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Charming cover

Charming by Jade Linwood

(Rebellion, 2023)

Reviewed by Dev Agarwal

Charming declares its raison d’etre on its opening page. Author Jade Linwood offers her book, “To all those princesses who realised that they could rescue themselves.”

With that dedication in mind, Linwood takes on the task of re-fashioning well-known (and arguably well-worn) fairy tales that most of us grew up with. Fairy tales have been adapted to visual pantomime, which over time, has re-worked the source material to conform to audience expectations of slapstick, in-jokes and innuendo. The enduring popularity of both fairy tales and pantomime reflects their ongoing appeal, and neither forms should be condemned when measured on their own merits. They are designed with humour and family entertainment in mind. However, the issue for twenty-first century fantasy readers is whether there is anything new that a writer can do with these ingredients.

As readers know, essential to most fairy tales are fantastical kingdoms, villains, damsels in distress, and in particular, Prince Charming heroes. Charming, named after the prince, adheres to these tropes, respecting them as key ingredients. This, in turn, meets the needs of establishing what we might call the ‘fairy tale furniture’. We know where we are with the novel’s premise and we quickly find out that there is not one, but three damsels in distress. Prince Charming features in each of their introductory chapters, as does his comical sidekick, Roland, “something between a valet and an accomplice.”

Despite Jade Linwood being a new name she comes to the story well-equipped to invert its tropes and to find the humour in the situations. Princess Marie Blanche de Neige (Snow White), Bella Lucia dei’ Sogni (Sleeping Beauty) and Doctor Emilia Rapunzel (Rapunzel) are our protagonists. Quite deliberately, Linwood reverses the passivity of the princesses that lie at these stories’ centre, when they discover that they’ve all encountered the same man, the handsome and dashing Prince Charming. The Prince, in this version, has the additional characteristics of deceit and low cunning. He, along with Roland, travel from kingdom to kingdom scamming princesses and robbing their fortunes.

Linwood’s novel satirically refocuses the arc of three of the most familiar fairy tales to become a combined story of the revenge of wronged women and their subsequent transformation into active heroes of their own stories. In the spirit of both a quest story and its feminist re-telling, the three princesses do not act in isolation but find common cause to mount a war of revenge against the Prince. As well as making the princesses active characters, the book also challenges the idealised notion that Prince Charming is the only one who can act as a rescuer. As the dedication reminds us, Charming has a manifesto, that of self-realisation and independent action.

So far, many ARC readers have responded to the book by likening it to Shrek and The Princess Bride. Those are both works that remake fairy tales and mix humour with fantasy, so these are accurate comparisons and both films have a sophisticated form of humour that respects their audiences. I found a similar ethos at work in Charming, one that speaks a common language with its readers based on an affection for the source material and its conventions. This made for a fun read. It's only possible to sustain that fun across a full novel if the writer understands pacing, plot and character development, all of which are carefully balanced throughout Charming. For those that might be put off by a feminist perspective, Linwood’s book also considers the implications of how economics function in a fantasy setting and what it might look like to run a kingdom as a business.

By the novel’s conclusion, each of the protagonists proves to be an asset to their kingdoms. This is the antithesis of pretty-but-passive princesses in need of rescue. We also get points of view from Prince Charming and, from the bottom of the social strata, Charming’s manservant, Roland. He offers his own (sarcastic) perspective on his master’s activities and the princesses’ revenge.

Hanging over all comedic writing is the name of a giant—Terry Pratchett. Pratchett was, of course, a beloved figure in the genre (and beyond it) and although Discworld and Good Omens command wide readerships and television viewers today, that doesn’t mean that there is no room for other voices and other humorous takes on fantasy tropes. This is a big genre, filled with diverse voices and Charming carries its own weight as a comedic novel.

Charming is recommended to anyone who enjoys humour, fantasy and new and fresh takes on familiar stories.

Review from BSFA Review 24 - Download your copy here.


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