Mirror Mirror: A Novel [Paperback]

Gregory Maguire (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2004

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Maguire has a lock on clever, elaborate retellings of fairy tales, turning them inside out and couching them in tongue-in-cheek baroque prose. After his revisionist takes on Oz's Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked) and Cinderella's ugly stepsisters (Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister), he now tackles Snow White. The notorious Borgia habit of poisoning rivals inspired him to transplant the classic tale to 16th-century Tuscany, where Vicente de Nevada is an expatriate Spanish widower who lives with his daughter, the fair Bianca. Beholden to sinister Cesare Borgia and Cesare's sister (and perhaps lover) Lucrezia, Vicente is sent on what appears to be a fool's errand, to discover and steal from a Middle East monastery a branch of the Tree of Knowledge complete with three apples. When Bianca is 11, Cesare's attraction to her causes the envious Lucrezia to order a young hunter to murder her and deliver her heart in a casket. Bianca, of course, is spared and taken in by seven dwarfs. But this is not Disney; the dwarfs are boulders, stirred to life by Bianca's arrival ("a clothed, bearded obstinacy became slowly apparent"). Several years pass in surreal, dreamlike fashion, with Bianca tending to the dwarfs, who cavort stiffly and philosophize collectively. When Vicente returns successful, Lucrezia poisons an apple for her rival. Innocent Bianca's fate is gentle, but that of the corrupt Lucrezia, in brilliant Venice, is appropriately grotesque. Fairy tales in their original form are often brutal and disturbing; with his rich, idiosyncratic storytelling, Maguire restores the edge to an oft-told tale and imbues it with a strange, unsettling beauty.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School--A dark and vivid retelling of Snow White transposed to the Italy of the Borgias. Lucrezia is the evil stepmother and five-year-old Bianca de Nevada grows into the role of Snow White. Vicente, a minor landlord beholden to Lucrezia and her brother/lover Cesare, unwillingly leaves his motherless daughter to go on a seemingly futile errand for Cesare. Journeying to Greece to seek out a branch of the holy Tree of Knowledge, Vicente languishes for years in the dungeon of the very monks who possess the relic. While her father is gone, Bianca develops into a lovely young woman, attracting Cesare's attention. Seeing this, Lucrezia orders her killed and sends a young hunter into the woods with the familiar instructions. Adding much historical flavor and returning to the edgy eroticism of the fairy tale, Maguire invests the journeys of the Borgias, Bianca, and Vicente with a compelling urgency. Readers will be intrigued by the new story and yet curious as to how the familiar elements are brought in. Sometimes seven, sometimes eight, the dwarves, slowly awakening to their possibilities, are droll and great fun to listen to. The language has an old-fashioned quality and the point of view shifts frequently, but teens who continue to the end will learn much of medieval Italy and a little of human nature, and have a new respect for the old tale. This is a great addition to the Maguire shelf.--Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (September 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060988657
• ISBN-13: 978-0060988654
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (130 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gregory Maguire received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children's Literature from 1979-1985. In 1987 he co-founded Children's Literature New England. He still serves as co-director of CLNE, although that organization has announced its intention to close after its 2006 institute.
The bestselling author of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Lost, Mirror Mirror, and the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked, Son of a Witch, and A Lion Among Men. Wicked, now a beloved classic, is the basis for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. Maguire has lectured on art, literature, and culture both at home and abroad.
He has three adopted children and is married to painter Andy Newman. He lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating milieu and characters, but too slow, June 11, 2004

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mirror Mirror: A Novel (Hardcover)

In early sixteenth century Italy, seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives happily with her widowed father. But when a caravan arrives at her home in Montefiore, bearing the famous Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia, her life is turned upside down. Her father sent away, Bianca is left in the hands of Lucrezia, who plans the girl's murder. Escaping into the woods, Bianca soon discovers a group of seven magical dwarfs...

I am rather of two minds with this book. On the one hand, the author does an excellent job of retelling the story of Snow White, placing it in Renaissance Italy, peopled with fascinating characters. On the other hand, the story starts out slow, and never seems to pick up the pace. Indeed, the story seems to drag along from start to end as if the author had a great idea for a story, but couldn't think up all of the details it needed. He obviously knows a great deal about Renaissance Italy, but he cannot combine the two elements of his story into the really fascinating story that it should be.

Overall, I found the book to be good, at times even very good, but it is not the great story it should be. I give it a guarded recommendation.

72 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What A Strange Dream, June 22, 2005

By 

April Blake (Genesee, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mirror Mirror: A Novel (Hardcover)

What I admire about the Gregory Maguire books I've read so far is his subtle way of entwining the fantastic with the mundane in such a way that it is completely believable. His books are strange dreams in which stags can be gondoliers and rocks can speak and walk.

I read two of Maguire's books before attempting Mirror, Mirror, and it took two aborted attempts at this book in question before I got past the first few chapters of laborious, slow description of Montefiore and Vicente de Nevada's behaviour. Twice, in disgust, I closed Mirror, Mirror and vowed never to return to its grindingly slow narrative. Snow White was one of my least favorite fairy tales, anyway.

Over the weekend, I decided I'd give this book another shot. It's not a thick, cumbersome book, and the illustrations are pretty, and I remembered that although I was hooked on Wicked from the first word, it took some real effort on my part to become engaged in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. So I ground my way through the description of Montefiore and Bianca and Vicente and the two most prominent players in the supporting cast of crazies, Primavera Vecchia and Fra Ludovico. This time I found the descriptions less cumbersome and full of things to look at, especially with Primavera Vecchia, whose first name means "spring" and her last name means "old" and she herself is older than dirt. She is larger than life and at the same time completely human, approachable.

Before I knew it, Maguire and his band of characters had me hooked. The Borgias showed up, bringing with them danger so real it could be tasted. I worried for the population of Montefiore. I forgot I was reading a Snow White tale, and was surprised by the hunter in the woods, the strange stone beasts, the sacred poisoned apple. I was surprised to find myself at the end, because it is not a typical fairy tale ending with chirping birds and singing, dancing dwarves.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to be told a story. Gregory Maguire is a consummate storyteller. One moment the storyteller is like a camera, reporting the comings and goings of Montefiore and its tenants. The next, the storyteller is Bianca, old Primavera, Fra Ludovico, dangerous Lucrezia, a stone beast, and idiot gooseboy. The sliding consciousness would be confusing if Maguire weren't such a master of giving each character his or her own distinct syntax, mood, voice, and posture within the narrative.

This story is worth the time it takes to let it unfold.The three-hundred pages did not even last me the weekend. So once the first few chapters are read, the story picks up and takes off. It's up to you to let it take you with it.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, October 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Mirror Mirror: A Novel (Hardcover)

Gregory is back and it is wonderful!!! It had to be after that awful dribble LOST came out 2 years ago. I bought this book yesterday (I still had faith in GM) and I could put it down until I finished it. It held me in thrall and I just couldn't read it fast enough.The only complaint..it wasn't long enough!!! I don't want to give any of it away but this Snow White is no Disney cartoon. And man oh man these dwarfs are very strange and there's one extra one that we never knew about(?!). Get this book and have a wonderful time reading it. Gregory is back and its so good to have him back writing something great once again!!!!