Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language:  A handful of common swear words.  The use of the name of deity.  Degrading name calling including slut.

Violence:  The king is beheaded and his head is held up for all to see.  Maude is often angry and takes it out on her children by beating them.  She lost many babies because of this but blames it on witches.  Hester is constantly hit, slapped, pushed down, whipped and forced to do hard labor.  When Coriander’s father leaves she is also subjected to harsh beatings from Maude and Arise .  Arise  and Maude pull a sick elderly woman from bed  and drag her to an icy river where they beat her to death and throw her in.   Arise, in a fit of anger, pulls Coriander down the stairs and cuts her beautiful hair off, beats her and shoves her in a cupboard leaving her for dead.  Queen Rosmore uses her magic powers to strangle and kill Arise.   Bodies a pulled from the Thames River.  Most are bloated beyond recognition.  One is full of strange claw like wounds.  The cook dies from injuries after being pushed down the stairs.

Sexual Content:  Arise uses Maude’s buxom figure to help them make money.  Maude spends her days in bed with the male visitors.

Adult Themes:  Maude ‘s parenting skills and punishment styles would be considered child abuse in our day.  She lost several babies because she slapped them so much when they cried.   Her daughter Hester that lived, suffered greatly at her hand.  Maude is glad that her husband leaves to join the war.  When word comes that he is alive but ill, she makes no attempt to retrieve him.  She agrees to marry a wealthy widower even though her first marriage is legally still intact.  Coriander’s mother dies, her father goes into deep grieving.  He ends up leaving Coriander in the care of his new wife, not knowing her intentions.

Synopsis

It was during the mid 1600’s in England that young Coriander received a mysterious pair of silver shoes.  Her mother adamantly forbade her to ever put them on and the shoes were quickly hidden.  Coriander is persistent and eventually finds the shoes.  This sets of a chain of events leading to the death of  Coriander’s mother and fleeing of her father from political enemies.  Coriander is left to the care of an inhumane step-mother and an evil, twisted preacher.  In one of their fits of anger, they nearly beat Coriander to death and leave her in a cupboard to die.  The silver shoes save her by magically transporting Coriander to a mystical land of fairies.  She learns that her real mother was from this land and lived in danger of the evil queen Rosmore.  She  chose to leave her enchanted home in order to marry Coriander’s father.   Rosmore now reigns and her evil is spreading.  Coriander learns of a powerful object left by her mother in England that can stop Rosmore.  She knows she must return to find it.  When she wakes in England, she finds that three years have past since she left.  Her home is still occupied by Maude and Arise.  Hester is so ill that she is near death.  A family friend takes both Coriander and Hester in and life begins to improve for the two girls.  Unfortunately, Coriander is unable to explore her old home where she is certain the magical item she seeks is hidden.  She knows that the life of Tycho, a beloved friend from the fairy world, is in grave danger unless she returns.  Coriander musters all the courage she has to face Arise, Maude in England and then Rosmore in the enchanted world.  Her sacrifices and bravery heal both worlds and bring her more happiness than she has known in very long time.

A beautiful,  bitter-sweet romantic fairy tale.  A different twist on a Cinderella-like theme.  The author’s writing conjured up fantastic images of the sights and sounds of the fairy land and England. I was drawn in from the first page.  However,  this use of descriptive language also made the pain and suffering that Coriander and Hester faced at the hands of Maude and Arise very real.  I would caution sensitive young readers.