Silver Woven in My Hair [Paperback]

Shirley Rousseau Murphy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 1992

A medieval sixteen-year-old girl who still believes in magic is helped by an old monk and a young goatherd to escape her dismal life reminiscent of Cinderella's.

Product Details

• Paperback: 121 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (April 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689715250
• ISBN-13: 978-0689715259
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,769,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A charming retelling of Cinderella, July 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Silver Woven in My Hair (Paperback)

This book, though rather juvenile in appearance, is pure magic. Shirley Rousseau Murphy is adept at creating sympathetic characters with a few, well-placed descriptions. Thursey is a spirited and intelligent Cinderella who enjoys defying her greedy stepmother and hideous stepsisters who use her as a slave for their inn. Loving stories and fairy tales of all sorts, her own begins when she meets a kind goat boy named Gilly returning with the queen and prince after the war. But is he really who he seems? And though he partly plays the role of the beneficial fairy, it's ultimately up to Thursey to make her own magic come true.

Simply and beautifully told, Silver Woven in My Hair was one of my first fairy tale retellings (along with Beauty by Robin McKinley) and remains one of my favorites. A pleasant companion to the equally excellent Ella Enchanted, this book is definitely worth the effort it will take to find.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasured read, December 16, 2010

By 

Agnes - See all my reviews

This review is from: Silver Woven in My Hair (Paperback)

Shirley Rousseau Murphy gives the tale of Cinderella a breath of fresh air in this memorable and deceptively simplistic looking book. The protagonist, Thursey, endures a hard-hearted stepmother and two stepsisters who expect her to heed their every beck and call. She takes refuge in a small cupboard in the wall, her bed, where she keeps her storybook, that fills when she encounters people (she is most often visited by a friendly monk named Anwin) who arrive at her family's inn ready to share a new tale. Befriending a kindly goatherd named Gillie, sans pumpkins and fairy godmother, and with an approaching ball, Thursey's adventure, magical even without magic, is absolutely beautiful and enchanting. This is a short read, but I enjoyed every moment and every word.

I will also have to veer off in another direction for a moment. I read something about Robin McKinley, in which she said that she could remember moments in her life by the books that she was reading at the time. The case is the same for myself. On a trip to Florida, I picked up my first book by Robin McKinley, The Blue Sword, which I loved. For some reason, this reading experience helped me remember the trip more easily than others. The only reason I brought that up is because the case is the same with Silver Woven in My Hair. I remember picking the book up off of the library sheelf, thinking that the cover was quite ugly (it was a different edition than Amazon's paperback version). I even remember the other book that I checked out at the same time and read during the same week (as well as the week itself). Basically, this sort of thing usually happens with me when I read certain books. In the case of Silver Woven in My Hair, I loved the book. It was one of those (and I'm gonna have to pull a Cinderella on you) love-at-first-read moments, which is very, very rare with me.

Shirley Rousseau Murphy's refreshing retelling of Cinderella has remained a long-time favorite. I have treasured this sweet story since the day I first read it. I have since tried to find other books by the author, as this was not the only book she wrote, and they are incredibly hard to find in stores (online is another story). If you can find this book, know that it comes highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Charming Re-Telling of Cinderella, October 24, 2011

By 

Alyn (The Land of the Fey) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Silver Woven in My Hair (Paperback)

This book is such a cute, charming re-telling of the story of Cinderella. It has a lot of the elements of the Cinderella story you'll find in other re-tellings, but this has a unique spin on the story. I loved this book, and I am so glad that I decided to buy a used copy of it even though it was a little more than I usually pay for my used books. It was worth every penny.
If you love the story of Cinderella or love fairy tale re-tellings, this is a must have book for your collection!