Spindle's End (Robin McKinley)

Author Biography

Robin McKinley has won multiple awards for her young adult fantasy novels, including the 1985 Newbery Medal for The Hero and the Crown. She lives in Hampshire, England.

Published By: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers

Year: 2000

ISBN: 978-0-698-11950-5

Reading Level: Grades 10 and up

Reader’s Annotation:

In this imaginative retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,” a cursed princess is raised as a peasant by fairies to protect her. But the fate decreed at her birth can’t be altered… or can it?

Plot Summary:

When Princess Casta Albinia Allegra Dove Minerva Fidelia Aletta Blythe Domina Delicia Aurelia Grace Isabel Griselda Gwyneth Pearl Ruby Coral Lily Iris Briar-Rose is born, the king and queen invite guests from far and wide to celebrate. They take special care to invite fairies, who can give their daughter magical gifts and protect her from the mischievous magic that permeates the air. Katriona, a young peasant fairy, represents her village of Foggy Bottom at the palace. But festivity turns to horror when the evil fairy Pernicia proclaims that before her twenty-first birthday, the princess will prick her finger on a spindle and die. Desperate to save her, Katriona spirits the baby princess away to Foggy Bottom, where she and her aunt nickname her “Rosie” and raise her as their own.

As twenty-one years pass, Rosie grows to be just as golden-haired and sweet-voiced as the fairies decreed… and into a lanky, headstrong tomboy who works as a horse doctor for the blacksmith Narl. No one is more surprised than Rosie when beautiful, ladylike village girl Peony becomes her inseparable friend. But her world is shattered when, on the ever of her birthday, she learns her true identity and the danger she faces. But Peony and the fairies devise a protective trick. If a girl other than Rosie touches Pernicia’s enchanted spindle, she won’t die, but merely fall into a deep sleep…

Critical Evaluation:

Robin McKinley once again infuses an old fairy tale with fresh new magic and feminism in this creative spin on “Sleeping Beauty.” Surprisingly, she draws more on the Disney film than on the original tale, having the princess raised as a peasant by the fairies and reducing the enchanted sleep from a hundred years to the length of an epic battle between those still awake and the villainous fairy. But never once is this book a mere Disney imitation. Set in an engrossing, original fantasy world where magic is a sentient, mischievous dust-like substance that permeates the air, and fairies are simply humans who can manipulate it, this retelling has all the charms of a traditional fairy-tale, yet constantly subverts expectations, especially regarding gender roles. Not only is the princess, Rosie, a robust, proudly intelligent tomboy (a standard McKinley heroine, but excellently written), she ultimately escapes her curse thanks to her friend Peony’s self-sacrifice. Then she takes on the role usually played by the prince, using her wits, iron will, and ability to talk to animals (a fairy-gift) to fight Pernicia and rescue the sleeping beauty.

Admittedly, the book has flaws. All the characters except Rosie are flat stock figures and the pacing is sometimes slow. There’s also some arguable queerbaiting. Rosie’s personality is thoroughly “butch” and her friendship with Peony is a romantic one, complete with “I love you”s and extensive “two halves of one soul” imagery. (Not to mention the story’s twist climax, which I suspect influenced Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent.) Yet both end up with male lovers. If only this were a more recent work, perhaps McKinley would have dared to make the girls a couple. Still, that would have denied the book its bittersweet ending, which subverts still more expectations. All quibbles aside, Spindle’s End is a must for YA fantasy lovers, full of humor, suspense, poignancy and creative magic, and giving feminists a way to enjoy “Sleeping Beauty” without any reservations.

Curriculum Ties:

•Fairy tale retellings

•Fantasy worlds

•Feminism

Challenge Issues:

•Mild profanity

•Animal mating references

•Bodily function references

•Homoerotic subtext

•May-December romance

Why This Book?

With its freshness, humor, emotion, rich layers of feminism, and uniquely magical atmosphere, Spindle’s End is McKinley at her best. While not perfect, it's still a true “beauty” of a retelling.