conflict between religion and magic is one of the central issues of the story. Why do you think the church is so opposed to witches like Mathena? Why is everyone at the palace suspicious of Rapunzel, when (at least at first) she is helpful and kind?

12. Rapunzel’s magic mirror is what ultimately pushes her to attempt to have Snow White killed. Is the mirror evil and corrupting, or is it only a scapegoat for Rapunzel’s jealousy? Why?

13. Like many fairy tales, The Fairest of Them All is largely about love, true love, lust, and infatuation. Unlike most fairy tales, it is also a story about heartbreak, loss, and violence. What do you think about the book’s take on love and infatuation? How does the novel’s more realistic take on these themes impact the power of the fairy-tale elements?

14. The revelations at the end of the story are foreshadowed early on. Did you catch any of these subtle hints from the stories Mathena told Rapunzel? How did the ending affect the way you viewed the rest of the story? What about how you viewed Mathena?

ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB

1. Do some research on the original Brothers Grimm stories of Snow White and Rapunzel. You can find them here: http://www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales/Grimm_fairy_tales.html. Are they the same as you remember? How does reading the originals change your interpretation of The Fairest of Them All?

2. Write your own fairy tales! Using existing tales as a starting point, or starting completely fresh, come up with a brand-new story to share with your group.

3. Have a movie night with your book club! There are many great movie adaptations of classic fairy tales. If you like animated movies, try the Disney version of Rapunzel, Tangled, or go classic with the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. If you’re in the mood for something different, try Mirror Mirror or Snow White and the Huntsman, two recent adaptations with a creative take on the story.

A CONVERSATION WITH CAROLYN TURGEON

Have you always been interested in fairy tales, or did you come to them after becoming a writer? How did you come up with the idea to combine Snow White and Rapunzel?

I actually have always loved fairy tales, their combination of light and dark, the glitter and shimmer along with all that hatred and jealousy and eating of hearts! That’s kind of my aesthetic generally, beauty and darkness mixed together. My biggest literary influence was magic realism, though; I read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez as a teenager and that very much influenced the kind of writing I wanted to do. I came to fairy tales with my second book, Godmother, mainly because my first had been so hard to plot and figure out, and I thought it’d be so cool to go into a known story like Cinderella and bring it to life, with all the weird psychology that you know has to accompany things like being a fairy godmother or having a prince come to the rescue when you’ve been abused and alone for so long. And I’ve written three more since then! I like how much you can explore through them, using these archetypal female characters.

The Fairest of Them All is the first time I’ve taken two well-known fairy tales and combined them. I guess I was thinking about all those gorgeous, damaged young women in fairy tales who end up