Katherine's Reviews > Strands of Bronze and Gold

”My godfather had referred to my hair as ‘bronze’ in one of his letters when I was younger- a letter featuring a delightfully spun story about a princess with tresses the shade of my own, strands of bronze and gold…”

4.5 out of 5 stars

What a deliciously creepy read. And I mean that in the best possible way.

I love retellings, but they are often hit or miss with me. There’s a certain balance that authors should maintain when it comes to this type of genre: there should be enough of the original that the story is still recognizable as a retelling, but there should be a dash of originality to it so it doesn’t seem like the same old story rehashed a million times over. And with this sumptuous book, Jane Nickerson has masterfully been able to retell the Bluebeard fairy-tale while maintaining both the original story and its elements and make it all her own as well.

Sophia Petheram is a seventeen-year-old orphan living in Boston with her happy but recently impoverished family. Until one day she receives a letter from her godfather, Bernard de Cressac. He’s fabulously wealthy, you see, and he invites her to stay with him at his home in Mississippi. One she arrives, Sophie is soon swept up in a world of luxury, excess, greed and deception as she soon comes to realize that her devastatingly handsome and exceedingly charismatic godfather is not what he appears to be.

One of Nickerson’s strengths is her mastery in writing her settings. My God, is she good in that regard. Every time she described the interior and exterior of Wyndriven Abbey, I wanted to drop everything, pack my bags, and take a trip to the Antebellum South so I could find that magical abbey that she all but convinced me was real. She could describe the most desolate wasteland filled with dirt and rocks and it’d probably still be gorgeous. Hell, even her writing about the interior décor such as Sophie’s bedroom and the dusty old attic was beautiful. And while the writing is beautiful, there’s an underlying creepiness and uneasiness about it, as if the author is trying to desperately give you hints that something is amiss. In the beginning, everything seems just a little too perfect; a little too pristine. A mirage of sorts that sounds (and looks), too good to be true, just like the fairy-tale is based upon.

The two main characters in the book, Sophie and Bernard, are extremely well-developed and have good character arcs. When we first meet Sophie as she arrives at the Abbey, she’s the youngest daughter who had a tendancy to be babied by her family. She’s a bit selfish, spoiled, and very appreciative of the finer things in life.

”I myself loved lavish, pretty things and would stroke the sumptuous fabrics and finger the jewelry.”

Not to mention her good looks, which she will remind you of for the first quarter of the book.

”He waxed awkwardly lyrical about my midnight blue eyes and skin like peaches and cream. A girl couldn’t help to be flattered. Especially a girl who worried about her complexion.”

And when she first meets Bernard, she completely falls for his charms. She’s so naïve in the beginning that it takes a shitload of patience for the reader not to shake the book and yell RUN, WOMAN, RUN!!! CAN’T YOU SEE HOW FUCKING CREEPY THIS GUY IS?!!!Bernard does so many questionable things (in our eyes, at least) to Sophie that it almost seems impossible that Sophie is so damn oblivious to it. As the book progresses, Sophie sheds her naiveite and propensity for luxury once she begins to discover Bernard’s secrets.

”Knowing my past predilection for luxury, I should be in raptures to reside in such surroundings, showered with lovely things. But everything was too much. It was as if the world here was coated with glamour, as in some fairy tales, with nothing really as it seemed.”

Sophie’s evolution from vapid teenager to a self-aware, independent woman was realistic and believable, especially for a woman of her time.

Bernard de Cressac, just like the Bluebeard he’s modeled after, is handsome, charming, wealthy… and creepy. My God, is he creepy. He makes Sophie dress up in skimpy little outfits while they dine from day one, kisses her after knowing her a week, insists she keep her door unlocked for him at night, kills the barnyard cat cause she’s paying too much attention to it (WHY. IT’S A CAT, NOT A HUMAN MALE COMPETITOR!), behaves promiscuously in front of her siblings when they visit for Christmas (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS!! LET ME JUST POUR WINE ON MY GODDAUGHTER AND PROCEED TO LICK IT OFF IN FRONT OF HER ENTIRE FAMILY.)…. Just your average godfather/goddaughter relationship, right? We all know how his story goes; he has a propensity for women, but they all mysteriously die on him one by one. But just like Sophie does in the beginning of the book, the reader can’t help but be charmed by his handsome nature and his suave charisma.

”It was easy for Bernard to attract women. He was so handsome, could be so charming. Because the devil himself wouldn’t truly come equipped with the traditional horns and tail, he must be attractive and charismatic in order to reel in his prey.”

The author does a good job chronicling Bernard’s eventual descent into madness and the revelation of his true nature towards Sophie, though it could border on the comical side towards the end.

I do with that the secondary characters who played a big part in the novel were fleshed out a little more. At times, it felt like they were sidelined for the sake of the plot and the two star attractions. And for some readers, this book can be a bit uncomfortable to read at times, particularly when it comes to the characters casual dialogue about slaves and race relations. Not to mention that some of the side characters such as Odette failed to fulfill their purpose and were just sort of fillers for the story.

Furthermore, Sophie’s romance with Gideon, while sweet, was extremely fast-paced and not developed enough for me to consider it a true romance. Though I will have to admit that he’s a welcome from Bernard with his good-natured temper and kindness.

”He certainly didn’t resemble the heroes of romantic novels. Far from it. But the very qualities that made him unlike most fictional love interests endeared him to me all the more. Kindness in undervalued in written romances. I imagined someday straightening Gideon’s rumpled hair and fixing his crooked neck scarves.”

He was a good soul, but he could be really stupid when it came to the romance department; something that concerns me for their future relationship, haha!

Bluebeard is one of those overlooked fairytales that society tends to look over, which is such a travesty. If you like your fairytales dark, twisted, and creepy, you should definitely read the original. However, if you don’t want to do that, or just want to read someone else’s take on the tale, read this book. It’s just as dark, just as twisted, and just as creepy as the original, though instead of being transported to 17th century France, you’ll be transported to the equally sumptuous 19th century antebellum South. With a plucky heroine, evil villain and settings to make you envy, Strands is an overlooked gem in the fairytale retelling world that deserves all the attention that it (should be) receiving.