Mirror Mirror - by Gregory Maguire (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"Entertaining...profound....A novel for adults that unearths our buried fascination with the primal fears and truths fairy tales contain." --Christian Science Monitor

The acclaimed author who re-imagined a darker, more dangerous Land of Oz in his New York Times bestselling series The Wicked Years, offers a brilliant reinvention of the timeless Snow White fairy tale. Setting the story amid the cultural, political and artistic whirlwind of Renaissance Italy--and casting the notorious Lucrezia Borgia as the Evil Queen--Mirror Mirror will enthrall a wide array of book lovers ranging from adult fans of Harry Potter to readers of the sophisticated stories of Angela Carter.

The year is 1502, and seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives perched high above the rolling hills and valleys of Tuscany and Umbria at Montefiore, the farm of her beloved father, Don Vicente. But one day a noble entourage makes its way up the winding slopes to the farm -- and the world comes to Montefiore.

In the presence of Cesare Borgia and his sister, the lovely and vain Lucrezia -- members of the infamous Borgia family and decadent children of a wicked pope -- no one can claim innocence for very long. When Borgia sends Don Vicente on a years-long quest, he leaves Bianca under the care -- so to speak -- of Lucrezia.

She plots a dire fate for the young girl in the woods below the farm, but in the dark forest salvation can be found as well ...

A lyrical work of stunning creative vision, this literary fairy tale retelling gives fresh life to the classic story of Snow White -- and has a truth and beauty all its own.

From the Back Cover

The year is 1502, and seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives perched high above the rolling hills and valleys of Tuscany and Umbria at Montefiore, the farm of her beloved father, Don Vicente. But one day a noble entourage makes its way up the winding slopes to the farm -- and the world comes to Montefiore.

In the presence of Cesare Borgia and his sister, the lovely and vain Lucrezia -- decadent children of a wicked pope -- no one can claim innocence for very long. When Borgia sends Don Vicente on a years-long quest, he leaves Bianca under the care -- so to speak -- of Lucrezia.

She plots a dire fate for the young girl in the woods below the farm, but in the dark forest salvation can be found as well ...

A lyrical work of stunning creative vision, Mirror Mirror gives fresh life to the classic story of Snow White -- and has a truth and beauty all its own.

Review Quotes

"Wildly inventive...Maguire refreshes his source material capably...Every bit as good as Wicked: wicked good, in fact." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A brilliant achievement." - Boston Herald

"To accomplish this metaphorical feat, Maguire pulls in everything from the biblical "tree of knowledge" to the conniving but oppressed Lucrezia Borgia, who serves nicely as the tale's wicked queen, to eight (count 'em) distinctly non-Disneyesque dwarfs with a knack for mirror making." - Village Voice