- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (1 Dec 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 006039384X
- ISBN-13: 978-0060393847
- Product Dimensions: 24.6 x 15.7 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,193,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Mirror Mirror
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Product Description
Review
"A brilliant achievement."--Boston Herald
Product Description
A lyrical work of stunning creative vision, "Mirror Mirror" is set in Renaissance Italy, where Gregory Maguire draws a connection between the poison apple in the original Snow White story and the Borgia family's well-known appetite for poisoning its foes.
In "Mirror Mirror" Snow White is called Bianca de Nevada. She is born on a farm in Tuscany in 1495, and when she is seven, her father is ordered by the duplicitous Cesare Borgia to go on a quest to reclaim the relic of the original Tree of Knowledge, a branch bearing three living apples that are thousands of years old. Bianca is left in the care of her father's farm staff and the beautiful--and madly vain--Lucrecia Borgia, Cesare's sister. But Lucrecia becomes jealous of her lecherous brother's interest in the growing child and plots a dire fate for Bianca in the woods below the farm. There Bianca finds herself in the home of seven dwarves--the creators of the magic mirror--who await the return of their brother, the eighth dwarf, long gone on a quest of his own.
In the evocative style of Maguire's earlier novels, "Mirror Mirror" is a fresh, compelling take on a beloved classic tale.
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First Sentence
"FROM THE arable river lands to the south, the approach to Montefiore appears a sequence of relaxed hills." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
"FROM THE arable river lands to the south, the approach to Montefiore appears a sequence of relaxed hills." Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In early sixteenth century Italy, seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives happily with her widowed father. But when a caravan arrives at her home in Montefiore, bearing the famous Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia, her life is turned upside down. Her father sent away, Bianca is left in the hands of Lucrezia, who plans the girl's murder. Escaping into the woods, Bianca soon discovers a group of seven magical dwarfs...
I am rather of two minds with this book. On the one hand, the author does an excellent job of retelling the story of Snow White, placing it in Renaissance Italy, peopled with fascinating characters. On the other hand, the story starts out slow, and never seems to pick up the pace. Indeed, the story seems to drag along from start to end as if the author had a great idea for a story, but couldn't think up all of the details it needed. He obviously knows a great deal about Renaissance Italy, but he cannot combine the two elements of his story into the really fascinating story that it should be.
Overall, I found the book to be good, at times even very good, but it is not the great story it should be. I give it a guarded recommendation.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love Gregory McGuire and Confessions of An Ugly Stepsister is one of my favourites. Mirror Mirror just isn't in the same league though. At points there are hints of his potential, but often it just doesn't flow and the idea of entiwining the Snow White story with the historical Borgia's is clunky; the metaphors either a little obtuse or way too obvious. Disappointing.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Gregory Maguire continues too impress me with this retelling of Snow White.
He has cast the tale in the scenario of a political backwater in Renaissance Italy as the daughter of a minor nobleman comes within the sphere of influence of one of the most reviled women of the period, Lucretia Borgia.
It doesn't take much to guess who the wicked stepmother figure is going to be, but don't expect the details of this story to follow the fairy tale exactly. The dwarves are particularly interesting in their origins and how they develop. I think their names in here should supplant the horrible Disney ones that have been forced on our culture.
The characters are all finely drawn and sympathetic - even the indolent Borgias are painted with a full pallet of colours, not just the blacks and greys that many villains receive.
He has cast the tale in the scenario of a political backwater in Renaissance Italy as the daughter of a minor nobleman comes within the sphere of influence of one of the most reviled women of the period, Lucretia Borgia.
It doesn't take much to guess who the wicked stepmother figure is going to be, but don't expect the details of this story to follow the fairy tale exactly. The dwarves are particularly interesting in their origins and how they develop. I think their names in here should supplant the horrible Disney ones that have been forced on our culture.
The characters are all finely drawn and sympathetic - even the indolent Borgias are painted with a full pallet of colours, not just the blacks and greys that many villains receive.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A twist in a tale (FYI bears no relation to forthcoming movie)
Gregory Maguire is Wicked. Literally. He is the author of the novel Wicked, a re-imagining of the Wizard Of Oz story told from the perspective of Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. A. Davison
Maguire does what he does best
Gregory Maguire is possibly most famous for being the author of Wicked, the show that has taken the world by storm, and his fiction in general is all from the same genesis of this... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mr. J. Claridge
Mirror, Mirror
This is the first Gregory Maguire book that i have read. I had high expectations when reading this book and I felt disappointed most of the time. Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2009 by Harryy
Interesting, confusing and boring.
The idea of basing this story on real people is a great idea but the slowness and the way the dwarfs were described really confused me and I didn't like that idea at all. Read more
Published on 26 May 2008 by Philip Thompson
1 Star for Originality!
I bought this book with high expectations of a wonderful,modern retelling of a traditional fairytale, however all I got was a disapointment. Read more
Published on 17 July 2006 by Mr. N. Wilson
Murder and Magic
Quite simply this is a wonderful book. I particularly like the way it makes you feel sympathetic to even the more immoral characters. Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2005 by "halfgirlhalfmagpie"
brilliant stuff
i just love these books, i think this is one of his best i really couldnt put it down, he has such a wonderful imagination and the way he combines fairy tales and history and makes... Read more
Published on 16 Jun 2005 by Andrea Steele Wiliams
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