Review: The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth

Once there were six sisters. The pretty one, the musical one, the clever one, the helpful one, the young one...And then there was the wild one. 

Dortchen Wild has loved Wilhelm Grimm since she was a young girl. Under the forbidding shadow of her father, the pair meet secretly to piece together a magical fairy tale collection. The story behind the stories of the Brothers Grimm.

 

Hardcover, 495 pages

Published July 22nd 2013 by Allison & Busby

audio from public

library (through overdrive)

17 hrs and 41 mins 

*****

 I am relatively new to Kate Forsyth books, her book Bitter Greens was a favorite of mine - it had a mix of HF and fairy tale retelling. As much as I love fairy tales I just dont seem to read them like I want (my tbr pile reflects this).  It isn't a secret that I am a big fan of audio books.  I hestatied for the longest time whether to give the audio a try for The Wild Girl.  Some books are  more enjoyable reading verses audio, as well some lend themselves to audio as my preferred method.  When I realized that Kate Reading was reading this one I knew I was in for a real treat - she is one of my favorites (yea she could read the ingredients off a box of cookies and I would be entranced).

The Wild Girl is the story of the Grimm Brothers, but mostly centers on their neighbour Dortchen Wild.  Life isn't easy for her, especially as her siblings move on, marry and have babies while Dortchen is left to care for her parents (let me tell you, no easy task). 

There is definitely that fairy tale feel here, whether it's the stories she shares with Wilhelm Grimm or just her life, Dortchen was someone who was easy to feel sympathy for.  Caring, compassionate and always putting others before her own dreams, especially with the secrets she keeps to herself.

That being said this is also about Grimm fairy tales coming into print.  Taking place during Napolean's rule in Germany during the late 1800's, it's a brutal time for all which Kate Forsyth depicted perfectly.

One of the disadvantages of going the audio route is not being able to write down quotes or phrases that I enjoy doing with a physical print copy.  But I did manage one.

“Stories are important too. Stories help make sense of things. They make you believe you can do things. They help you imagine that things may be different, that if you just have enough courage... or faith... or goodness... you can change things for the better.”