The Restless Girls: A dazzling, feminist fairytale from the author of The Miniaturist - Hardcover

Burton, Jessie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 140888691X ISBN 13: 9781408886915

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2018

Synopsis

A dazzling, feminist fairytale from the bestselling author of The Miniaturist and The Muse. An essential gift, this inspirational story about family, sisterhood, imagination and bravery is a modern classic to be handed down from mother to daughter for generations

'A fierce fairytale for the rebel girl' KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE
'A complete revelation' THANDIE NEWTON
'A magical modern retelling of an old fairytale ... Exquisite' JACQUELINE WILSON
'Wild, wise, generous, ferocious' KATHERINE RUNDELL

For her twelve daughters, Queen Laurelia's death in a motor car accident is a disaster beyond losing a mother. Their father, King Alberto, cannot bear the idea of the princesses ever being in danger and decides his daughters must be kept safe at all costs. Those costs include their lessons, their possessions and, most importantly, their freedom.

But the eldest, Princess Frida, will not bend to his will without a fight and she still has one possession her father can't take: the power of her imagination. And so, with little but wits and ingenuity to rely on, Frida and her sisters begin their fight to be allowed to live.

About this title

Review

A magical modern retelling of an old fairytale - the exquisite text and illustrations work in perfect harmony (Jacqueline Wilson)

It's critical what we read our kids ... Jessie Burton has very cleverly has taken a fairytale that was already standing and loved, but has reframed it. It's asking you to think of yourself and value yourself in terms other than the way you look, and just that - that one tiny aspect of the book - alone, was, to me, just a complete revelation (Thandie Newton)

The Restless Girls is wild, wise, generous, ferocious kind of story. It's a tale to read to your children (of both genders) over and over, and for them to read to theirs. It's a book that glows (Katherine Rundell, author of The Explorer)

A beautifully realised, whirling adventure full of the dark glitter of growing up, The Restless Girls is a fierce fairytale for the rebel girl - and boy - generation (Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink & Stars)

A story of love, loss, grief, and a desperate yearning for freedom, told with breathtaking compassion and wisdom (Louise O’Neill, author of The Surface Breaks)

[Burton] fleshes out this traditional fairytale with personality ... Angela Barrett's illustrations, meanwhile, add an exotic visual richness to Burton's painterly descriptions of the princesses' enchanted underworld (Irish Times)

A riveting feminist retelling, filled with excitement, imagination, magic, and just the right touch of darkness. These twelve fierce heroines will be a pleasure to return to again and again (Madeline Miller)

This re-telling was refreshing and empowering and utterly impossible to put down . An exciting and magical tale of joy, love and the courage of twelve girls to be wholly themselves (Dr. Alaa Murabit)

A feminist fairytale about finding one's inner lioness and about picking a battle very much worth fighting .This brilliant reimagining of Grimms' tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses completely subverts the fairytale genre. Gone are insipid, demure 'weaker sex' princessy-princesses and enter feisty and passionate girls who trail-blaze their way into a better life ... This would be perfect for children in upper key stage 2 and would work well alongside our sequences for The Sleeper and The Spindle, The Lost Happy Endings and The Princess' Blankets (The Literary Curriculum)

Book Description

A dazzling, feminist fairytale from the bestselling author of The Miniaturist and The Muse. An essential gift, this inspirational story is a modern classic to be handed down from mother to daughter for generations

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 140888691X
• ISBN 13: 9781408886915
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160
• Illustrator: Barrett Angela