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The Godmother (Paperback)
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Publishers Weekly,Scarborough's new fantasy adds an interesting riff to a familiar theme: What if fairy godmothers existed today and they had enough magical power to effectively meddle in real-world problems? Though Scarborough (winner of a Nebula for The Healer's War) has lots of fun with this concept, she securely grounds her tale by setting it in and around a believable social-services agency in Seattle and by making her protagonist sympathetic and realistic. Rose Samson is neither stereotypically gorgeous nor foolishly stupid, and she willingly joins forces with Felicity Fortune, a ``Godmother'' who shows her how the archetypes in Grimm's fairy tales are still relevant in our blighted modern world. The two work with, among others, a sweet and smart pair of Hansel and Gretel-like abandoned children named Hank and Gigi, a Snow White (``Sno'') who is royal only by dint of her father's rock-star status and ``Cindy,'' who is suing her stepmother for control of her trust fund. In each case, Rose and Felicity attempt to interweave their magical aid with large doses of human initiative and social responsibility. While this narrative blending of conscience and enchantment is undermined by preachiness and a too earnest desire to avoid simple solutions to complex issues, Scarborough's well-detailed settings and the humor implicit in the clash between magical solutions and grim reality make this tale, while not the author's best, both entertaining and compelling. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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- Book formatPaperback
- Fiction/nonfictionFiction
- GenreFiction/Fantasy - General
- Publication dateFebruary, 1999
- Pages304
- PublisherPenguin Group USA, Inc
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One day in Seattle, social worker Rose Samson made a wish for a fairy godmother to save "the whole damned city". She wasn't expecting a miracle. But then again, no one expects Felicity Fortune. For everyone who's ever wished for a fairy godmother, acclaimed author Elizabeth Ann Scarborough has spun a magical tale that's the next best thing. Like her award-winning novel, Healer's War, which drew on her experiences as a nurse in Vietnam, The Godmother bridges the gap between high fantasy and grim reality. An adult Mary Poppins for the nineties, with a sly touch of whimsy and more than a spoonful of grit, The Godmother delivers what Scarborough fans have come to expect: the unexpected. Rose Samson, a frustrated Seattle social worker, dons a crystal pendant from her friend Linden's vintage clothing shop and makes a wish - for a fairy godmother for "the whole damned city." Enter Felicity Fortune, a silver-haired, funkily dressed fill-in for the suddenly absent Linden, and a card-carrying member of "Godmothers (Anonymous): Fair Fates Facilitated, Questers Accommodated, and Virtue Vindicated. True Love and Serendipity Our Specialty." Felicity's magic net falls far and wide over Seattle, reining in a cast of characters that make up a modern-day volume of the Brothers Grimm. There's Sno, the runaway teenage daughter of a rock superstar, whose aging supermodel stepmom has plans for her "fairest of them all" stepdaughter; seven-year-old Hank and his little sister, Gigi, dumped in a shopping mall by their drug-addict mother; Cindy Ellis, a stable keeper with two abusive stepsisters...and more.
Publishers Weekly,Scarborough's new fantasy adds an interesting riff to a familiar theme: What if fairy godmothers existed today and they had enough magical power to effectively meddle in real-world problems? Though Scarborough (winner of a Nebula for The Healer's War) has lots of fun with this concept, she securely grounds her tale by setting it in and around a believable social-services agency in Seattle and by making her protagonist sympathetic and realistic. Rose Samson is neither stereotypically gorgeous nor foolishly stupid, and she willingly joins forces with Felicity Fortune, a ``Godmother'' who shows her how the archetypes in Grimm's fairy tales are still relevant in our blighted modern world. The two work with, among others, a sweet and smart pair of Hansel and Gretel-like abandoned children named Hank and Gigi, a Snow White (``Sno'') who is royal only by dint of her father's rock-star status and ``Cindy,'' who is suing her stepmother for control of her trust fund. In each case, Rose and Felicity attempt to interweave their magical aid with large doses of human initiative and social responsibility. While this narrative blending of conscience and enchantment is undermined by preachiness and a too earnest desire to avoid simple solutions to complex issues, Scarborough's well-detailed settings and the humor implicit in the clash between magical solutions and grim reality make this tale, while not the author's best, both entertaining and compelling. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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Specifications
Book format
Paperback
Fiction/nonfiction
Fiction
Genre
Fiction/Fantasy - General
Publication date
February, 1999
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