As I’ve grown tired of waiting for the gifts I received to be recced, I’m going to rec them myself. I don’t do this because they’re my gifts, I do it because they’re both wonderful stories, each in a different way.
Nothing Gold (1436 words) by Anonymous
Fandom:
A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson BurnettRating: Not Rated
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Sara Crewe, Becky (A Little Princess)
Summary:
Leaving Miss Minchin's isn't difficult, but the story of Sara's life isn't as always as easy to suppose as she once believed.
What I like: Thoughtful and melancholy, it’s a match with the tone of the original. It’s a coda to the book that shows mostly Becky’s PoV, but gives excellent insight into Sara’s. It’s not an angst-fest either; it’s wonderfully nuanced. There are some striking turns of phrases that I’ll let you discover for yourself.
The language is beautiful, Sara and Becky delightfully in character, and it made me smile and my heart ache at the same time
A Little Goddess (6366 words) by Anonymous
Fandom:
A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson BurnettRating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: OFC
Summary:
Like when Isis went to live in the marsh and begged for food for her baby, Serqa went to live on the roof of the Gorgos Sisters Hellenic Gymnasium for girls. Like Isis, she had a curse to lift and steps to take through the world that was full of magic if you’d stop to tell the tale.
What I like: one of the things I’d mentioned in my Yuletide letter was that I was interested in seeing a transposition of Sara and her stories in another culture/time/surroundings, and mentioned that since she wouldn’t know Marie Antoinette she might admire Scheherazade or Isis.
This is that story, and more than that. It’s an extraordinary tale of magical realism that weaves seamlessly the original plot, the myths, and the cultural/racial politics of Ancient Egypt. Magic with words.