I’d wager that most of you reading this right now didn’t grow up in a castle or an enchanted forest. You never tricked a witch or giant, married a frog prince, or were trapped inside the body of a beast.
Yet you’re familiar with these stories — from another time, written or recorded on other continents, about woodcutters and goblins and queens — and how much they resonate. Not only because you grew up with Disney films and Golden Books, but because all true fairytales, at their core, are centered on relatable themes.
You may not be a mermaid, but you’ve likely experienced the angst of unrequited love. You’ve navigated coming of age, been treated unfairly by family members, fought as the underdog and won. If you strip away the outdated didactics and archaic settings, a timeless fairytale could be the story of your own life.
This is one of the reasons why fairytales will always fascinate readers. In my own latest novel, Terra Incognita, each character’s backstory is told as a fairytale or fable to both highlight their struggles and bring them into the broader themes of history and storytelling. And because readers can’t get enough, new fairytale retellings come out every year, whether the genre be literary or fantasy or horror.
From among these hundreds, I’ve chosen just a few novels to share with you, paired with their fairytale inspiration. This is by no means an exhaustive list and, for simplicity’s sake, I’ve left out books by authors who draw broadly from an array of sources. You’ll find even more retelling recommendations at the end of this post... but first, let me tell you about some of my favorites.
🍎 White as Snow: Tanith Lee’s retelling of Snow White
If ever a fairytale were told over and over, it’s the Grimm brothers’ tale of Snow White, the evil Queen, her magic mirror, a pack of kindly dwarves, and a prince who saves the day.
Whether you’re a fan of the charm and romance of the Disney film version, or prefer the classic tale wherein a random prince decides to take the dead girl back to his castle, the moral of the story is the same: bitter jealousy will come back to bite you (no apple pun intended). While not all fairytales necessarily have a comeuppance or end in happily-ever-after, Snow White checks all the boxes with our heroine finding true love — or at least a halfway decent marriage proposal — and the Queen exiting the stage in one brutal fashion or another.
Tanith Lee’s White as Snow doesn’t so much subvert these tropes, as many retellings do, but rather digs beneath them, unearthing a much darker side to the story. Lee doesn’t hold back from detailing the rape and necrophilia often alluded to in early versions of Snow White, but these inclusions shed light on the power dynamics working between Queen Arpazia and her unwanted daughter, Coira.
What I love most about White as Snow is not only how both main characters are troublesome and complicated, but how Lee clearly links the classic fairytale with the classical Greek myth of Persephone and Demeter, as well as even earlier pagan rites. Layer after layer of cultures and stories can be peeled back and explored — but there’s romance and intrigue as well, not to mention a very handsome dwarf and a fabulous glass dress to tie it all together.
❄️ The Snow Child: Eowyn Ivey’s retelling of The Snow Maiden
Many of the best fairytale adaptations shun the typical Dark Ages trappings, and The Snow Child might contain my favorite alternate setting. Its origin story, The Snow Maiden, is a Russian fairytale with quite a few variations — but at its heart is the short, simple story of a childless couple who make a doll out of snow. The doll comes to life, but unfortunately was never meant to be human and, either by love or misfortune, eventually melts away.
Ivey stays true to the basic premise of The Snow Maiden, but sets her novel in 1920s Alaska and focuses on the grief and infertility of the key couple, as well as their struggle against the dangerous frontier. The magic of the “snow child” takes a backseat to a very real exploration of mature love, marriage, and family… and once again, while it may be dark, this retelling is incredibly compelling in both its character dynamics and historical influences.
🥀 Marvelous: Molly Greeley’s retelling of Beauty and the Beast
Debuting just last year, Greeley’s novel skips the enchantments so prevalent in Perault’s original fairytale and creates a more plausible story of a teen girl married off to a queen’s sideshow attraction in 16th century France. It’s another twisty take on a now-Disneyfied story, and one that’s quite narratively effective.
The girl, Catherine, is indeed beautiful, and Pedro was born with hypertrichosis, causing him to be covered in excessive body hair and thus initially branded a ‘beast.’ But Marvelous is more concerned with staying true to the story of the very real Gonsalvuses — who most likely inspired the original fairytale — than in going too far down fantasy lane. It’s a refreshing look at how a given fairytale, stripped of all magic, can still read as magical in its portrayal of perseverance and love.
💎 Little Thieves: Margaret Owen’s retelling of The Goose Girl
To be fair, The Goose Girl was already one of my favorites in Grimms’ collected tales — in part because it goes off the rails of the traditional rags-to-riches plot, giving Owen the perfect opportunity to delve into the identity theft at the core of the story. While The Goose Girl vilifies the crafty chambermaid who switches places with a princess, kills her horse (whose mounted head plays an integral part of the story), and forces her to become a lowly goose-tender, Little Thieves takes up the cause of the anti-heroine.
In this version, the maid Vanja impersonates a princess, but also makes her living as jewel thief and must outwit her prince, survive a criminal underworld, and keep an overeager detective off her back. Curses, magic gems and a godmother who is much more god than mother places Little Thieves firmly in the realm of classic fairytales. But Vanja’s story is also a fun romp that supplies an element often missing in these retellings: humor. In that vein, if the other retellings on this list are a little too spiky for your taste, I’d suggest starting with this one.
And if retellings are really your jam, be sure to also check out the works of Naomi Novik, Ava Reid, Hannah Whitten and Melissa Albert. Madeline Miller is another must-read if you’re interested in myths, and the same goes for Sue Lynn Tan and Nicola Griffith with legends. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention at least a few other powerhouses, including Catherynne Valente, Jane Yolen and Robin McKinley.
In other words, if you’re as obsessed with fairytales as I am, there’s plenty of material to choose from! I truly hope you enjoy your next selection from the world of fantastical retellings — and if you’re feeling ambitious, you might even consider trying to write your own.
About the author
Steph Post is the author of six novels, including Lightwood, Miraculum and Terra Incognita. She graduated from Davidson College as a recipient of the Patricia Cornwell Scholarship and holds a Master’s degree in Graduate Liberal Studies from UNCW. Her work has most recently appeared in Garden & Gun, Saw Palm, and Stephen King’s Contemporary Classics. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, a Rhysling Award and was a semi-finalist for The Big Moose Prize. She lives in Florida.
