Once upon a time, as the story goes, there was a princess. As an infant, she was blessed by some of the mightiest fairies in all the land, save one. That one, the most powerful and malevolent of creatures, resentful that she wasn’t invited to the christening, instead cursed the princess, that one day she would prick her finger upon a spindle, and die immediately. Only the timely arrival of one last good fairy godmother saved the princess, as the last fairy was able to blunt the curse into a deep sleep, instead of death.

Time passed, and the curse unfolded. One day, the princess did indeed prick her finger, despite the complete banning of all spindles, and she did indeed fall into a sleep, and with her the entire castle. As the years passed, a mighty hedge grew up around the castle of the sleeping princess and her friends and family, and they became a legend. One day, a hundred years gone by, a prince came at last to the castle, fought his way through the hedge, defeated the evil fairy, awoke the sleeping princess with a kiss, and they all lived happily ever after.

Sound familiar? It should. The tale of the Sleeping Beauty has long been a favorite fairy tale, and who hasn’t seen the Disney version with sweet, bumbling fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather, the evil Maleficent, and of course, Prince Charming? Who’s not familiar with at least one, if not three or five variations on the tale? And need it be said that in some darker versions, the first prince to come along did more than -kiss- the sleeping beauty, but that’s an adult tale, one sanitized by Victorian sensitivities until what we have left is the bare bones. A princess. A curse. A spindle. A kiss. A happily ever after. That much stays true, no matter how far we’re removed from its origins.

Robin McKinley, who’s made something of a mark with her reinterpretations of fairy tales ( Beauty and Rose Daughter both telling “Beauty and the Beast” again, and Deerskin retelling “Donkeyskin”) has turned her attentions upon this favorite of stories, and in doing so, completely reinterprets and reimagines it as never before, keeping all of the classic elements, but giving it her own spin.

In Spindle’s End , the action is transferred to an unnamed country so rich and thick with magic that it hangs like dust in the air, subjecting innocent creatures to unexpected transformations, a land where fairies run in the family, babies inevitably go through phases of “baby magic,” and even the least superstitious of people believe in curses and spells. This is a land where words have power, fairies and sorcerers are respected, iron has influence against magics, and the animals seem rather more aware than usual. Into this land, a princess is born. Granted a whopping twenty-one names at birth, the least of which is Briar-Rose, she’s the subject of everyone’s attention and adoration. For her name-day, representatives from all the villages in the lands are invited, and twenty-one fairies are asked to attend as a sign of respect. From the tiny village of Foggy Bottom, in the swampy part of the country known as the Gig, the representative is a young woman, Katriona, who’s only just coming into her fairy powers. Her journey is uneventful; it’s what happens after she arrives that changes the land forever.

Upon the occasion of the princess’ nameday ceremony, with hundreds of people gathered, the fairies begin to bestow their gifts, granting such things as golden hair, milky skin, ruby-red lips, pearly teeth, unbeatable embroidery, dancing without peer, and so forth. In the literal fashion of such gifts, as will ultimately be found out, that doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll be pretty, or able to hold a tune no matter how birdlike her voice or bell-like her laughter. But all that’s in the future. As the twentieth gift, something about the quality of her spinning, is bestowed, a long-awaited curse comes to pass, as the evil fairy Pernicia returns to give her own gift of spindle-inflicted death upon the princess’s twenty-first birthday.

In the commotion and confusion that follows, Katriona finds herself in custody of the infant, obliged to flee under the cover of mystery and charm back to her home village, aided along the way by the animals of the land, who sense something special about the fairy and her infant charge, and something evil about what will befall the kingdom should Pernicia get her way. Once home, it’s up to Kat and her Aunt (as everyone calls her) to raise the young Rosie, to hide her from the curse, and to bring her up as best they can, as safe as ordinariness can bestow.

And thus does Rosie grow, in a family full of magic and love, finding her true nature as a tomboy, her own innate magical abilities which bring her close to the animals she adores, protected by all who know her, though they do not know her true nature. And the kingdom mourns the curse, believing the fiction of a princess hidden away by her parents in a series of heavily-protected fortresses, while the true princess grows up free, proud, and unknowing. She’s got plenty to do, what with growing up, finding love, and finding a true friend in the form of Peony, the wainwright’s niece.

As the day of her twenty-first birthday approaches, no more than a few months off, it seems as though the curse may indeed be broken. And when at long last it’s declared safe for the princess to come out of hiding … well, she’s not too keen on the idea. And with the possibility of Pernicia’s revenge still all too real for those who know it best, a cunning plan of deception, misdirection, and magic is hatched. One which may be no match for the power of a centuries-old fairy bent on destruction, chaos, and mayhem.

Though the story is indeed about a sleeping beauty, it’s also true that the fate of the kingdom and everyone in it rests squarely upon Rosie, her blacksmith friend Narl, and a motley assortment of brave animals. By the time it’s all over, the kingdom will be forever changed, as will Rosie, Katriona, Narl, and Peony.

This has to be one of the best retellings of Sleeping Beauty I’ve ever encountered. The core story is as predictable as it is old, but McKinley throws enough twists, turns, and surprises into it to give even the most experienced reader of fairy tales a new experience. The characters are believable, likable, and all too real, for all that they live in a magical world. It certainly had me reading avidly until the end, eager to find out whether or not there was, as there should be in fairy tales, a measure of Happily Ever After.

I heartily recommend this one to all fairy tale enthusiasts.