Ash (Malinda Lo)

Author Biography:
Malinda Lo has written four LGBTQ-themed novels for young adults and is the former managing editor of AfterEllen.com, the largest entertainment news website for lesbians and bisexual women.

Published By: Little Brown and Co.

Year: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-316-04009-9

Reading Level: Grades 8 and up

Reader’s Annotation:

In this unique “Cinderella” retelling, Ash longs to escape from her stepmother’s house into the fairy world. Until she meets Kaisa, who gives her life new purpose and teaches her what it means to love.

Plot Summary:

Aisling, nicknamed Ash, lives an idyllic life in the village of Rook Hill, until her mother’s death. Her father remarries, but then dies as well, leaving Ash at the mercy of her cruel stepmother Lady Isobel and stepsisters Ana and Clara. Dressed in rags and forced to work like a servant, Ash has only two consolations: her beloved books of fairy-tales and her walks through the Wood, where magic survives despite the encroaching of philosophers and churches. There she meets Sidhean, a fairy man, who becomes her only friend.

But then she finds another friend. Kaisa, the King’s Huntress. Stealing brief hours in her stepfamily’s absence, they bond over shared stories and horseback riding lessons. When Kaisa invites Ash to the royal hunt, Ash asks Sidhean to help her attend. He consents on one condition: that she become his bride. Can Ash bring herself to pay that debt, particularly as her feelings for Kaisa grow?

Critical Evaluation:

When I found this book, I was instantly intrigued by the concept of a lesbian “Cinderella” retelling. It didn’t disappoint me. Don’t be fooled by the eerie cover photo or the suggestive “It’s not the fairy tale you remember” tagline. Malinda Lo handles the concept with beauty and grace, not aiming to write an “adult” or “sexy” retelling, but simply offering a fairy tale, full of old-fashioned enchantment a la the early works of Robin McKinley, in which the heroine’s love interest just happens to be another girl. Nor is the fact that they’re both female a source of angst. The story’s fantasy world lacks any stigma against same-sex romance. This normalization of LGBTQ characters should be very refreshing to young LGBTQ readers and help to encourage such normalization in the real world. In addition to its main twist, the book includes various other engrossing themes too: namely the conflict between the old matriarchal world of magic and the current patriarchal world of science and religion, and the ethereal, morally ambiguous world of the fairies. Ash initially dreams of escaping to the fairy realm like a storybook heroine (and perhaps going beyond it to the afterlife to join her mother), but ultimately her love for Kaisa makes her earthly life worth living.

If this book has any major flaw, it’s the short length, which lets no character apart from Ash be very well developed. The character of “fairy godfather” Sidhean is a particular letdown. With his half-helper, half-antagonist role and his unrequited love for Ash, he could have been a compelling, tortured Phantom of the Opera-type figure, but the potential goes nowhere. The ending is also fairly abrupt and short on climactic effect. Still, the novel’s dark-gossamer atmosphere of magic and its heartwarming central love story make it an excellent choice for teenage fairy tale lovers, particularly those on the LGBTQ spectrum.

Curriculum Ties:

•Fairy-tale retellings

•LGBTQ themes

Challenge Issues:

•Mild profanity

•LGBTQ themes

•Child abuse

Why This Book?

Young gays and lesbians deserve fairy-tale love stories that reflect their lives without adding excessive angst or erotica. While not perfect, Ash is still a beautiful book that will mean the world to many young readers.