"The year is 1880, and Bertie, having just arrived in New York with her family, is grateful to be given work as a seamstress inthe home of textile tycoon, J. P. Wellington. When the Wellington family fortune is threatened, Bertie's father boasts that Bertie will save the business, that she is so skillful she can "practically spin straw into gold."
Amazingly, in the course of one night, Bertie creates esquisite evening gowns -- with the help of Ray Stalls, a man from her tenement who uses an old spinning wheel to create dresses that are woven with crimson thread and look as though they are spun with real gold. Indebted to Ray, Bertie asks how she can repay him. When Ray asks for her firstborn child, Berties agrees, never dreaming that he is serious . . . "
As you can tell, this is story is based on the old Rumpelstiltkin fairy tale. It just doesn't have the tension or menace that the original story has. In fact, it was pretty bland and the ending wrapped up too quickly and neatly. I would call this a pleasant read but nothing too compelling. A bit disappointing. Rating: 3.5
Oh drats. The summary looked so good. Have you read A Curse as Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Budge? It's another retelling or twisting of the tale as well. I enjoyed it when I read it a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Huh ... that's too bad. A retelling of the fairy tale sounded like such a fun idea ...
ReplyDelete