The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of Rumpelstiltskin by Suzanne Weyn


The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of Rumpelstiltskin
Title : The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of Rumpelstiltskin
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1416959432
ISBN-10 : 9781416959434
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 207
Publication : First published June 17, 2008

"ONCE UPON A TIME" IS TIMELESS

The year is 1880, and Bertie, having just arrived in New York with her family, is grateful to be given work as a seamstress in the home of textile tycoon J. P. Wellington. When the Wellington family fortune is threatened, Bertie's father boasts that Bertie will save the business, that she is so skillful she can "practically spin straw into gold."

Amazingly, in the course of one night, Bertie creates exquisite evening gowns--with the help of Ray Stalls, a man from her tenement who uses an old spinning wheel to create dresses that are woven with crimson thread and look as though they are spun with real gold. Indebted to Ray, Bertie asks how she can repay him. When Ray asks for her firstborn child, Bertie agrees, never dreaming that he is serious...


The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of Rumpelstiltskin Reviews


  • Katherine

    This author was completely out of her depth in her attempt to write from a historical perspective. I don't care if the book is for young adults, you still do your research. The inconsistencies were so glaring and numerous that I lost track. A single yard of thread did not cost $1 in 1880, I checked; wholesale price for 3 yards of embroidery silk in 1896 was 5 cents. Oops. Hard candy did not come individually wrapped in 1880. Oops. A child about to turn 4 years of age is not a 'toddler' and they do not typically speak in the broken sentences the author portrays. Oops. One yard of thread cannot possibly embroider a design down the entire length of a dress and a cape--mind you this is NOT magical thread. Oops. And on, and on, and on...

    The writing is mediocre (You've heard of "show don't tell," right?) and don't even get me started on the unlikely resolutions throughout. And when, oh, when will writers and publishers stop dishing out books for this age-group that overlay modern sentiments and behaviors in period tales? It's sloppy and condescending. Young adults deserve writing that is not only accurate but intelligent as well.

    If all this weren't enough we're treated to a very weird prologue and epilogue from Queen Avriel of the Fairie Folk that doesn't figure in anywhere in the book. I'm betting someone's editor thought there wasn't enough 'fairy' in the fairy tale so voila, instant fix. Hey, who said there was no magic in this book?

    Recommendation: give this one a skip.








  • Cara

    This tale is magically spun. Forgive me for the pun. I just wanted to have some fun. Oh gosh I really need to quit that! But more seriously I really did think this was done beautifully.

    I have to admit I was kind of surprised about how much I liked this story. Don't get me wrong I love fairy tale retellings, but most of the time I enjoy them I just don't think they are very original. This was different though.


    Suzanne Weyn chose the perfect setting. Early America during our Industrial Revolution when many immigrants were coming upon the country's shores. Bridget (later called Bertie) O'Malley and her family is one of the many Irish families coming to find a better life. Isn't it a perfect beginning? I liked Bertie right away. A faerie gives the prologue and epilogue of the story. That's the only bit of fantasy of the book. The rest is realistic and I appreciated the change. I love the Rumpelstiltskin of the story. He's probably my favorite character. I was a little wary of the book because of it's length, but I didn't feel I was robbed of any essential details of the story. I did feel that the romances weren't fully developed, but then again in most fairy tales they aren't. Oh I have to mention that I thought how everything weaved togther at the end to the original tale was perfect. I felt myself smile real big at the end.

    Hands down this is the best retelling of Rumpelstiltskin I have read.

  • Valerie

    This book is the definition of short and sweet. There is no magic but that didn't disappoint me at all. Instead the author has the story set in America during the time when all the immigrants from Ireland (the protagonist and her family are Irish), Germany, Italy and all these others countries come in. You get a sense of what it might've been like. There are hardships at first but you don't lose hope.

    I like the characters. There could’ve been more character development but for such a sort book it was enough. My favorite character is the “Rumpelstiltskin” of the story. He is courageous, a bit mysterious, and a lot nicer than I expected him to be. The Protagonist is likeable. She is kind but practical and she makes mistakes but I can understand why she does them.

    The story didn’t have any dry areas, you know where the plot doesn’t seem to be moving along and it’s kind of boring, there was always something going on. It’s not a heart pounding, fast pace book but it kept me interested the whole time. The end was great and made me feel all hopeful and happy. I think this book would be perfect for preteens but that doesn’t mean older readers can't enjoy it too.

  • Elevetha

    2.5 stars.

    Bertie immigrates with her family from Ireland to New York City in the 1880's. Trials and hardships abound as the family struggles to find and\or keep employment, they deal with sickness, financial problems, and Finn is angry at Paddy, their father, for casting aside their Irish heritage and trying to be all American. Her father finds work at J.P. Wellington's mansion for himself and one of the boys. He also manages to sweet talk his way into getting Bertie a job as a seamstress there. Bertie does the best she can while enjoying the work. She meets the handsome son of the textile tycoon, Mr. Wellington, and there is a mutual attraction.

    I liked James okayish up until he proposed and then I was all; "Wait a second. You like her cause she's pretty (It's the ginger hair. Gets the guys every time without fail.)and because she can design and make pretty dresses? Wow, shallow much? Not much. Much too much."

    I like Bertie and her brothers; Finn, Seamus, and Liam. Paddy, not so much. He causes his family so much trouble without a care in the world. He is more than willing to separate the family. He lies his way into getting whatever he deems necessary, regardless of how it will affect his family. And poor dear Eileen. I like her though she doesn't have much of a character.

    When Paddy makes a promise that Bertie knows she is unlikely to be able to keep, she takes the offered help of Ray Stall, the equivalent of a stalker, to help her with the dresses. His obsession with her is a little odd but, I mean, Rumpelstiltskin? That whole story is queer.
    Bertie is astounded by the beauty of the dress that Ray has created as are her employers. They demand more of these radically beautiful designs. She agrees. But when her and Ray fight and she refuses to pay him for his help with a kiss; he demands her first born child. Bertie, being rather an idiot in this instance, agrees but finishes the dresses by herself, realizing that they in no way compare to Ray's creations. She awakes to find her efforts replaced with gorgeous designs that could only have come from Ray.
    Time passes and Bertie accepts James' offer of marriage and moves down to Georgia, taking darling Eileen as well. More time passes and nothing too much happens. Then Bertie realizes that she can't marry a man who is a drunk, a cheating cheater, and doesn't actually love nor does James respect her. Finally, Bertie. I would have ran the other way when he proposed.
    There is a strike at the Wellington's factory and Bertie gets knocked out. She awakes to find that Eileen is gone. She hears tell of Ray being seen taking Eileen and heading for New York so she goes home.
    The ending felt forced and rushed, like the author was trying to think of something that would work before a deadline and was just,

    Ray: "I took Eileen because I "didn't see you and didn't bother looking around. Oh, also, the whole "take your firstborn" thing? That was just a joke. Sorry about almost giving you a heart attack, Bertie. I was stalking you because I love you."

    Bertie: "Oh, that's all right, Ray. And I love you too."

    Excuse me? Oh, well.

    The epilogue was probably my favorite part of the book, to be honest. It was cute and tied in "Rumpelstiltskin." George and Maria = a thousand times yes.

    Overall, I enjoyed this one and recommended it but I still think the ending felt like a first draft. It needed a wee bit of work.

  • Book Chatter-Cath

    In this non magical retelling of the classic Rumpelstiltskin, author Suzanne Weyn has instead given the reader a story set around an immigrant Irish family, freshly arrived to the slums of 1880 New York.

    While a clever idea, it is sadly mediocre in its execution.
    The characters are all rather shallow and underdeveloped, making it difficult to follow the story that is mostly a narrative telling, rather than a descriptive showing.
    The men in the family are all selfish and self serving, and basically abandon Bridget to work and support the two smaller O’Malley children. Bridget or Bertie as she is come to be known is extremely naïve in her behavior, making her an unbelievable and unlikeable character.
    Ray Stalls, though supposedly a critical character for the story, only makes brief appearances and is for the most part forgotten, again distorting the original role of the character until he is a mere shadow of his dastardly namesake.

    Full of historical inaccuracies, (the inaccurate and exorbitant price charged for yarn - to name but one) the story is very slow to start, made all the more frustrating by the juvenile phrasing, dragging the reader along, until its abrupt and unfulfilling end.

    From start to finish, The Crimson Thread is a rather flat, under whelming read that I wouldn’t recommend for anyone over the age of 13.

    2 out of 5 stars

  • Clare

    Sorry but it was boring and did not grip me at all.

  • Allison

    I've been enjoying this series. The books are a perfect length, and the retellings of some of them are truly unique. Also, I find it very easy to get into them, so I can sit down and read one in just an hour or two. Although I've found some of the books...less than stellar (Spirited comes to mind), the last two I've read, Water Song and The Crimson Thread were teriffic.

    I really liked the (admittedly stereotypical) story of an Irish family immigrating to America. I felt that the fabric-oriented tale of Rumplestiltskin was a great fit in the world of mills. I loved the book's Rumplestiltskin, and how, FOR ONCE, the "monster" gets a happy ending, instead of being written off as just a villain. I felt that the "fairy" element to the story (i.e. the prologue and the epilogue) was uncalled for, but it did nothing to interfere with or otherwise affect the story.

    I will say I have ONE complaint...I felt that The Crimson Thread, like most of the Once Upon A Time series, was 50-100 pages too short. Everything, from the main plot to Bridget's relationship with BOTH men seemed like it came on a bit too fast. The story would have benefitted if we had a bit of "down time" to get to know the main character and her beaus. Still, it's a minor complaint, and even without that little bit of "filler", the book was very good.

    If you liked this, I highly recommend Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli. It's another, longer book that retells the fairytale of Rumpelstiltskin.

  • Anne Osterlund

    Bridget is an Irish immigrant, a seamstress, and a sister. With a little sister to look after, a set of brothers to support, and a father who has a knack for stretching the truth. A knack which rescues Bridget from the slums, lands her in a posh mansion for one of the wealthiest textile moguls in 1880 New York, and gets her into trouble. Because unless she can turn an error into a triumph within a single night, she and her entire family will be back in the slums. A challenge which means enlisting the help of the indefinable acrobat/tailor/Ray Stalls.

    But it’s not like she isn’t already testing fate.

    I very much enjoyed the twist in this version of Rumpelstiltskin, as well as Bertie & Ray's gifts with dress design.

  • Loraine

    SUMMARY: "Once upon a Time" Is Timeless

    The year is 1880, and Bertie, having just arrived in New York with her family, is grateful to be given work as a seamstress in the home of textile tycoon J. P. Wellington. When the Wellington family fortune is threatened, Bertie's father boasts that Bertie will save the business, that she is so skillful she can "practically spin straw into gold."

    Amazingly, in the course of one night, Bertie creates exquisite evening gowns -- with the help of Ray Stalls, a man from her tenement who uses an old spinning wheel to create dresses that are woven with crimson thread and look as though they are spun with real gold. Indebted to Ray, Bertie asks how she can repay him. When Ray asks for her firstborn child, Bertie agrees, never dreaming that he is serious....

    REVIEW: I found this retelling very interesting. Rather than being in a long ago time in a land faraway, this retelling takes place during the late 1880's and early 90's, when women of wealth spent all their time thinking of nothing but the latest fashions. It gave this old fairy tale a delightful and totally unexpected twist. This original fairy tales was somewhat creepy but Weyn turns it into an excellent historical read pulling in the discrimination against the Irish and the poor as well as the jaded attitudes of the rich towards both groups. She kept enough of the elements of the original fairy tale though for it to be easily recognizable through her version. Through some clever use of names the ending definitely concludes with a humorous twist.


  • Samantha

    Timing really is everything when it comes to reading. I read this book when it first came out and I didn’t like it at all. Now, as I’m older and as a reread, I actually really enjoyed it. These fairytales are basic, but for me, that’s part of their charm.

  • AmeliaaXavier

    Rating: 4 Mysterious Stars!

    description

    "Sometimes a little sugar is all you need, don't you think princess"

    Sometimes, to give myself a bit of a breather, I take in those fondly remembered times of my childhood, when fairy tales became nearly believable, and there was always a touch of enchantment that just might happen. And happily, most of the time, I find those old, old tales to be just the thing to lift me out of a funk. This time the choice was a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, titled The Crimson Thread. The setting is almost the modern world, nineteenth century New York City, in the slums where newly arrived immigrants learn the hard way that the streets are not always paved with gold.

    For Bridget O'Malley, ever since her mother has died, and famine has stalked Ireland, she has tried to mother her family, taking care of both her father and her siblings. But in spite of all of the hardships, she still has her dreams of success. But mixed in with all of the hope, there are some obstacles to overcome -- most notably the prejudice that many have towards the newly arrived Irish. A stranger, Ray Stalls, turns out to be very helpful, befriending Bridget -- now calling herself Bertie Miller to be more acceptable -- with small presents, and almost courting her in his charming way. When the opportunity comes to work as a dressmaker's assistant, Bertie finds herself making an outlandish deal with Ray for his help in crafting a sumptuous ball gown for a wealthy merchant's daughter. But as with all rashly made promises, there is a terrible price underneath the words...

    The Crimson Thread is a sweet and whimsical retelling of Rumpelstilstskin that turns the old tale around completely. It reads more like a historical fiction novel than a fairy tale, and gives a fairly accurate depiction of life for Irish immigrants in New York City along the way, with a dash of the glitz and glamour of the life of the obscenely rich. The pacing of the book is slightly slow at the beginning, but then evens out quickly, making this regrettably short read fly by. The characters are engaging and varied and the magical elements are very light--so much so that it allows readers to speculate as to whether there is any magic at all--but Weyn doesn't divulge any secrets. She manages to create an air of improbability within the story, mirroring Bertie's own uncertain circumstances, which leaves the reader to always wonder what will happen next. But Weyn doesn't disappoint and, through some clever wordplay and neat plotting, brings the story together in a romantic and satisfying end.

    In the end, I found The Crimson Thread to be a clever direct read, witty, and page-turning retelling with a nice, subtle magical element. And even though I tend to like my fairy-tales to have more, well, fairies... I highly recommend Suzanne Weyn's different, refreshing approach in The Crimson Thread.

  • Courtney

    This one gets a 4.5, really. It wasn't one of those ones that I absolutely LOVED and felt like I wanted to read it over again the second that I finished it, but I really really like this one. It reminded me of the Eva Ibbotson novel "A Countess Below Stairs" - it gave me the same kind of happy, 'warm-fuzzy' feeling after finishing.

    It's definitely a unique re-telling of the story. The main character is like-able, and you really sympathize for her in (most of) the various situations she gets involved in during the story (or rather, in several cases, the situations her father gets her involved in). Even when she made a really stupid choice, I felt more exasperated than anything - though, given the type of story this is, that could be because I knew the author would be stepping in to fix it soon enough. (Though given how different this is from the original story, that could have been a bit presumptuous...)

    I would have loved to see colour illustrations in this. The descriptions of the dresses sounded beautiful, but I don't know enough about the periods' fashions to really have a picture of them. It would have been nice to see what the author was picturing. (Not to mention a picture of Ray... ;) )

    The downsides to the story were that I felt it was a little rushed - most of the books in the series are even shorter than this one, but I would definitely have liked it if the author had been able to turn this into a longer novel. Also, some parts were a little confusing, like the descriptions of how the dresses were made, and of what. That could have been cleared up a little. Notes on the period could have helped, too.

    I also didn't get the point of the 'Fairy godmother' at the beginning and the end. I mean okay, she's the narrator. But she only shows up the two times, gives absolutely no contribution to the story... Her whole job seems to be to emphasize the fact that the romantic leads are both of royal lineage. So? Who gives a darn? The characters are still basically nobodies, no matter who an ancestor centuries before may have been (especially since this plays no part in the story). If anything it detracts from the story, making it seem like she's attributing their success to their lineage instead of their personal merits. Virtues are not freaking genetic.

    I just feel like as awesome as I thought this one was, it would have been SO MUCH better if they'd done it as a full stand-alone novel.

  • Jerome Otte

    Dull and uninteresting, this novel bears little to no resemblance to "Rumpelstiltskin."

    Suzanne Weyn manages to keep some of the traditional elements, and the upgrading of the story to a time and place nearer to the modern world, there is one severe problem with this story.

    There really isn't any magic involved. Nothing.

    There is a rich young man who isn't the prince that he seems as he manipulates Bertie, the characters are pretty much one notes and flit in and out of the story with little character depth or reason. Even the creation of the glamourous dresses is seated firmly in mundania, and while they are wonderful to read about, there's nothing there to give the sense of illusion either.

    Even the actions, from the poverty of the Five Points and Hell's Kitchen, to the mansions of Park Avenue, to the horrible conditions in sweatshops and mills and the beginnings of the worker's movements, are very dull to read about. We know what to expect even before the author has set down the words, and for me, that ruined any expectations that I had for this novel. By the time it reached the requisite HEA (Happy Ever After) ending, I didn't care. It might as well just been another historical romance, but even those have some excitement to them, and plainly, this one didn't. Whatever danger or romance that is usually found in the realms of Faerie are just not here -- everything is watered down to a vapid, lifeless mush, and that's a real pity.

  • Jaime

    I liked the idea behind this book, and I liked the clever way Weyn tied the Irish immigrant story to the Rumpelstiltskin fable, but the historical inaccuracies drove me crazy. Granted, this is a retelling of a fairy tale, so a fair amount of leeway must be conferred, but since it is presented within the confines of actual historicity, certain oversights are just plain sloppy. As far as I could ascertain, the action took place in 1880/81. However, a character would not be able to reference Sherlock Holmes at that time because the first S.H. story wasn't published until 1887. A young lady would not make her society debut in a strapless evening gown. A functionally illiterate, female, immigrant seamstress would not have any role in a factory beyond a subordinate position; it greatly stretches plausibility to think she would be a supervisor or that male employees would take direction from her. Also, it doesn't seem that the author researched the prices of commodities very thoroughly. Even if the rest of the narrative had been perfect (not that it was), these and other discrepancies bumped me out of the story too consistently for it to be entirely enjoyable.

  • Alexa

    Funny story: I only realized that I actually had read this novel when I was about a third into it. Isn't that crazy? Anyway, for what it is and for the audience it's intended for, I'd say it's pretty good. It's a unique spin on a well-known fairy tale, and I like the parallels I could draw between this and the original. However, having read quite a number of fairytale retellings since I read this one YEARS ago, I have to say that it's simply okay, and nothing I'd consider remarkable.

  • Richelle

    it wasnt as good as i thought it would be.

  • Dyanna

    This is the second fairy tale retelling by
    Suzanne Weyn that I found interesting and unique. As the title says the story is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskinfollowing an Irish family that immigrates to America for a better life. Bridget is overwhelmed in this new land but when she meets the enigmatic Ray all changes in her live.


    I just like Weyn's retelling, she brings this fairy tales a new touch and make them charming in the modern days regardless of lack of magic.

  • Amy

    The historical part of this book through me. It was like the author looked at a time-line of history, and randomly through in some "references" to make her novel historical. While I'm no expert in the refered-to era, I certainly know a lot, and I found it difficult to swallow that an extremely wealthy family would condone their eldest son and heir's marriage to an Irish immigrant. General references to the slums, work, strikes, carriages, it just all lost me. It was like several decades combined. Like the author read up on Wikipedia about the late eighteen and early nineteen hundreds and used that, plus common history knowledge, to craft her 'historical novel'.
    Except that this is a fairy-tale and not a historical novel, so she gets away with it xD
    I really did find this book clever though, especially the end. The way the story of Rumpelstiltskin is weaved in and out makes an entertaining and creative read.
    The thing that annoyed me about Bertie (the main character) is her naivity. Couldn't someone, anyone have warned her about rich young men flirting with servant girls? Gosh, not the housekeeper, her friends, Ray? Overall, I liked her character, though. She's strong and hard working and creative. She takes good care of her younger sister and doesn't go all whiny.
    Her Father was annoying. But I suppose he kind of has to be, I mean, think about the original fairy-tale. What kind of a guy boasts that his daughter can spin straw into gold??? So, similarily, the Dad is a dramatic dreamer who really has no business being settled with five kids.
    The ages of her brothers confused me. I thought the 11 year old was working...and suddenly he isn't. It was kind of confuzzling, but that might have just been me.

    So here's my conclusions: a good story. Worth reading. There aren't very many re-tellings of Rumpelstiltskin (I mean, you sneeze and you hit a Cinderella re-telling), the only one I'm familiar with is
    A Curse Dark As Gold and that is a good story (similar setting) but different.
    Another winner from the Once Upon A Time series :)

  • Maranda   Melange of Reviews

    2/5 stars
    You can find all my reviews
    here

    Growing up the fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin was one I didn’t know very well. But once I began watching Once Upon a Time, on ABC I fell in love with Robert Carlyle’s portrayal. No matter what “Mr. Gold/Rump” did I was bewitched by him and he remained my favorite. So when I came across this book I was hoping it had the same effect. I was, however, quite sad that Rumpel isn’t very mischievous in Suzanne Weyn’s retelling.

    There is no magic in this fairy tale, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, one of the things I liked best about the story is that she made it work in an everyday way. They had to have their talents, rather than magic to help them along. And the setting of 1880 New York, in the industrial period when women had very few career options really worked well.

    There were some things that didn’t work out for me though. Bertie falls for a guy she hardly knows, which I understand can happen but I get sick of books always having it one of two ways. Either they hate each other until they learn to love each other or it’s a love at first sight kind of story. I’m fairly certain there are other ways to make a romance novel work. I don’t want to go into all of the inaccuracies but there were quite a few I noticed. One especially is the strapless dress. The earliest mention I could find for strapless dresses was in the 1930s.

    All in all it was alright. Enjoyable for the most part while I read it but didn’t live up to my expectations. Robert Carlyle has set my Rumpelstiltskin bar very, very high.

  • Emma Coward

    I remember really enjoying this series in middle school, and I still love the concept (and, let's be real, the covers are gorgeous). Having re-read several of them over the last few days, I have to say I'm very disappointed.
    -The writing, particularly from Suzanne Wein, is wretched. Awkward dialogue, terrible pacing, and bland characters abound. It hurts.
    -Some of the books, most notably this one and the Diamond Secret, attempt to blend history with the source fairy tales. In theory, this is a neat device. Unfortunately, it seems nobody wanted to do any actual research, so both books are filled with anachronisms. It's obnoxious.
    -This is my biggest problem with this series. Every single book ends with some iteration of "The protagonist realized she had always loved the guy from the beginning of the story who she claimed to hate, and they kissed, and she finally felt like she was home." If you're going to reboot classic fairy tales, what's even the point if you stick to the lame tropes and antiquated gender roles pervasive throughout the originals? I'm all for preserving the original spirit of the story, but it's so frustrating to read about an alleged spunky, independent princess who ends up defining herself by her relationship with the "Prince," no matter how unlikely he may be.

    TL;DR the concept of these books is amazing, the execution is a huge disappointment.

  • Joy Crain

    What a sweet story!

    I am a huge fan of fairytale retellings and one of my favorite fairytales as a young girl was Rumpelstiltskin which is what first drew my attention to this book. The storyline was new and refreshing and the characters relateable. The many twists and turns of the novel had my attention from the start and the ending was endearing as well as surprising.

    Bridget O'Malley and her family have left their home in Ireland for America and soon Bridget gets a job working for a rich man named J.P Wellington as a dress maker for his family. But when her father fabricates the truth about her basically being able to turn "straw into gold," Bridget (Now called Bertie) is mortified. Everything relies on her keeping her job and helping her family. But with the help of the mysterious Ray Stalls, Bridget produces lovely gowns seemingly made from gold and attracts the attention of the rich man's son. But after an argument, Ray Stalls demands her firstborn child in return for helping her to which she agrees.

    Pretty straightforward as far as the plot goes but the ending surprised and surpassed all my expectations.

    Definitely the best retelling of any fairytale I have ever read. 5 stars! I would give it more if I could.

  • Janus the Erudite Artist

    Aaawwwwww…

    That was my first reaction after reading The Crimson Thread.

    I can definitely say that this retelling was sweet, fun and very original. I could hardly believe that I read it in one sitting, coz I really don’t normally do that. ^^

    I was satisfied with the new twist on this simple tale. We all know that Rumpelstiltskin was a conniving villain so it was interesting to see him on the good side in this book. He’s actually named Ray or Rudy or Rudolph here, but you’ll get the idea when you read it.

    The whole romance though could’ve been more developed but then again, aren’t all fairy tales raw when it comes to this matter? I mean, they come with love at first sight and happily ever after and that’s it, so I can’t blame Weyn with the simplicity of Bertie and Ray’s relationship.

    I’m not going to press anything more on this because I’d probably be telling the whole tale if I do, just that this is a refreshing new way of looking at this classic tale and I don’t see it to be disappointing.

    For more of my reviews, please visit my blog:
    The Blair Book Project @
    www.theblairbookproject.blogspot.com

  • Rosemarie

    I bought The Crimson Thread because I wanted to know more about Rumpelstiltskin after watching the character on the TV show "Once Upon a Time." Both the show and this version of the story are very good - although possibly very different.

    At first, this book does not seem like a fairy tale re-telling at all. It follows and Irish immigrant family as they settle in America in the late 1880's. Bridget is the main character and she gets a job as a seamstress.

    The plot is all about the textile industry of the time and was a bit like a history lesson as well. The story goes from bad, to good, to very bad, to very good - it really keeps you on the edge of your seat.

    The character of Rumpel is very vague at first but turns out to be much nicer than I expected. I'm not sure how true that is to the original character, but I liked it very much.

    All in all this was a very good read especially if you like this genre because I have not come across any other Rumpel stories.

  • Lana

    I give this book 5 stars not because it included anything I normally give five stars to (aside from the fairy tale elements). There were no hints and subtly revealed plot twists, no extensive world building, nothing that would really make me read it again and again.

    And yet, somehow, it deserves five stars. It was short and sweet and exactly what I wanted/needed to read at the time. The characters were lovely and old-fashioned and I just loved the feel of the book. It felt like a little old fairy tale and I didn't want anything more.

    Yes, it was lovely and old-fashioned and fairy-tale-esque, and I really loved reading it.

  • Kate

    A unique take on Rumpelstiltskin. Bridget has just arrived from Ireland with her family, and they make their way in the new world. Bridget's father's big dreams keep getting the small family in trouble, but Ray Stalls is always there to save the day.

    I really enjoyed this story. The Irish immigration has always been fascinating for me. This story combines that with fairy-tales, another love of mine.

  • Alex

    I really disliked this book. I disliked it so much that I started it in May or June and stoped reading it and finished it in August when I got tired of it being on my currently-reading list. I recommend this to those of you who are very patient and like little romance novels.
    Rating: 2/10
    Parental Rating: 10+

  • Dominique

    Ugh. So cheesy and predictable, even if you didn't know the story of Rumplestiltskin. I felt irritated at all the characters, including Bertie. None of the story seemed real--I get that it's a retelling of a fairytale, but it was all set in a false reality. Definitely would not recommend.

  • Kristen

    Another good one.

  • Grace Bittle

    A lovely re-telling, of the classic fairy tale.
    However, I don't recall Rumpelstiltskin getting the girl in the end, do you???