As someone who loves fairy tales, but knew nothing about the brothers
Grimm I found this an interesting read.

Amazon review - "The famous fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are
known to millions of people around the world, and stories such as Snow
White, Red Riding Hood and Rumpelstiltskin are deeply embedded in the
collective psyche. In this charming book, writer and scholar Valerie
Paradiz reveals the astonishing true story of how the fairy tales came
to be. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, collectors and editors of more than
200 folk stories, were major German intellects of the nineteenth
century, contemporaries of Goethe and Stiller. But as Paradiz reveals
here, the romantic image of the two brothers traveling the
countryside, transcribing tales told to them by peasants, is a far cry
from the truth. In fact, more than half the fairy tales the Grimm
brothers collected were actually contributed by their educated female
friends from the bourgeois and aristocratic classes. While German
folkloric scholars - all of them male - fancied themselves the keepers
of the cultural flame, it was a handful of women who ensured that
millions would know the stories of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella by
heart. Set against the chaos of the Napoleonic wars and the years of
high-German romanticism, Clever Maids chronicles one of the most
fascinating literary collaborations in European history and
brilliantly captures the intellectual spirit of the men and women of
the age. Even more, it illuminates the ways in which the Grimm tales,
with their mythic portrayals of courage, sacrifice and betrayal, still
speak so powerfully to us today."

I am going to send this out on an international bookray. The participants are:-

ziggythecat (UK)
Tazzell (UK, can post Intl)
tehuti (UK, can post intl)
Aubriel (UK)
Xanthe-pup (UK, can post intl)
Iojima (France, can post Europe)
Trelk (Switzerland, can post intl)
mrsordonez (USA)
bookreadera (USA)
tobysrus (USA)
thebowiefollies (USA, can ship intl)
realbooklover (USA)
azuki (US)

Yippee this book arrived this morning. I deliberately didn't start a new book yesterday hoping it would come today and was a bit lost without something to read in the evening (resorted to suduko!).
Thanks pennywhistler.

I found this a very interesting subject but the style of writing rather irritating. The author had two agendas - the unfair and chauvenistic behaviour of the brothers in collecting and publishing the stories without properly crediting their sources (women friends/family etc, and the role of fairy/folk stories in subjugating women within marriage/traditional roles. Both fair points but she didn't half go on about it, lol. The constant griping and repetition rather overshadowed the interesting history of the brothers grimm and of the stories themselves.

A subject I'd like to read more about but not an author I'd bother with again.

Thanks pennywhistler :o)
On its way to Tazzell 16th May.

Arrived today thanks. I've got one bookring in front of it then I'll be able to snuggle down and read this with the rain lashing at the windows - how romantic ;)

Well this really was an enjoyable history lesson. I recently watched the film with the delectable Heath Ledger so had only just realised that the stories themselves weren't actually written by the brothers. How stupid do I feel? The book really does press home the fact that women during this time period used tales to socialise themselves to the harsh realities of their daily lives and also to make their voices heard.
Thanks for organising the ring pennywhistler, the book will be off to tehuti first thing tomorrow.

Apologies, work, illness, domestic stress and travelling have conspired to prevent a timely journal entry for receipt of this book. I will try to read it as soon as possible.

First of all, a HUGE apology to pennywhistler for stalling this ring for so long. My life turned upside down this summer, ultimately for the best, but it has meant Bookcrossing is having to take a back seat for a while.

I found this an interesting book and liked the way the author looked at the social and political conditions and how they affected the people involved in gathering the fairy tales. Personally, I would also have liked some psychological analyses of the tales, the protagonists and the links between them.

Sent today to Aubriel by 1st class post

Arrived safely, many thanks. I have a couple of books to read before this one - rings seem to be like buses ;-) but will get to it asap

Normally I journal a book as I post it on to the next ring participant, but I'm having some trouble getting in touch with the next person. Then with Xmas and all it will be a little more delayed so I thought it best to give an update now.

I found this book fascinating. I liked her intepretation of fairy tales as a vehicle for expressing and reinforcing gender roles in the period. Obviously, it isn't the only interpretation possible, but an interesting one nevertheless.

Once I have an address I will post this book on, though it will probably be in the New Year now.

Received yesterday - I have three other rings before this, but will get to it as quickly as possible.

Quite enjoyed this book. It was fairly unchallenging, and taught me a lot about the brothers Grimm, and the world they inhabited.

Have PM'd Iojima for an address.

Sending to Iojima today.

Sorry for the delay. Received 2 days ago, but house guests & skiing. . .

Most of what had to be said was said in the Prologue. This would have been a marvelously better book if it had been a collection of the illustrative tales with introductions and notes for each. I found her "re-telling" of the tales clear, but uninteresting. Trelk is next.

Got it today, thanks

A pretty interesting read but I can't say I was hooked.

Waiting on mrsordonez's address.

Thanks for sharing pennywhistler

The Grimm Brothers will start their long journey from Switzerland to the US first time tomorrow.