The Original Tale vs The Retelling: Bluebeard

Earlier this year I wrote a newsletter about Marissa Meyer’s new release The House Saphir, which is a retelling of the famous underrated fairytale Bluebeard. You can read the link to that here https://booknotions.com/marissa-meyer-bluebeard-retelling/ . I spent the entire weekend before November 4^th reading it and falling in love with it. In this review I’m going to compare Bluebeard by Charles Perrault & Marissa Meyer’s retelling of the underrated fairytale. Beware there are spoilers!

 What remains the same & What differs  

The essence of Charles Perault’s story is there. There is a man named Bluebeard (in Marissa Meyer’s version of the tale his name is French Monsieur Le Bleu) who killed multiple wives. There is a wife that survives, and her brothers come to save her and behead Bluebeard and that is that. What differs is we know the story but there’s more to continue. Mallory Fontaine is a con artist and the only power she has is to see the spirits of Le Bleu’s wives. Le Bleu’s ancestor, Armand, hires Mallory and her sister Anais to rid the House Saphir of the evil spirit of Le Bleu. They will be set for life. While there Mallory and her sister realize they are in over their heads. Le Bleu will do anything to stop them.

Le Bleu’s intentions are more than just a revenge story. His motivation is to use the deaths of his wives to become immortal and powerful. There’s also a twist with Mallory and Anais’s ancestor and how they lost their power. In the original story there isn’t any monster hunters because theres no monsters. However, in Marissa Meyer’s world, there are two comic relief monster hunters Constantino & Fitcher. I do like the fact that Marissa makes this a unique story. Also for people who’ve read Gilded and its sequel, The House Saphir, takes place in that same world because some of the same words were used. Though House Saphir is a French inspired world and Gilded is German. Constantion uses an Italian word or two.

Which Version Is Better

Hands down, Marissa Meyer’s version of Bluebeard, The House Saphir is the best. She expands on the Bluebeard tale by turning it into a ghost story and the motivations of the villain are not just a cliched revenge story. There’s also magic and she puts French folklore in there with the monsters. Retellings of classic tales can be hit or miss depending on the idea or even the author writing them. The House Saphir is definitely worth it.