Retellings & Re-Imaginings: Retold Fairytales, Myths, Legends & Stories Retold & Reimagined

Fairytales, Myths, Legends, & various forms of literature, have been around for centuries and millennia. Throughout history, these stories have been passed down whether orally or written and even today, several amazing authors put their own spin on the classic stories we love. Yes, some retellings are better than others, regardless no retelling told badly ruins our love of the original story or our yearning for a new creative spin on an old tale. In this list, I’m going to provide a great list of current and older books that retell a classic tale!

The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer

The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer is a retelling of the French fairytale Bluebeard originally written by Charles Perrault. In this version of Bluebeard, the events of Bluebeard with the wife becoming the next murder victim of Bluebeard did happen but it didn’t stop there. This version of Bluebeard is turned into a ghost story as two sisters who are witches, Mallory & Anais are hired by LeBleu’s great grandson, Armand, to rid Bastian LeBleu’s aka Bluebeard, manor of his evil spirits. They also get to stay at the manor for free. It’s a job and paid vacation all in one. Never mind the fact that the manor is infested with creatures numerous as rats on top of the spirits to deal with. But when murders start to begin again, one must wonder, is it LeBleu’s spirit wanting revenge, or is his great grandson Armand, following in Le Bleu’s footsteps?

Circe by Madeline Miller

Circe by Madeline Miller is the retelling of the witch from Greek mythology Circe from her perspective in first person. We read about how in jealousy after her human lover Glaucus became immortal and fell in love with Scylla, that she uses the flowers magic to turn her into the six headed monster.  This would lead to Circe’s banishment to the island of Aiaia. We would read about Circe helping her sister birth the minotaur & her warning her niece Medea of Jason not loving her as much as she loves him. Medea of course, doesn’t listen to her. We will also read about Circe’s love affairs with Daedalus, Hermes, Odysseus from The Odyssey & eventually his son Telemachus. I also loved the ending of the story. But I won’t spoil that for you. After finishing Circe back in 2019, it came out that HBO planned on doing an 8-episode miniseries and I think the covid pandemic put a pause on it. I haven’t heard much about the series since then.

Song Of The Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

Song Of The Sparrow is a retelling of the Camelot story this time by one of the women, Elaine of Shallot. The setting is in Britian in the year 490 AD. Elaine is raised with her brothers among a military world of men serving under Arthur. Elaine’s temper is also fiery like her red hair. The only other woman who shows up once in a blue moon is Morgan who we know will eventually become Arthur’s sworn enemy. Elaine longs for a female companion and her heart pines for the handsome Lancelot. Guinivere, Arthur’s betrothed show up. Guinivere is beautiful on the outside, but after getting to know her, Elaine discovers Guinivere is quite cruel and Guinivere has also stolen Lancelot’s heart. When the two women must face off against a powerful enemy, will they be able to put their pettiness aside? I remember reading Song Of The Sparrow back in highschool and fell in love with this retelling and on top of that, the writing was written in poetry form and the writing was so beautiful. I’m thinking of checking it out again from the library.

Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire

The author of Wicked, Gregory Maguire, wrote his very own Snow-White retelling back in the 2000s titled Mirror Mirror. This Snow-White retelling takes place in 1502 Renaissance Italy. Snow White’s name in the book is named Bianca de Nevada. Bianca lives a charming life in Montefiore in the hills of Tuscany with her father Don Vincente and the cook Primavera Vecchia & the priest Fra Ludovico. The infamous Lucrezia Borgia and her brother, Cesare whose father is the wicked Pope Borgia, pass through and encounter the Nevada family. Cesare sends Bianca’s father on a years long quest to reclaim a relic of the original Tree of Knowledge; he leaves Bianca under the care of Lucrezia. Lucrezia plays the part of the wicked stepmother to Bianca/Snow so to speak. There are dwarves and magic, and the dwarves are not given the same names from the Disney cartoon. Try as I might, I never was able to get into Gregory Magruire’s books, but Mirror Mirror was excellent! If you like historical fiction mixed with a popular fairytale, I recommend this one.