If I Told You Once: Amazon.co.uk: Judy Budnitz: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

In If I Told You Once, Judy Budnitz weaves all the elements of classic storytelling into a novel that is dark and delicious. The novel tells the story of four generations of women, Ilana, Sashie, Mara and Nomie. Ilana starts their story by describing her life in an Eastern European village "where someone had forgotten to use colour". It may be a grey place but it is full of magical adventure and terror. Timber wolves roam, handsome captains tempt young girls and forest spirits fall in love with mortal women and bring "a crown of hemlock and mistletoe, a wedding veil of spider webs" and a rough tongue "that nudged its way up her legs, creeping upward to help itself to the thing she was saving for her future husband" as bridal gifts. Even when Ilana leaves her village for shiny America, the forest and its dark magic come too. Her daughter Sashie is entranced by movie stars and ashy cleanliness. Sashie's daughter grows as bitter and twisted as an ingrown hair from jealousy and it is Nomie, the great-granddaughter, that must try to become a conduit between the past and the future, a living bridge of hope.

While writers such as Perrault and the Brothers Grimm gave us such tasty morsels as Sleeping Beauty, Red Riding Hood and Bluebeard, contemporary authors such as Angela Carter, Carol Ann Duffy and Margaret Atwood have had other uses for enchantment--subversive, sly and wickedly witty usages. Fairy tales are so alluring because they are food and drink to the imagination and the spirit--"the meat of the tongue"--as Marina Warner so enticingly describes in From the Beast to the Blonde. Startling, seductive and unsettling, Budnitz has created a magically modern tale. --Eithne Farry --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Amazon.co.uk Review

In If I Told You Once, Judy Budnitz weaves all the elements of classic storytelling into a novel that is dark and delicious. The novel tells the story of four generations of women, Ilana, Sashie, Mara and Nomie. Ilana starts their story by describing her life in an Eastern European village "where someone had forgotten to use colour." It may be a grey place but it is full of magical adventure and terror. Timber wolves roam, handsome captains tempt young girls and forest spirits fall in love with mortal women and bring "a crown of hemlock and mistletoe, a wedding veil of spider webs" and a rough tongue "that nudged its way up her legs, creeping upward to help itself to the thing she was saving for her future husband" as bridal gifts. Even when Ilana leaves her village for shiny America, the forest and its dark magic come too. Her daughter Sashie is entranced by movie stars and ashy cleanliness. Sashie's daughter grows as bitter and twisted as an ingrown hair from jealousy and it is Nomie, the great-granddaughter, that must try and become a conduit between the past and the future, a living bridge of hope.

While writers like Perrault and the Brothers Grimm gave us such tasty morsels as Sleeping Beauty, Red Riding Hood and Bluebeard, contemporary authors like Angela Carter, Caroline Duffy and Margaret Atwood have had other uses for enchantment--subversive, sly and wickedly witty usages. Fairy tales are so alluring because they are food and drink to the imagination and the spirit--"the meat of the tongue"--as Marina Warner so enicingly describes in From the Beast to the Blonde. Startling, seductive and unsettling, Budnitz has created a magically modern tale. --Eithne Farry

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

spellbinding 20 Jan 2003

By rtaylor

Format:Paperback

This text is completely magical. The author has managed to create a tale where it seems that everything is possible, and the fairytale transfers from the more traditional setting of an unspecific 'old country' to a contemporary America, and, disquietingly, doesn't lose any of its unsettling magic. This contrasts with a story which is, from the beginning, concentrated on mother/daughter relationships, and Budnitz weaves a sticky web of attraction and repulsion. Other reviewers have commented that the book is depressing. To me, this is part and parcel of the fatalistic sense of the book, which is quite uncomfortable but which says something fundamental about the mother/daughter relationship. If you feel starved of quality after too many junk food novels, the prose refreshes and illuminates.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Picked it up at random 25 Oct 2004

By "esinednavlod"

I bought this book totally at random, I'd never heard of the author before! I really think this is an amazing book, it's so weird and wonderful. I love fairy tales and grimms tales and this is like one long grimms tale. It's very dark and deep but at the same time has a lot of things that are true about life weaved into it. I can't wait to read Judith's new book. Seriously, you should try this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Incredible, unique family saga and fairytale 4 Mar 2004

By Mrs. A. C. Whiteley VINE™ VOICE

What an extraordinary novel this is. It is the story of four generations of women: Ilana, Sashie (Shirley), Mara and Nomi (Naomi) and told from each of their differing points of view.

The saga begins with the birth of Ilana in a remote, unnamed eastern European village. Snow-covered for most of the year, there is little colour there and life for most consists of hard work and poverty. However, magic and wonder also characterize this little place, as it is peopled by an eccentric cast of vibrant characters. Elements of all the old traditional tales are here: Ilana’s brother Ari, who, with his simple ways, downy coating of hair and taste for raw meat appears to be not entirely human, three idiosyncratic old crones, herbal remedies and potions, magic, luck and curses.

One day, while gathering mushrooms in the wood for her mother, Ilana meets one of the bandits who terrorize the village. In exchange for one of these mushrooms, he give her a wondrous multi-coloured stone egg. The city depicted inside sparks Ilana’s imagination, and soon she sets off to find her fortune in this dazzling metropolis. Little, however, does she know where her quest will take her……

There is so much to be garnered from this rich, absorbing novel, it is difficult to know where to begin. It deals with such grand themes as childhood, motherhood, family, culture and culture shock, genetic heritage, the nature of truth, coming to terms with one’s self and one’s identity and much, much more. One feels as if it is an epic, despite its moderate length, such is its scope both of time and human experience. There is truly a magical quality to this book – the prose is simple but lyrical and full of arresting images. Judy Budnitz is a very gifted writer and here she has created an absolute treasure, much like that sparkling egg, which you will, I’m sure, cherish for ever.