The Godmother [Paperback]

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1995

Donning a crystal pendant of unsuspected power and wishing for a fairy godmother who will save all of Seattle, social worker Rose Samson is amazed by the prompt arrival of the silver-haired Felicity Fortune and her magical powers. Reprint. PW.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Scarborough's new fantasy adds an interesting riff to a familiar theme: What if fairy godmothers existed today and they had enough magical power to effectively meddle in real-world problems? Though Scarborough (winner of a Nebula for The Healer's War) has lots of fun with this concept, she securely grounds her tale by setting it in and around a believable social-services agency in Seattle and by making her protagonist sympathetic and realistic. Rose Samson is neither stereotypically gorgeous nor foolishly stupid, and she willingly joins forces with Felicity Fortune, a "Godmother" who shows her how the archetypes in Grimm's fairy tales are still relevant in our blighted modern world. The two work with, among others, a sweet and smart pair of Hansel and Gretel-like abandoned children named Hank and Gigi, a Snow White ("Sno") who is royal only by dint of her father's rock-star status and "Cindy," who is suing her stepmother for control of her trust fund. In each case, Rose and Felicity attempt to interweave their magical aid with large doses of human initiative and social responsibility. While this narrative blending of conscience and enchantment is undermined by preachiness and a too earnest desire to avoid simple solutions to complex issues, Scarborough's well-detailed settings and the humor implicit in the clash between magical solutions and grim reality make this tale, while not the author's best, both entertaining and compelling.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Scarborough here enters the field of urban fantasy while also returning to the humorous approach of her earlier books, such as The Goldcamp Vampire (1987). The premise is that a frustrated social worker's wish suddenly endows the Puget Sound area with a real fairy godmother, and because she is real, her powers are limited. She still manages to keep a few serious situations from becoming completely hopeless and to find a man of princely qualities for the heroine. In the process, we are led through witty takes on Cinderella, Snow White, Puss in Boots, and probably several other classic fairy tales this reviewer did not immediately recognize. On the light side, but intelligent, careful, and certain to find enough readers. Roland Green --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 341 pages
• Publisher: Ace (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441002692
• ISBN-13: 978-0441002696
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,251,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Altogether I've written and collaborated on 38 novels, 22 solo and 16 in collaboration with the fabulous Anne McCaffrey.
Among my solo novels is THE HEALER'S WAR, the 1989 Nebula Award winner for best novel, loosely based on my experiences as a nurse in Vietnam.
I have also written a traditional, though humorous, 4-book fantasy series, SONGS FROM THE SEASHELL ARCHIVES, a feminist Arabian Nights fantasy, two fantasies set in the Wild West and the Yukon Goldrush respectively, my obligatory science fiction writer's apocalypse book and the sequel, both set in Tibet, and three books about folk music and magic that made a big hit with the Library of Congress Folk Music Archives, which I blew up in the first book. Three of my books are about fairy godmothers, one is about Christmas and computers, one features Sir Walter Scott in a Victorian gothic mystery set in Edinburgh, and two are about Queen Cleopatra as the living "Past life" of two different women.
Just last week I released for the first time anywhere, a new e-book (available soon as Print on Demand as well), SPAM VS THE VAMPIRE. Spam is a cat whose mistress disappears suddenly, leaving him and his 14 feline housemates alone and soon to starve. When someone breaks into the house, Spam takes the opportunity to escape into the outside world, where he's actually never been before, to hunt for his human, or at least some other human to feed and care for him and his friends until their friend Darcy comes back. The more he hunts, the more he becomes sure that she is not going to be coming back on her own.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fairy Godmothers in today's world? You bet!, December 13, 2001

By 

Kelly (Fantasy Literature) (Columbia, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Godmother (Paperback)

In traditional fairy tales, fairy godmothers show up when they are least expected but most needed, to right wrongs and assist those in peril. Enter Felicity Fortune. Summoned to Seattle by a sweet but burned-out young social worker named Rose, she sets out to solve problems both modern and ageless with magic and kindness.

You see, there are many young people in danger in the city. Hank and Gigi have been abandoned by their mother and kidnapped by a child molester. Cindy has just been fired from her job by her own stepsisters, and booted out of her family home. Snohomish is hiding in the woods from a hit man hired by her jealous supermodel stepmom. Dico is living on the streets, unable to get any breaks...until he meets a magic cat. Any of this sound familiar? LOL

In this entertaining and sometimes thought-provoking novel, we see that today's problems are nothing new, and that a little kindness goes a long way. One caveat: Scarborough can get a little sledgehammer-ish with her political views. While I agree with most of these opinions, sometimes the character of Rose talks more like an editorial than a normal human being making conversation. Still, I found this relatively easy to overlook. Overall, I recommend _The Godmother_ to anyone who likes this sort of thing.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Godmother, December 27, 1999

By 

Linda Moore (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Godmother (Paperback)

I am an avid science fiction reader and was looking for something new. Elizabeth Scarborough had co-written several books with Anne McCaffrey, which I had enjoyed, I was looking for some other books that she had written when I found The Godmother. The book is a very interesting blend of SF, current urban political realities, magic and an updated version of the Grimm's fairy tales with a liberal dash of humor.

Scarborough does an excellent job of developing real life characters. This book is both light hearted and thought provoking. I can't wait to get started on The Godmother's Apprentice.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for fairy tale lovers., May 17, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Jacksonville, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Godmother (Paperback)

I don't know how she does it...but she does! This book brings old favorites into a modern setting without pushing the line. This book gets better with every reading! I keep noticing something that didn't quite "hit" the time before...The same runs true to with "The Godmother's Apprentice" and "The Godmother's Web."