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The legendary Grimm’s fairy tales are justly honored in author Jessica Day George’s very original lattice of fantasy, Princess of Glass. Many versions of tales such as The Little Cinder Girl, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and many more have been artfully presented in various cultures and media, renewing the magical wonderment for dawning generations.
As George elaborately braids the continuing stories of multiple famous fairy tales with hints of lesser-known ones - and throws in her own plot dependent on these other factors - simply put, what has the potential for disaster makes its mark as a masterpiece.
The royal exchange program has been implemented to fortify the weakened bonds of the allied nations. Long-held anger and animosity have slowly simmered down to distance and distrust amongst the various royal houses, and a level of peace and security must be reached. To accomplish this goal, the many royal heirs - male and female - will visit all the allied royals in the hopes of securing marital alliances and building friendships with future ruling allies.
Princess Poppy is one of those princesses… one of the cursed twelve. Being paraded from ball to ball isn't Poppy’s idea of fun, but meeting Prince Christian brings a zinging new thrill to her trip. Handsome, jovial, intelligent, and sophisticated without being snobby, this prince really is charming! Regardless, Poppy’s flirtations are genuinely innocent and not calculated for a husband hunt.
Prince Christian finds the intriguing and peculiar but beautiful Princess Poppy to be a rare flower in a garden of lovely women hoping to be his future queen. Her friendship soon proves as valuable to him as air, and the realization is startling.
Then there is the nameless beauty whose unexpected but most welcome arrival at the ball opens the floodgates of need and desire within him. Princess Poppy may have a special place in his heart, but Prince Christian is drowning in desire for the dazzling woman in glass slippers.
Eleanora is a servant in the home that Princess Poppy is visiting. Penniless and seemingly cursed to be a failure in all things, this daughter of a deceased noble longs for what should have been in her life. Magic fairy godmothers are every orphan’s dream; luckily for Eleanora, she soon finds out she has one.
With the dark might of the underworld weaving an impenetrable façade about her, Eleanora will soon find that her hopes for golden-fairy-tale-dreams-come-true are destined to end in eternity’s nightmares. The cunning giver of dark magic will require nothing less than her soul as payment for the few nights of good fortune.
Grimm’s Tales for the Young and Old is a great reference for those wanting to hunt down the various fairy tales played upon in Princess of Glass. George’s interwoven fairy tale theme also shares similarities to the phenomenal Hallmark film The Tenth Kingdom, an action-packed six-hour adventure through a world where fairy tales are real.
In addition to Princess of Glass, Jessica Day George has also recently published the companion novel entitled Princess of the Midnight Ball.
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Princess of Glass