A Review of 'The Spindle' by Ashley Griffin
by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder
Ashley Griffin, making the challenging transition from dramatist to novelist look easy, has done something with her debut novel, The Spindle, that can’t quite be described. She has written a book that seems to defy category - unless it is to say that she has returned to the kind of storytelling defined by George MacDonald and Madeline L’Engle that itself defied description.
On the surface, The Spindle is simple – a retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the dark fairy’s point of view. But Griffin has made a name for herself as a writer who delves into deeply human, mythic themes, and she is second to none when it comes to magical realism, world-building, and characters who seem to exist independently of their creator – one gets the feeling that Griffin is more likely to play host to real-life fairies insisting she transcribe their stories than that she is a creator inventing of her own volition.
This story is as far from Maleficent as you can get. This is not the generic retelling of a well-known story we have grown desperately weary of ever since (the truly fantastic) Wicked all but invented the genre. The Spindle is set in the Celtic world of the fifth century (incorporating elements of Arthurian myth) and its fairies are “closer to Tolkien than Tinkerbell.” She has woven the story into history and into a mythology that is at once rooted in the greatest storytelling traditions and utterly original.
In this universe, the fairies are elemental spirits who have power only over those things they are given charge of. They are not evil (or entirely good,) they simply ARE and cannot disobey their own natures any more than a tree can stop being a tree. The central character of this story is Nor – the dark fairy who is reviled by humankind (she was not always) because she is the fairy of death. In reality Nor is thoughtful, just and greatly desirous of love – which she knows she will never have. “Who, after all, could ever truly love death?” But, drawing on the real history of the fifth century, the fairies are being forgotten and overrun by new religions from across the sea and, once they are forgotten, they disappear from the earthly realm…putting Nor in the horrible position of having to escort her siblings, one by one, to a kind of death – where she can never join them since, at the end of the day, no one can ever truly forget death, meaning she will be left behind, the only one of her kind. The “curse” of the story is enacted as a group effort by the fairies, led by Nor, to rectify a wrong by their sister, Violet (the Lilac Fairy) who, desperate to survive, has broken the fairy law and given the King and Queen a child. Since each fairy only has power over their particular areas, they must combine their gifts in order to send Princess Rose back to her rightful time and place, or else doom human history and condemn Rose to live her life without her true love, or the ability to rule her kingdom as she was meant to.
But The Spindle uses all this as a clever jumping off point to explore deep, human themes about life and death and, most of all, the danger of human beings trying to make ourselves the gods of the universe.
This is a story that is, truly, for everyone. Children can safely read it (I would have loved to discover this book when I was younger,) and adults will get remarkably deep enjoyment, and lots to think about long after the final page is turned. The book is at once utterly satisfying and yet never goes where you expect it to. There is love in the story, but romance is not central. In fact The Spindle utterly subverts all expectations of a “YA Fantasy” book, without ever getting cloying or preachy. I have truly never seen a YA romance played out so surprisingly or ring so true. The ending is exactly what you imagine and nothing like what you think it will be.
Griffin originally explored some of these characters, namely Nor in the male guise of Shadow (these fairies are not tied to gender, or even corporeal forms,) in her hit off-Broadway play Snow. That piece takes place over three different time periods – from the 1800’s to present day. Snow happens well after the events of The Spindle and, knowing where Shadow and his desire for love and connection goes, The Spindle is even more poignant as a prequel of sorts. I truly hope Griffin continues writing about these characters…they feel so real, meaningful and powerful that I would not be surprised if I ran into one of them on a walk through a forest. One could even imagine a whole collection of original fairy tales based around The Spindle’s twelve fairies.
But the human characters are just as compelling. Princess Rose is a fully developed person and the most active, moving “sleeping beauty” I’ve ever seen. And the King, usually a forgotten character, receives one of the best arcs in recent memory. This is the “true” “Sleeping Beauty” you could imagine all other versions stemming from – from the ballet, to Disney and everything in between. The dialogue and scene work are extraordinary and, though it exists perfectly on the page, I would love to see a stage or even film adaptation.
In the same way that A Wrinkle in Time became a children’s/YA book because, as L’Engle said, “You have to write the book that wants to be written…if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children,” that is the way in which The Spindle is YA Fantasy. I have heard Griffin called “The next George MacDonald” or “Hans Christian Andersen.” I believe she is the MacDonald of our generation. But part of that is because her voice is so truly unique while still being rooted in the stories that sit at the heart of our collective unconsciousness.
Please get this book, and get it as a gift for everyone you know of any age from, I’d say, around 9 to 99 (the approaching holidays provide the perfect excuse.) I’ve heard there are several 5th-grade classes across the country that have added it to their curriculum and libraries are doing special events around it. I could not be happier for it and, in fact, I think it would be a welcome addition to any educational curriculum or library – whether school or personal. This is a fairy tale for folks who don’t like fairy tales. It is the kind of storytelling I haven’t seen since the likes of MacDonald, Lewis or L’Engle and it is urgently needed in our day and age.
Thank goodness the fairies have gifted us Ashley Griffin.
You can get The Spindle here: https://www.amazon.com/Spindle-Ashley-Griffin/dp/1892538989/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1667786842&sr=8-1