Bitter Greens

by Kate Forsyth
Forsyth, Kate, Bitter greens, North Sydney : Vintage Books Australia, 2012.
Paperback, 554 pages. (Source Hurstville Library Catalogue)

   

Australian author Kate Forsyth expertly reinvents the Rapunzel fairy tale for the adult reader. This compelling story of desire, black magic and love interweaves the true-life story of 17th century French novelist Charlotte-Rose de la Force (original teller of the tale) with two richly imagined stories. Charlotte-Rose is banished from the court of Versailles by King Louis XIV after a series of scandalous love affairs. An old nun comforts her with a hundred-year-old tale of a young girl (Margherita) who is sold by her parents to courtesan Selena Leonelli for a handful of bitter greens. In Renaissance Venice, Selena retains her youth and beauty with the blood of young red-haired girls. She weaves Margherita’s hair with the locks of all the girls before her and locks her in a tower. Full of lush, evocative descriptions, “this is historical fiction at its finest” (Library Journal).

    

About the Author

http://www.kateforsyth.com.au/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16143.Kate_Forsyth