2020 EDIT: 'Bitter Greens' is a rich, lovely, moving and important historical fiction book; about women, witchcraft, and a possible origin of the fairy tale 'Rapunzel'. Its use of symbolism throughout its written pages is excellent. Although it is very long and can be long-winded, and some scenes are very grotesque, graphic, horrific and traumatizing (it is not for the faint of heart, nor for people prone to triggers regarding rape and gang rape), plus the word "whore" in the derogatory sense is used too much, I still recommend it.
But be warned, 'Bitter Greens' isn't exactly inclusive - it's not intersectional - in its feminism, and any LBGTQ and POC rep it has isn't positive, even for historical fiction, though that isn't an excuse.
It's no longer a favourite of mine, but it's good.
Final Score: 4/5
Original Review:
Three women. Three lives. Three stories that explore 'Rapunzel'. Three stories about the different types of liberation of the female sex and their pivotal part in fairy tales; both in context and in the writing process.
Three stories braided together like a long, flowing strand of hair. At first it may read as appearing a bit tangled. But as you keep going - and brushing out the puzzle of herbs and magic in all that silky length of narrative - you realize Kate Forsyth structured this masterful novel with a grace and subtlety that is so rarely seen in modern literature.
'Bitter Greens' - part history lesson, part epic fantasy, part social commentary, all imaginative fervour. The prose is excellent, and the characters more so.
Charlotte-Rose de la Force - How come I haven't heard of you before reading this? The way Kate Forsyth has written you, you certainly seemed like a force to be reckoned with. Brave, creative, flawed, witty and funny as hell for a woman of her time, it is almost a tragedy that there are not many women like her nowadays. So much emphasis is put on looks that other attributes such as intelligence and practicality have been twisted to look ironically medieval in women, and therefore unimportant. Really it is beauty that's outdated and overrated - Charlotte-Rose is described as someone who's never been beautiful. But what a life she had! Dressing up as a dancing bear to rescue her captive fiance in a castle tower? My kind of girl!
Selena Leonelli - I won't say much about her, as she is the most mysterious of the three female protagonists. When her backstory is told to Charlotte-Rose in a convent, it may seem out of place and overly-long at first. But in the end I began to understand just how significant she is in between the lives of the other two women. In 16th century Italy she lost her horrifically-abused courtesan mother in a plague, and that starts off her journey. It shapes her character and motivations throughout the novel...
Margherita - What a poor unfortunate soul! An adorable redhead loved by her parents - who are also three-dimensional characters, which is a relief. Then at seven-years-old she is stolen away by a beautiful but evil centurion sorceress who wants to bathe in the girl's virgin blood to keep herself young. Burdened by the hair magically attached to her head - the hair of the sorceress's previous young redheaded victims - Margherita repeatedly tries to escape her prison, which is far away from civilization. But maybe all she can do is wait, and hope and dream of life outside her tower walls. And cling to the fading belief that her parents love her. The sorceress - called La Strega - is all the young girl has to call "Mama". She must escape, or eventually die unloved...
Each of these women have known love - be it romantic, lustful, parental, platonic or of any other affectionate feeling towards a person, place, object or skill. And each deal with love in different ways - in giving and receiving it. I'll not spoil the plot seeds of 'Bitter Greens' any further - to do so wouldn't be good for someone reading my review who hasn't read it yet.
'Bitter Greens' also deconstructs 'Rapunzel' in aspects concerning:
Womanhood (mainly Motherhood) - What is a female's worth to society? Her brains? Beauty? Ability to love a man? Whether or not she is a virgin? Whether or not she will plop out babies at an age when it is convenient for her to care for them and her husband, and when her looks start to naturally fade? Charlotte-Rose's love story is a tragic one, but she remains strong due to her brains, common sense and fabulous humour. She is an older woman to root for, and she proves that beauty and motherhood are not the be-all-and-end-alls of being born with a vagina. Margherita's story seems to be the weakest in this aspect, but she still remains proactive in her ability to never give up hope in the face of adversity. She is also appreciated for her talents, such as singing.
Class - Beauty is a curse in this book. As is wealth. Charlotte-Rose lived the high life, but at the cost of her mother being taken away from her and her sister Marie. She is judged harshly by others, despite her old heritage. Her belief that being in a first class family is a step for her to achieve social success leads her to making grave mistakes. Selena, who started life as a "whore's brat", wanted eternal beauty and power, and she (almost) lost her soul because of it (though this is predominately due to her fear of time, since it brings death, but her obsession with youthful perfection is clearly the most poisonous to her character). Margherita, like Selena, never knew fame or fortune in her girlhood. But her capacity to love and care without losing her sense of self, and her wish for freedom, are admirable; and they separate her from Selena.
Freedom - Rapunzel and her tower are great symbols in the stories of Charlotte-Rose (forced to give up everything her family stands for in order to survive in the cruel reign of a cruel king), Selena (cursed to never leave her place of suffering by a witch) and Margherita (obvious). Imprisonment can mean many different things to different women - emotionally, mentally or physically. They are oppressed and made vulnerable all the same. But how do they fight back? Their determination to succeed in their objectives - and how they deal with their respective situations - are what mark them as individual and flawed characters.
Female models - Who do these characters look up to as a feminine influence? Charlotte-Rose lost her mother at a young age. So did Selena. Margherita was stolen from her loving mother and forced to look to La Strega as Mama. However, Charlotte-Rose still had her sister, and friends at court. They were not all positive influences in her development, but they helped to shape her into the tough and resilient unladylike lady I'd come to know and love her for. Selena deliberately sought out witches after her mother died, in the sole purpose of revenge. She lost herself in believing she's already in Hell, and so she no longer cares (or does she?) about other people. Little Margherita becomes indecisive over whether her mother intentionally gave her away to La Strega or not, but she never trusts her captor. Not in all the years that she is imprisoned. Margherita will not forget who she is...
Each girl is so interesting that I actually found myself wondering what I would do in each of their predicaments; if I would make the same decisions they're making. This is a mark of a remarkably-written book that can transport the reader out of their reality.
Sex, sexual affairs, sexual politics, passion, pleasure, hate, fear - all the senses explored in this delightful study of 'Rapunzel'. All the stories told are socially relevant today, especially concerning feminism and women's and men's rights. Females have potential to do so much. They are certainly not to be underestimated, oppressed or ridiculed.
For bibliophiles who are more into classics than contemporary-written novels, 'Bitter Greens' notably contains similarities to the plots of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. It is also very immersive, atmospherically stunning and daring for a historical novel (indeed, I wouldn't even regard 'Bitter Greens' as YA, it's that graphic and intense). It has a theme of fairy tales of the macabre Grimm kind; which Kate Forsyth never under-uses.
Some parts disgusted me, while others left me breathless in their descriptions of romance and sex. There were things in it that I found to be sweet, but then scared me, and then made me think, "How clever and imaginative. How could I possibly write this well?"
'Bitter Greens':
Beautiful
Innovative
Terrifying
Tremendous
Exciting
Relishing
Gracious
Romantic
Exceptional
Ever-complexing
Never-ending
Scandalous
It has a bit of everything. And is on the whole an enjoyable novel.
Final Score: 5/5
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