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timeywriter 's review for:
The Queens of Innis Lear
by Tessa Gratton
Retelling or rendition stories can sometimes be tricky. Some are very attached to the original and therefore find fault in a retelling. Or some hated the original and seek a better story. I believe this novel falls somewhere in the middle of the two, for if you hated Shakespeare's King Lear you might love this novel and even if you liked King Lear there is a chance this retelling was a beautiful expansion on the original.
Elia is the third daughter of King Lear and is a priest of the stars. Since her mother's death, her eldest sister, Gaela, has become a warrior set on becoming king after their father, and her middle sister, Regan, strives to bring about an heir for their island of Innis Lear. Their mother's death was a prophesy and since that time King Lear has become enamored and obsessed with the stars, abandoning the earth that gives his island life. Following the original story with great expansion, this novel sets up the rocky relationship within this family and then progresses with Gaela and Regan pronouncing their loyalty to their father while Elia says nothing. Banishing Elia, his favorite daughter and would have been heir, King Lear seeps further into madness and Elia flees to other lands in hopes of gaining alliances that might help her return home. I enjoyed how the basic premises of Shakespeare's King Lear were implemented and then enhanced to create a world of its own. The magic of Innis Lear and the relationship each sister had with the land was mystical and yet still very Celtic in its mythology. I enjoyed the additional characters too, such as Ban the Fox, who brought a sense of intrigue and betrayal to the story. Above anything, I was not annoyed at the potential love triangle! I usually hate them and yet the one here never felt like anyone hated the other for loving Elia, it was just understood that the love could be give or not and reciprocated or not by all parties. And while this ended in beautiful Shakespearean tragedy, in massive death and heartache, the journey that each sister took and sacrificed was astounding. Each of them were right and wrong in their actions, they were flawed, tragic, and at the end of it all women in every sense.
While I greatly like a good retelling, I know others might not want the sanctity of Shakespeare to be tampered with. I say that is the point of stories, to build off of one another. And the vibrant female characters in this novel allows one to contemplate who would best be queen.
Elia is the third daughter of King Lear and is a priest of the stars. Since her mother's death, her eldest sister, Gaela, has become a warrior set on becoming king after their father, and her middle sister, Regan, strives to bring about an heir for their island of Innis Lear. Their mother's death was a prophesy and since that time King Lear has become enamored and obsessed with the stars, abandoning the earth that gives his island life. Following the original story with great expansion, this novel sets up the rocky relationship within this family and then progresses with Gaela and Regan pronouncing their loyalty to their father while Elia says nothing. Banishing Elia, his favorite daughter and would have been heir, King Lear seeps further into madness and Elia flees to other lands in hopes of gaining alliances that might help her return home. I enjoyed how the basic premises of Shakespeare's King Lear were implemented and then enhanced to create a world of its own. The magic of Innis Lear and the relationship each sister had with the land was mystical and yet still very Celtic in its mythology. I enjoyed the additional characters too, such as Ban the Fox, who brought a sense of intrigue and betrayal to the story. Above anything, I was not annoyed at the potential love triangle! I usually hate them and yet the one here never felt like anyone hated the other for loving Elia, it was just understood that the love could be give or not and reciprocated or not by all parties. And while this ended in beautiful Shakespearean tragedy, in massive death and heartache, the journey that each sister took and sacrificed was astounding. Each of them were right and wrong in their actions, they were flawed, tragic, and at the end of it all women in every sense.
While I greatly like a good retelling, I know others might not want the sanctity of Shakespeare to be tampered with. I say that is the point of stories, to build off of one another. And the vibrant female characters in this novel allows one to contemplate who would best be queen.