The Folktale/Fairytale Shelf

The Regal Pink
Jenny Knipfer
Independently Published
https://jennyknipfer.com/the-regal-pink
9781737957522, $2.99 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Regal-Pink-Retold-Fairy-Tales-ebook/dp/B0BV46KRVS

The Regal Pink is the first book in a series of retold fairy tales, and tac= kles a Grimm classic in a story that will especially appeal to females, fro=
m young adults through adults. The opening prologue comes from Diana, who e= xpresses the pain of being a fairy "betwixt and between" human and fae worl= ds. Charged with being human for a period of time, Diana feels trapped. The=
first chapter opens in 1451 with Daniel, who has just had a terrible dream=
about Diana (the magical friend he loves) killing him. Is it a premonition=
of the future? He has created Diana from his dreams and his power, so why = would she hurt him?

As time passes, Daniel and Diana grow up to adulthood, but retain their pow= ers and their mysteries. Daniel's biggest wish is to move into a different = life. Be careful what you wish for - especially when your power is to grant=
wishes for others. Daniel learns this when the future introduces more tran= sformations that lie beyond his control: "Daniel discerned a change coming = and with it freedom from the slavery of wishing." Jenny Knipfer crafts a co= mpelling story of lives undone and redone in The Regal Pink. It is a story = with a lesson, much like the Grimm's original 'The Pink' (upon which it is = based); but it also brings with it the magic of evolving relationships, tra= nsformative processes, and the currents of friendships and love that drive = its characters to make extraordinary decisions, diverging from lives that a= lready reside a touch beyond the commonplace.

It's unusual to note that God does appear in what seems to be a fairy tale = retold, but is represented as The Light. This makes the story accessible to=
a broader audience than myth-seekers alone. A host of characters entwine i=
n Diana and Daniel's world, from spies who breach castle walls to Roderick,=
whose father teaches him that "...the power of the natural realm, along wi=
th the spiritual, was The Light's to command and that mankind were mere ste= wards of that power." And yet, he and his wife Rosalind are assured of a ch= ild and an heir through magical dreams and heavenly processes that he accep=
ts on some level and rejects on others.

The story shifts between the first-person perspective of Diana and the thir= d-person narration of events that entangle the lives of Diana, Daniel, Rode= rick, Marcus, and others in the kingdom. The result is a heady blend of mag= ical realism, myth, and references to God's force in the world that involve=
s readers in a complex, appealing new version of Grimm's original 'The Pink=
'. The Regal Pink is recommended as a stand-alone choice for fantasy reader=
s, but, ideally, it will be read in conjunction with the original tale and = utilized in creative writing courses interesting in highlighting various te= chniques for recrafting traditional fairy tales in new ways. This audience,=
as well as libraries looking for revised fairy stories, will find Jenny Kn= ipfer's first book in a projected series to be thoroughly engrossing, stret= ching the hallmarks and boundaries of the fairy tale in new and satisfyingl=
y unexpected ways.

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