Vanity: A Snow White Story, by Sonya Writes

[Note: This book was provided free of charge by the author in exchange for an honest review.]

Like the other stories by this author [1] in this series of fairy tales retold, this story features a one word title and is about a young woman dealing with the struggles of life. In this particular case, the story deals with a young woman who becomes a princess and comes from a family with a father who physically and verbally abuses her mother. Poignantly, the story’s central lesson begins when the young woman believes that her father must think her ugly because she looks like her mother, even as her mother leaves because of the abuse, abandoning Cassius (a rather manly name) to handle the duties of womanhood while young. Fortunately, she finds herself a mentor in a kindly neighbor who offers to teach her well. Sadly, her broken family situation leads her to desire to be told she is beautiful out of insecurity. Perhaps insecurity rather than vanity would be a more precise title of this story, as vanity makes it seem more sinful, while insecurity makes it easier to relate to given the fact that many people suffer vulnerability and problematic longings as a result of abusive family experiences.

This short story, fitting as a deconstructed fairy tale, introduces a prince early in the story and immediately marries him off–to someone else other than the main character, who accepts this without jealousy. Then Cassius watches Snow White be born, a rather invisible observer, concerned about her father’s anger over a late dinner, only to find him dead when she returns home. Despite her grief, Cassius (known as Aunt Cassie) becomes close with her niece Snow White, only to find that Guinevere (the princess and Snow White’s mother) has died in childbirth. Somewhat shockingly, the widowed king Augustus finds Cassius beautiful only a few months after the death of his wife. Intriguingly, Cassius’ skill with handling Snow White in a sisterly fashion, with kindness and tenderness, makes her seen as a fit wife for the widowed young king. Unfortunately, trouble comes about when the Seven Dwarfs give the king and his new bride a magic mirror that will answer one question honestly per day. The rest, as they say, is an intriguing and dark twist on a familiar tale filled with adultery and enchantment, and ultimately a happy ending that does not involve the death or misery for the vain and insecure stepmother of the beautiful Snow White.

What is most remarkable about this story is that even though the story focuses on women (Cassius and Snow White and Mrs. Guinevere in particular), the main lessons in the story are of most use to men in their roles as husbands and fathers. The heartache and agony at the heart of this story relates intimately to the failure of men to be loving and considerate fathers or loyal and honorable husbands. The book deals rather sympathetically with the insecurity that result from spousal abuse, abuse of children by parents, and the treachery of adultery. It is very possible that these are subjects that the author can relate to all too painfully herself, and insecure young women from broken families whose longings for father love drive them to intense desires to be thought of as lovely and beautiful often lead to tragic outcomes are sadly a frequent phenomenon in our deeply troubled world. Sadly, there are not many honorable princes to help care for such young women, but this world is not often as kind as even the most realistic of contemporary fairy tales.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/book-review-liberty-a-rapunzel-story/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/book-review-remedy-a-sleeping-beauty-story/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/07/03/book-review-lethargy-a-princess-and-the-pea-story/