Kate Crackernuts (Kelpies) [Paperback]

Katharine M. Briggs (Author)

Book Description

Series: Kelpies | Publication Date: September 10, 1987

In a land troubled by witches and feuding clans, step-sisters Kate and Katherine form an unlikely friendship over a shared love of fairies. This does not go down well with everyone . . . Grizel Maxwell may be Kate's mother, but she is also a witch, and jealously plots to get rid of Katherine with a curse, forcing Kate and Katherine to leave their homeland to escape the evil witch and seek a cure for her terrible spell. First published in 1963, Katherine Briggs' wonderful re-casting of the classic fable of friendship conquering all is a rare and beguiling mix of folk-lore and fantasy. The author's own fascination with the English folk-lore tradition imbues the telling with seriousness and beauty that transcend its generic roots.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Katherine Mary Briggs was born in north London in 1898, the eldest of three daughters. She was educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, obtaining her MA in 1926. In the years that followed she wrote and produced many plays, alongside studying towards her PhD which she completed with a thesis in folklore in seventeenth century literature. Briggs went on to write various books on fairies and folklore, including the definitive four-volume Dictionary of British Folk-Tales. Her children's books include Hobberdy Dick and Kate Crackernuts. She was awarded the Doctorate in Literature in 1969 and spent the latter part of her life working for the Folklore Society, which named an award in her honor. Briggs died in 1980. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd (September 10, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0862410967
• ISBN-13: 978-0862410964
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,266,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars - an ambitious historical fairy tale retelling, January 4, 2005

By 

Jennifer Mo - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kate Crackernuts (Kelpies) (Paperback)

The fairy tale "Kate Crackernuts," on which Katherine Briggs bases her retelling, is a splendid one which deserves to be better known. The story has all the usual elements of fairy tales and ballads: an evil stepmother, a curse, handsome princes, a lovely princess, and fairies-- and then there is Kate. Neither beautiful nor royally born, Kate is a refreshingly brave and resourceful heroine who, like Janet of Tam Lin, is instrumental in saving those she loves and bringing about her own happily ever after.

Katherine Briggs's novel is a largely faithful retelling of the original story. Her most substantial change is to set Kate Crackernuts in a solidly historical time and place: 17th century Scotland. Kate Maxwell is still the daughter of a poor widow, but her stepsister Katherine Lindsay is no longer a princess, only the daughter of a Scottish laird. However, this is not quite the Scotland of history books-- along with clan politics, feuds with the English, and zealous witch hunts, there are real witches with real power to do harm. Kate's own mother, Grizel Maxwell, is one; her friend, the grotesque hag Mallie Gross, is another. When they put a curse on Katherine, both Kates run away to England to seek a remedy. But while posing as a servant in an English household, Kate finds yet another spellbound mortal in young Will Frankland, and begins to realize that the strange and treacherous fairy realm which has captured Will also possesses cures for both Will and Katherine-- if only Kate can be clever and brave enough to secure them before Halloween.

There is a fair amount to admire in this ambitious amalgamation of history, fantasy, fairy tale, and ballad, from the meticulous historical detail of 17th century Scotland, to the audibly authentic Scottish and Yorkshire dialects. However, the large amount of Scottish politics in the first half of the book is at once too detailed to be mere background and too incidental to Kate and Katherine's less prosaic adventures to be absorbing or even necessary. It is not particularly enthralling in its own right, and only bogs an already stately pace down further.

Really likeable characters can obscure any number of other faults, but Briggs's prose is stylized and a little anachronistic, which has the effect of distancing the characters. Katherine is unchangingly sweet and good, and Kate herself is loyal, brave, resourceful, and little else. Their suitors, being absent for most of the novel, are even less developed. Grizel is arguably the most interesting character, caught between a real, though unhealthy, love for her daughter, and a vicious resentment for the stepdaughter who outshines Kate. The tense triangle between Grizel, Kate, and Katherine is all but resolved within the first half of the book, and no similarly interesting relationship replaces it.

Still, Kate Crackernuts has plenty to recommend itself to fairy tale, Scottish history, and ballad (particularly Tam Lin) lovers. A number of scenes and images are extremely memorable, and Katherine Briggs's prose is graceful, if a trifle chilly. Related books include Sophie Masson's Malkin, Janet McNaughton's An Earthly Knight, and Clare Dunkle's Hollow Kingdom, which features yet another brave heroine called Kate. However, my favorite Kate will always be the heroine of Elizabeth Marie Pope's Perilous Gard, which succeeds in the seamless blending of history, ballad, and good storytelling that Briggs doesn't quite achieve.