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Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins | 
 enlarge | Author: Emma Donoghue
Publisher: HarperTeen
Category: Book
List Price: $11.99
Buy New: $4.85
You Save: $7.14 (60%)
New (30) Used (27) Collectible (1) from $1.92
Avg. Customer Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 37902
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 4.7 x 0.7
ISBN: 0064407721
EAN: 9780064407724
ASIN: 0064407721
Publication Date: April 30, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
At age 28 Emma Donoghue is already a marvel. The author of two critically acclaimed novels, a fascinating work of lesbian history, and a series of successful stage plays, Donoghue can apparently do anything. With Kissing the Witch, a collection of revisionist fairy tales, she has proven once again that she is a great writer. In these 13 interconnected tales she finds new meanings in old stories: Cinderella runs off with her fairy godmother, Snow White's awakening is more erotic than romantic, and Rapunzel discovers that her freedom, although not her salvation, is in her hair. Donoghue writes about women, some lesbians and some not, and makes them the center of her fantastical world. The bold, daring boys of the Grimm tales are not here, but in their place are vibrant, knowing, and brave women and girls who are finding out what the world holds for them.
Product Description
Thirteen tales are unspun from the deeply familiar, and woven anew into a collection of fairy tales that wind back through time. Acclaimed Irish author Emma Donoghue reveals heroines young and old in unexpected alliances--sometimes treacherous, sometimes erotic, but always courageous. Told with luminous voices that shimmer with sensuality and truth, these age-old characters shed their antiquated cloaks to travel a seductive new landscape, radiantly transformed.Cinderella forsakes the handsome prince and runs off with the fairy godmother; Beauty discovers the Beast behind the mask is not so very different from the face she sees in the mirror; Snow White is awakened from slumber by the bittersweet fruit of an unnamed desire. Acclaimed writer Emma Donoghue spins new tales out of old in a magical web of thirteen interconnected stories about power and transformation and choosing one's own path in the world. In these fairy tales, women young and old tell their own stories of love and hate, honor and revenge, passion and deception. Using the intricate patterns and oral rhythms of traditional fairy tales, Emma Donoghue wraps age-old characters in a dazzling new skin. 2000 List of Popular Paperbacks for YA
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| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 Bright, Refreshing, and Perfect. January 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Kissing the Witch is an amazing book. Not just because of the subjects explored, but because every story tells another secret that every girl should be told in life. Every deep, frightening secret you can't quite express for yourself is unfolded for you, taking you further and further through those pangs of love, loss, freedom, and excitement.
It is a liberating, invigorating book, and I hope to share it with all of the strong, wonderful people in my life.
 An Enchanting Read! November 3, 2007
Kissing the Witch is billed as a collection of "revisionist" fairy tales and I'd say that is pretty accurate. Donoghue gives the reader 13 interconnected stores based on classic fairy stories (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, etc.), with a lesbian twist to each story. I actually didn't know this when I ordered it (it was recommend to me because I love fairy tale retellings). I particularly liked the way each story led into the next...each with a little poem or ditty that provides some clues to what story you are about to read and gives an glimpse into the woman and who or what she was before the current story and how she got to where she is now! It's a really nice touch to the retelling of these stories! Besides...who wouldn't love to read a version of Cinderella where she runs off her fairy godmother at the close of the story? I have to admit, I was a bit concerned when I found out that this book had "lesbian leanings," but as it runs out, there was no reason to worry at all. The stories are well written, simple clean prose with a dark-erotic tinge, but very little that is overtly sexual and certainly not anything that is vulgar.
It's billed as a young adult selection, but I definitely think Kissing the Witch has broader appeal than that...after all, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm 36! Kissing the Witch would make a fine discussion book selection, especially for young women (or young people) dealing with their emerging sexuality...though again, being geared toward the YA audience shouldn't limit this book as I think adults and especially those who enjoy fairy tale retellings would get a kick out of discussing the stories here with a group, comparing and contrasting to others in this book and to other retellings as well as taking this ripe opportunity to discuss the books message about cultural expectations of women and sexuality. That would be marvelous! This is definitely a keeper and I give it four stars and a round of applause, I'd recommend this in a heartbeat!
What a gem! December 4, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love different takes on familiar stories, and am esp enchanted by changes in fairy tales. Of all of the stories I've read, I think this collection is the finest. For one thing, Donoghue's writing style is the same with short stories as it is with her novels - readable storytelling with compelling characters. In this set of stories, she takes fairytales and has one charcter from each form the start of the next story. Some of the tales twist and spin like so much twine, and sometimes you wonder where the knots will come in - but they don't. Her stories are seamless, and don't miss a beat from one to another. And the characters she writes are so much more interesting then the ones in real fairy tales! The only quibble I have is that I wish it was longer, but thats the style of her writing - she is sparse, saying what needs to be said. And in fairytales, thats all you really need.
For readers who love fairy tale re-tellings September 7, 2006
This is a wonderfully imaginative re-telling of mostly familiar fairy tales each of which are linked to the next. Each tale tells of the liberation of its female character. It will especially appeal to women who read the traditional tales as girls and long for new endings. Emma Donoghue is a talented, witty and entertaining writer. I hope she does more of this kind of thing!
 Intriguing, but I admit to reservations April 14, 2006
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
Virtually all the other reviewers have commented on the books wonderful and novel takes on these stories. And they are actually, quite interesting. And there are some amusing references to recent popular retellings of the tales -- the witch in the version of the Little Mermaid is rumored to be "an octopus below the waist." Sound familiar?
But I have to admit to some problems. One of them might be my own unfamiliarity with some of the stories -- I can't figure out, exactly, what fairy tale "The Tale of the Bird" is supposed to be, for example. Also, while the linkage of the stories is interesting, some of them defy easy understanding; I find myself wondering how, exactly, Rapunzel became the horse in the story of the Goose Girl, to say nothing of how the Little Mermaid turns into a version of the bad fairy in Sleeping Beauty. Which in and of itself begs the question, in a collection of stories that includes a talking horse's skull, why does the author feel the need to demystify the Little Mermaid into a fisherman's daughter?
And ultimately, I feel like I've read half a book. The nested structure only takes us to the point where one of the characters asks another for her story, without explaining what then happened to the first character to bring her into the story where she was asked, and so on, and so forth. (I think I'm probably not being as clear as I could be, but so it goes.)
Still, this is an excellent and subversive retelling of stories that probably could stand a bit of subverting; I wish that I could like it better than I do.
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