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A review by anaidelawless
My Fine Fellow by Jennieke Cohen
4.0
This was so good...
First of all, this is a retelling of Pygmalion, but it it gender-bent and the author set the story in an alternative history of her own making, which was really cool. I also like that this was not as much about making the person speak like a noble, but to make them a great culinarian, which for me added a bit more value. It was also filled with mouth-watering recipes so beware and do not read it when you are hungry.
When it comes down to retellings I am not only rating the book, but also how well it captured the feel of the original and by what kind of changes it made. This was one of those, where a lot of alterations were made, but it still very well captured the feeling of the original and in some aspect it expanded certain elements I missed in the original. Also the characters are really similar to the those in the play, but at the end they grow and change more then I felt like they did in the play. So Higgins is still an asshole (man or a woman), Pickering is still kind and apologetic for Higgins, but this time with a lot more agency and understanding and Eliza (Elijah) gets a whole new issue to worry about. There are many new characters since this is a full novel, and my favourite was probably the Goose. Also Freddy got the short end of the sick and is basically the only one who changed for the worse (my Freddy would not behave like this I swear).
So to summarize this is a retelling from the point of of 21st century so of course it is more palatable for me, then a play from 1912. And some of the changes were the ones I was really hoping for. So I will probably remember the original for making me quite angry and making me think about the message, the context and the implications. And I will remember this retelling as a fantasy for what I would like to happen.
And I need to read this author's Jane Austen inspired novel.
First of all, this is a retelling of Pygmalion, but it it gender-bent and the author set the story in an alternative history of her own making, which was really cool. I also like that this was not as much about making the person speak like a noble, but to make them a great culinarian, which for me added a bit more value. It was also filled with mouth-watering recipes so beware and do not read it when you are hungry.
When it comes down to retellings I am not only rating the book, but also how well it captured the feel of the original and by what kind of changes it made. This was one of those, where a lot of alterations were made, but it still very well captured the feeling of the original and in some aspect it expanded certain elements I missed in the original. Also the characters are really similar to the those in the play, but at the end they grow and change more then I felt like they did in the play. So Higgins is still an asshole (man or a woman), Pickering is still kind and apologetic for Higgins, but this time with a lot more agency and understanding and Eliza (Elijah) gets a whole new issue to worry about. There are many new characters since this is a full novel, and my favourite was probably the Goose. Also Freddy got the short end of the sick and is basically the only one who changed for the worse (my Freddy would not behave like this I swear).
So to summarize this is a retelling from the point of of 21st century so of course it is more palatable for me, then a play from 1912. And some of the changes were the ones I was really hoping for. So I will probably remember the original for making me quite angry and making me think about the message, the context and the implications. And I will remember this retelling as a fantasy for what I would like to happen.
And I need to read this author's Jane Austen inspired novel.