A New Classic Fairy Tale
Welcome to Saturday’s Child my Fellow Book Dragons! Today’s Gem is a red Jade flute carved in the shape of a dragonfly. How lovely and sweetly it plays, how delicately it balances on the claw. The Gem Carver is Julie C. Dao and she has created a Tale of Beauty.
This is a beautiful fairy tale. Once upon a time there was an orphan named Bao, who was apprenticed to a great physician. He was allowed to live with the family, which included his wife and son, a young man named Tam, and eat scraps, wear cast off clothes and learn all he could to heal others. His heart was full of mercy and compassion for the sick and also full of love for a girl of nobility and great beauty.
Lan was this girl of great beauty and kindness. She loved her betrothed, the young man named Tam. She had symbolically given him her heart and waited at her window each night for a year, listening to him come to the river near her window, playing love songs on his flute. He would never set a date for their wedding and this she attributed to his shyness and his hard work to make them a good life.
But one day, as happens in fairy tales, Lan found out that is was not her betrothed who played for her but Bao. In a fury, she denounced both Tam and Bao. She disgraced Bao and he left in shame and anger. In his deep anger, he decided to call on a witch to take Lan’s memory away and start over, but, as witch’s often do, this one decided to be rather a hindrance instead of a help and placed a curse upon the already miserable Bao. A curse that only true love can break. And it must be done in a fortnight. Can Bao break the curse and return to human form? Can Lan make amends for the hateful things she has done? You must read this book to find out.
I really liked this book. It reminded me of those I knew long ago, who became the fodder for Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and so many others. I miss those days. The imagery in this tale is beautiful. The story line and concept are very good. I wish I could have read the precursor before having read this one. I am definitely going to look into Ms. Dao’s others books! I truly loved Bao, Lan and the people in the village. I wish I could have read more of the battle scene that was discussed but not described. There was blood magic and it would have been nice to see that expanded on as well.
This was a fantastic lot of fun and I do hope you will look into getting it for your nestlings. It is for ages 12 and up. It was perfectly appropriate for that age category, but I am long past that and enjoyed it immensely!
Until tomorrow, I remain, your humble Book Dragon, Drakon T. Longwitten
I received a copy of this book from a Philomel Books via Bookish First in exchange for an honest review.
This is a beautiful fairy tale. Once upon a time there was an orphan named Bao, who was apprenticed to a great physician. He was allowed to live with the family, which included his wife and son, a young man named Tam, and eat scraps, wear cast off clothes and learn all he could to heal others. His heart was full of mercy and compassion for the sick and also full of love for a girl of nobility and great beauty.
Lan was this girl of great beauty and kindness. She loved her betrothed, the young man named Tam. She had symbolically given him her heart and waited at her window each night for a year, listening to him come to the river near her window, playing love songs on his flute. He would never set a date for their wedding and this she attributed to his shyness and his hard work to make them a good life.
But one day, as happens in fairy tales, Lan found out that is was not her betrothed who played for her but Bao. In a fury, she denounced both Tam and Bao. She disgraced Bao and he left in shame and anger. In his deep anger, he decided to call on a witch to take Lan’s memory away and start over, but, as witch’s often do, this one decided to be rather a hindrance instead of a help and placed a curse upon the already miserable Bao. A curse that only true love can break. And it must be done in a fortnight. Can Bao break the curse and return to human form? Can Lan make amends for the hateful things she has done? You must read this book to find out.
I really liked this book. It reminded me of those I knew long ago, who became the fodder for Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and so many others. I miss those days. The imagery in this tale is beautiful. The story line and concept are very good. I wish I could have read the precursor before having read this one. I am definitely going to look into Ms. Dao’s others books! I truly loved Bao, Lan and the people in the village. I wish I could have read more of the battle scene that was discussed but not described. There was blood magic and it would have been nice to see that expanded on as well.
This was a fantastic lot of fun and I do hope you will look into getting it for your nestlings. It is for ages 12 and up. It was perfectly appropriate for that age category, but I am long past that and enjoyed it immensely!
Until tomorrow, I remain, your humble Book Dragon, Drakon T. Longwitten
I received a copy of this book from a Philomel Books via Bookish First in exchange for an honest review.