Dark Shimmer, Donna Jo Napoli‘s newest reworked fairy tale, set in medieval Laguna Veneta, Italy, is the story of Snow White’s stepmother and how she came to be evil enough to attempt murder four times. Named Docle (Sweet) in this story, we learn everything, her up-bringing as an outcast, her relationship to her own mother, her obsession with mirrors and her complicated psyche that includes both good and evil intentions.
Bianca, the Snow White character, is less of a focus, but we still find out about the reason she ends up with seven dwarfs, the reason her coffin is glass and how she ends up with a prince (in this version, she knows him, so it’s not some stranger who “loves” her for her beauty alone).
The story starts quiet, and slowly builds and builds and builds to a complete and satisfying fairy tale, expecially if you’ve read many of the older Snow White versions.
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