My Favourite Things: Kate Forsyth
Kate is a best-selling, award winning Australian author of over twenty works for adults and children. Her most recent works of historical fiction weave together the stories of fairytales and their tellers. Today Kate shares with us some of her favourite things ...
Kate's favourite song:
Kate's favourite film:
:
'Funny Face' with Audrey Hepburn
Kate's favourite books. (She's a woman after my own heart: "I can't just pick one - here's
21")
Tracey Chevalier – Falling Angels
Sarah Dunant – In the Company of the Courtesan
Sebastian Faulks – Birdsong
Marina Fiorato – The Botticelli Secret
Ken Follett – The Pillars of the Earth
Anne Fortier - Juliet
Phillipa Gregory – The Queen's Fool
Kate Grenville –The Secret River
Joanne Harris – Five Quarters Of The Orange
Karen Maitland - Company of Liars
Juliet Marillier – Daughter of the Forest
Kate Morton – The Forgotten Garden
Kate Mosse – Sepulchre
Elle Newmark – The Book of Unholy Mischief
Iain Pears – An Instance of the Fingerpost
Mary Ann Schaffer – The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society
Susan Vreeland – Girl in Hyacinth Blue
Kim Wilkins – Angel Of Ruin
Carlos Ruiz Zafon – The Shadow of the Wind
Marcus Zusak – The Book Thief
Kate's recent books:
BITTER GREENS (2012) is an exquisite retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale, interwoven with the dramatic true life story of the woman who first told the tale. Charlotte-Rose de la Force, exiled from the court of King Louis XIV, has always been a great talker and teller of tales. Selena Leonelli, once the exquisite muse of the great Venetian artist Tiziano, is terrified of time. Margherita, trapped in a doorless tower and burdened by tangles of her red-gold hair, must find a way to escape. You may think you know the story of Rapunzel ...
I've just read this, and loved it. If you're a fan of Angela Carter's work, you'll enjoy this adult retelling of a well known fairytale, (Tangled, it's not). Weaving together historical fiction with fairytale is an original idea, and Kate has skilfully created a story that will appeal both to readers of histfic and fantasy. The female characters, Charlotte, Margherita and Selena, are powerful and well drawn - these are no damsels in distress. If you haven't read fairytales since you were a child, or you read them to your children, I recommend this story. It's a book to curl up with in front of the fire and lose yourself in. (And by the way, the hardback looks so beautiful I shall be backing up my Kindle version with the real deal - bravo to the publishers for an exquisite publication). It didn't surprise me to learn that Kate is undertaking a PhD in fairytale - her handling of the Rapunzel story has real strength and beauty. You can buy a copy here.
THE WILD GIRL (will be published in the UK July 2013)
Once there were six sisters. The pretty one, the musical one, the clever one, the helpful one, the young one...And then there was the wild one. Dortchen Wild has loved Wilhelm Grimm since she was a young girl. Under the forbidding shadow of her father, the pair meet secretly to piece together a magical fairy tale collection. The story behind the stories of the Brothers Grimm.
You can find out more about Kate Forsyth's work, and buy her books here: http://www.kateforsyth.com.au/
Thank you, Kate, and happy storytelling ...
