Sometimes it can be really interesting to look at things from a different perspective. In this instance, Valentino presents the story of Snow White from the perspective of the Queen, her step-mother. The tale starts shortly after the Queen has married Snow White's father. They seem to have formed a very happy family. The Queen is an adoring mother figure for poor Snow White, whose mother died years before.

Things start to change when the King must join his men on the battlefield, leaving the Queen and Snow White alone in the castle. It is then that the Queen starts to remember the insecurities she developed at the harsh words of her own father while she was growing up. Her doubts about her appearance take on a greater role as she misses her husband more and more.

This is made none the easier, when the King's three sisters come to stay at the castle. They are very clearly dark witches who are unhappy with the Queen and Snow White. They taunt the poor girl, forcing the Queen to come to her rescue, but doing so only brings about their ire, setting fate in motion.

Thanks to their influence, the Queen finds herself drawn to one of her marriage gifts from her husband, a beautiful mirror made by her father for her own mother. She soon learns that it is enchanted, and it (along with her own obsession with her beauty) on the path that we have all come to know thanks to the Brothers Grimm and Walt Disney.

This interesting insight into the Queen's mind really makes the reader feel a lot of compassion. While her actions can never be forgiven, it is hard to dismiss how her own life experiences and the harsh treatment by the sisters influenced her actions. There is even a bit of hope for her soul in the concluding moments of the story.

I have always been a big fan of retold fairy tales, and this one does a really good job of capturing the essence of the story (at least, the Disney version) with a new twist. It is fun. I actually started it this morning and read it in a single day before work and on my lunch and dinner breaks. I definitely didn't want to put it down!