|
ZEL
Donna
Jo Napoli
Scholastic
Dutton Books
ISBN: 0525456120
Told in present-tense, this evocative and emotionally compelling
retelling of the fairy tale "Rapunzel" alternates between
the various characters' points of view: Zel, the heroine;
her "witch" mother; and Konrad, the count who grows to love
Zel. Set in 16th century Switzerland during the Reformation,
Zel and her mother live isolated on a small farm, or alm,
high up in the Alps. As ZEL opens, mother and daughter are
preparing to depart for their yearly trip to town. Unfortunately,
that's when all the trouble starts.
An innocent and guileless creature approaching her 13th birthday,
Zel has the power to charm anyone she meets, man and beast
alike. And when she enchants Meta, the young count's high-strung
mare, she also captures the count's heart with her forthright
manner. What the count doesn't know is that he has also captured
Zel's heart. Her highly intuitive mother picks up on the change
in her daughter and, not long after their return to the farm,
she imprisons her in the tower so central to this familiar
tale.
It is through Napoli's retelling, however, that we learn
what has driven this mother to such lengths just to keep her
daughter with her, no matter the price. Unable to bear a child,
her obsession drove her to give herself up to the powers of
darkness in order to have a daughter. In exchange, she was
granted the ability to command plants; and she used that power
to frighten and then extort a newborn babe from a peasant
couple who was guilty only of stealing rapunzel, a kind of
lettuce, from her garden. Rich in characterization and detail
and highly suspenseful, ZEL is a darkly powerful story of
abuse in the name of love.
--- Reviewed by Tammy L. Currier
• Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
|
