French novelist Charlotte-Rose de la Force has been banished from the court of Versailles by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. At the convent, she is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of bitter greens…
After Margherita’s father steals parsley from the walled garden of the courtesan Selena Leonelli, he is threatened with having both hands cut off, unless he and his wife relinquish their precious little girl. Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1512 and still inspiring him at the time of his death. She is at the center of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition.
Locked away in a tower, Margherita sings in the hope that someone will hear her. One day, a young man does.
Award-winning author Kate Forsyth braids together the stories of Margherita, Selena, and Charlotte-Rose, the woman who penned Rapunzel as we now know it, to create what is a sumptuous historical novel, an enchanting fairy tale retelling, and a loving tribute to the imagination of one remarkable woman.
EXCERPT
A Heart of Gall
Château de Cazeneuve, Gascony, France – June 1666
I had always been a great talker and teller of tales.
‘You should put a lock on that tongue of yours. It’s long enough and sharp enough to slit your own throat,’ our guardian warned me, the night before I left home to go to the royal court at Versailles. He sat at the head of the long wooden table in the chateau’s arched dining room, lifting his lip in distaste as the servants brought us our usual peasant fare of sausage and white-bean cassoulet. He had not accustomed himself to our simple Gascon ways, not even after six years.
I just laughed. ‘Don’t you know a woman’s tongue is her sword? You wouldn’t want me to let my only weapon rust, would you?’
‘No chance of that.’ The Marquis de Maulévrier was a humourless man, with a face like a goat and yellowish eyes that followed my sister and me as we went about our business. He thought our mother had spoilt us, and had set himself to remedy our faults. I loathed him. No, loathe is far too soft a word. I detested him.
My sister, Marie, said, ‘Please, my lord, you mustn’t mind her. You know we’re famous here in Gascony for our troubadours and minstrels. We Gascons love to sing songs and tell stories. She means no harm by it.’
‘I love to tell a gasconade,’ I sang. ‘A braggadocio, a fanfaronade . . .’
Marie sent me a look. ‘You know that Charlotte-Rose will need honey on her tongue if she’s to make her way in this world.’
‘Sangdieu, but it’s true. Her face won’t make her fortune.’
‘That’s unfair, my lord. Charlotte-Rose has the sweetest face . . .’
‘She might be passable if only she’d pluck out that sting in her tail,’ the Marquis de Maulévrier began. Seeing that I had screwed up my face like a gargoyle, waggling my tongue at him, he rapped his spoon on the pitted tabletop. ‘You’d best sweeten your temperament, mademoiselle, else you’ll find yourself with a heart of gall.’
I should have listened to him.
About the Author:
KATE FORSYTH is the bestselling and award-winning author of more than twenty books, ranging from picture books to poetry to novels for both children and adults, including The Heart of Stars, The Forbidden Land, The Pool of Two Moons, and The Witches of Eileanan. She is the only author to win five Aurealis Awards in a single year and was recently voted one of Australia’s Favourite 25 Novelists. Her books have been published in 17 countries. She recently earned a doctorate in fairytale retellings at the University of Technology in Sydney. She lives in Sydney, Australia.
Jennifer’s Review of Bitter Greens
Review (4 Stars): One of the things that I loved about Bitter Greens was that it immediately sweeps you away with its richly descriptive story and I felt as though I was experiencing the same things as the main character, Charlotte-Rose de la Force. We find in the beginning of this story that Charlotte-Rose has been banished to a convent by the King Louis XIV for her scandalous behavior and must remain there until she agrees to take her vows or the King calls her back to his court. While there, Charlotte-Rose reflects back on her life and is comforted by Sœur Seraphina, who tells Charlotte-Rose an amazing story about another young woman whose situation rivals her own. Bitter Greens is a haunting story that involves a very different and darker take on the beloved tale of Rapunzel through the eyes of three very intriguing women. I love historical fiction and I was impressed by Ms. Forsyth’s tale of three courageous women that are bound by society and situations that are completely out of their control. I enjoyed getting to know each of these characters and their journey captivated me until the very last page.
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