by Kim Chamberlin and Ionela Tudor
Book Review by Rachel Graham
After reading this book and researching about the origin of the story, I found that it was written to be a folktale. However, this folktale was one that came to the author, Ionela Tudor, who had help with the composition of the idea from Kim Chamberlin. Folktales typically are from the oral tradition of sharing stories and only in recent years have been written down for preservation and to share with wider audiences. This story was meant to be written in the style of a folktale, but the idea was newly born.
The beginning starts with Cain and Ana meeting by chance and falling in love with one another. Soon after, Cain is tempted by a witch of wealth, power, land and a beautiful wife. Temptation wins and Cain is swept away to his riches in the castle of a nearby town. Ana, drawn by her love for Cain, sets out in search of him. She stumbles upon him once she reaches the city and quickly finds herself working as a seamstress for Cain’s new fiancé, the princess. Cain has plans to marry the princess, Iana, and take over for the dying king. Unbeknownst to Ana, Cain is under a spell from the witch. The witch uses her powers to take away all of Ana’s strength through the wedding dress Ana is sewing. As Cain is getting ready to marry Iana, an angry crowd stones her to death and nearly Cain as well. Ana saves Cain, but he is on the verge of death. After their escape from the castle to a nearby cave, Cain is nearly healed and released from the witch’s control, when the witch makes another appearance and turns Ana into stone flowing with tears. Then, Cain marries Ana’s sister and has a daughter, who is also named Ana. When Ana is older, she and Cain go to visit the statue. The witch appears to tempt the younger Ana, but Cain steps in to rescue. The statue Ana is able to drown the witch in her tears that have flowed for so long and she is then released from her imprisonment in stone.
This book was a short read that included many elements that may be found in a traditional folktale. Many folktales include magical transformations and this story included Cain in a trance under the witch’s control and Ana frozen in time as a stone statue. There was also the repeated element of events happening in threes. I found that this story had an interesting plot, but didn’t end on a happy note. As I read the story, the sacrifices Ana went through to find her one true love were enduring of a happy ending for the both of them. That was not the case. In the end, Ana is not rewarded for her pure spirit and heart. Cain, who gives into temptation, is the one who is able to live his life, even if it is without Ana. I found this part of the story disconcerting. As a short story, a writer has very little time to work on character development so it must be done very strategically to fully tell the story. Several characters that had a major role, such as Ana’s sister who marries Cain, were never introduced until later in the story when they made their appearance. As a reader, I would have appreciated more about those characters to be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together as I read the book. I also felt that having the story written in the present tense, even though it was suppose to have taken place long ago, made it difficult for me as a reader to believe that the tale took place in the past. In the end, the story had many appealing and creative details, but the discourse in which it was presented could have been more pleasing.
