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A review by camilleisreading24
The Juniper Tree by Barbara Comyns
4.0
***4.5./5 stars***
This book is the smoldering embers in the back of the fireplace. There is an omnipresent sense of foreboding and dread throughout this little novel.
Before starting "The Juniper Tree," I went and read through the Grimm fairytale that inspired it. And wow, that is a messed up story. A woman who desperately wants a baby cuts herself while peeling an apple. Nine months later, she gives birth. Upon seeing her new baby, she dies of happiness. Her husband remarries and the boy's stepmother has a daughter called Marlinchen. The stepmother despises the boy and murders him by decapitating him with the lid of an iron trunk. She tries to tie his head back on the body, and places an apple in the boy's lap. She urges Marlinchen to go ask for the apple, and when her stepbrother doesn't reply, Marlinchen hits him and his head falls off. Understandably, Marlinchen is upset. The stepmother cooks the boy into stew and feeds him to his father, while Marlinchen sobs. The girl gathers up her brother's bones and buries them by the juniper tree. The boy is reincarnated as a beautiful bird who sings of his murder to the townspeople. Enchanted by the birdsong, the townspeople give him gold, red shoes, and a millstone. The gold and shoes he bestows on his father and his stepsister, and the millstone he drops on the head of the stepmother, who promptly dies.
Pretty messed up, right?
In Barbara Comyns' novel, this macabre story is distilled into a quieter domestic novel. Set in late 1970s/early 1980s England, the novel feels strangely timeless, in the manner of a fairy tale. Bella Winter is a young single mother who recently broke up with longtime boyfriend Stephen, and whose young daughter, Marline, is mixed race, conceived during a one night stand with a man whose name Bella does not know. Bella has a troubled relationship with her difficult mother, who is initially appalled at the color of Marline's skin, but eventually gets over it. At the start of the novel, Bella obtains an ideal job as shopkeeper in an antiques store. Her new boss allows Bella to run the shop and acquire items, and to live in the rooms above the shop. Bella is enjoying her independence and appreciates that she can provide for her daughter without financial strain.
Adding to this idyllic time is Bella's new friendship with the beautiful German woman, Gertrude, and her husband, Bernard, who live nearby. Gertrude and Bernard are cultured and rich, and they welcome Bella into their world. Bella and Marline are soon spending every weekend at their new friends' large home, and Gertrude confides to Bella that after years of praying for a child, she is finally expecting. Meanwhile, Bernard takes it upon himself to "educate" Bella, introducing her to music, art, and other "high" culture. Like the original tale, however, the story hurtles inexorably towards tragedy and madness...
This book is really a fascinating approach to retelling a fairy tale. The narrator is prosaic and sympathetic, and the novel certainly seems to be a simple tale of a young mother making some rich friends. This makes it all the more uncanny when the story beats from the fairy tale occur-- Gertrude cuts herself while slicing an apple in the snow; Gertrude's tragic death in childbirth; Bella's growing sense of unease when she meets Gertrude and Bernard's child. All of these moments feel queasy and unsettling in contrast to the prosaic scenes of Bella working in the shop, feeding ducks in the park with Marlinchen, and picnicking with Gertrude under the juniper tree. This novel got under my skin and I was shocked when I got to the climactic moment. Strongly recommend picking up this strange and unsettling book.
This book is the smoldering embers in the back of the fireplace. There is an omnipresent sense of foreboding and dread throughout this little novel.
Before starting "The Juniper Tree," I went and read through the Grimm fairytale that inspired it. And wow, that is a messed up story. A woman who desperately wants a baby cuts herself while peeling an apple. Nine months later, she gives birth. Upon seeing her new baby, she dies of happiness. Her husband remarries and the boy's stepmother has a daughter called Marlinchen. The stepmother despises the boy and murders him by decapitating him with the lid of an iron trunk. She tries to tie his head back on the body, and places an apple in the boy's lap. She urges Marlinchen to go ask for the apple, and when her stepbrother doesn't reply, Marlinchen hits him and his head falls off. Understandably, Marlinchen is upset. The stepmother cooks the boy into stew and feeds him to his father, while Marlinchen sobs. The girl gathers up her brother's bones and buries them by the juniper tree. The boy is reincarnated as a beautiful bird who sings of his murder to the townspeople. Enchanted by the birdsong, the townspeople give him gold, red shoes, and a millstone. The gold and shoes he bestows on his father and his stepsister, and the millstone he drops on the head of the stepmother, who promptly dies.
Pretty messed up, right?
In Barbara Comyns' novel, this macabre story is distilled into a quieter domestic novel. Set in late 1970s/early 1980s England, the novel feels strangely timeless, in the manner of a fairy tale. Bella Winter is a young single mother who recently broke up with longtime boyfriend Stephen, and whose young daughter, Marline, is mixed race, conceived during a one night stand with a man whose name Bella does not know. Bella has a troubled relationship with her difficult mother, who is initially appalled at the color of Marline's skin, but eventually gets over it. At the start of the novel, Bella obtains an ideal job as shopkeeper in an antiques store. Her new boss allows Bella to run the shop and acquire items, and to live in the rooms above the shop. Bella is enjoying her independence and appreciates that she can provide for her daughter without financial strain.
Adding to this idyllic time is Bella's new friendship with the beautiful German woman, Gertrude, and her husband, Bernard, who live nearby. Gertrude and Bernard are cultured and rich, and they welcome Bella into their world. Bella and Marline are soon spending every weekend at their new friends' large home, and Gertrude confides to Bella that after years of praying for a child, she is finally expecting. Meanwhile, Bernard takes it upon himself to "educate" Bella, introducing her to music, art, and other "high" culture. Like the original tale, however, the story hurtles inexorably towards tragedy and madness...
This book is really a fascinating approach to retelling a fairy tale. The narrator is prosaic and sympathetic, and the novel certainly seems to be a simple tale of a young mother making some rich friends. This makes it all the more uncanny when the story beats from the fairy tale occur-- Gertrude cuts herself while slicing an apple in the snow; Gertrude's tragic death in childbirth; Bella's growing sense of unease when she meets Gertrude and Bernard's child. All of these moments feel queasy and unsettling in contrast to the prosaic scenes of Bella working in the shop, feeding ducks in the park with Marlinchen, and picnicking with Gertrude under the juniper tree. This novel got under my skin and I was shocked when I got to the climactic moment. Strongly recommend picking up this strange and unsettling book.