Category Archives: Historical Fiction

Bitter Greens – Kate Forsyth
Allison and Busby, 2013
Review copy from The Book Depository
Buy: Bookdepository *

In Bitter Greens Kate Forsyth tells the stories of three women.

In part, it is a retelling of the story of Rapunzel, through its focus on Margherita who is taken from her parents when they make a promise to a witch over a handful of bitter greens. Margherita is taken to a convent and later locked up in a tower surrounded by red-gold tresses of hair.

It is also the story of witch Selena Leonelli who lives in Renaissance Venice, was once the muse of the artist Tiziano, and is becoming exceedingly afraid of time.

But most of all, Bitter Greens is the story of Charlotte-Rose de la Force, who is exiled from the court of Louis XIV and sent to a convent. There, she struggles to submit to the nun’s rules, especially as she is now without a means to write down her stories. Charlotte-Rose story is told both through flashback to her time at court, as well as by glimpses of her time in the convent, where she learns about Margherita’s story, and where she eventually came to write down the version of the tale of Rapunzel which we are now most familiar with.

As you might gather from the extended plot summary, Bitter Greens packs a lot. And I have not even told you about the most interesting elements of the book yet. For Bitter Greens is not only a retelling of a fairy tale, or a wonderful immersion in three different historical settings, it also contains reflections on the importance of storytelling (especially as we witness Charlotte-Rose relating to Margherita’s tale), and ultimately, it is the story of the fates of women, their possibilities, their lack of opportunities in diverse settings, and their efforts to (re)gain agency in their own life. In that manner, I cannot help but draw parallel’s to Margo Lanagan’s fiction. Not because I want to discuss which is better, but because there are parallels that I think many readers of Lanagan’s fiction will appreciate in Bitter Greens. 

It need not be surprising that the intertwinement of great storytelling with reflections on the possibilities of women in diverse historical settings and a slight fantasy twist was what I appreciated most in Bitter Greens. I really liked how the story was not just about the lack of such possibilities, but instead portrayed the trial and error of people in a subordinated possition finding their own way. I appreciated the attention paid to the complexities of several things that can work both to empower and imprison women. There’s beauty and its drawbacks and advantages in the different stories. There’s sex of both the freeing and the damning kind. And there’s love of the healthy and unhealthy variety. And, of course, through the discussion of the diverse settings in which these three women move, convents, cities, courts (which are all wonderfully brought to live, I might add!) there are the restrictions and boundaries placed upon such basic things as movements and thoughts in different ways.

At a certain moment, when Selena Leonelli is faced with a choice concerning her future, there’s a rather bleak, but also powerful passage in which she is both offered a choice, but at the same time faces the lack of choice available to her:

‘You are very beautiful, Selena, as I’m sure you know. You must understand that your beauty is as much a curse as a blessing. It will give you power, if you use it wisely. But it does mean that you must choose your sphere of influence. There are only three choices of women in this world that we live in. You can be a nun, or a wife, or a whore. Which will you choose?’

‘I want to be a witch like you.’

‘Then you must be a whore.’

For a moment, I could not speak, my ears and eyes filled with memories like maggots.

Then I realised Sibillia was right. A nun was locked away behind high walls, never to step foot outside again. Even if the tales of nuns tunnelling through the walls to let in their lovers were true, the fact remained that they were bound in service to their god and had little freedom or power in their lives. And, in Venice, wives were kept almost as close as nuns. At Carnevale time, men took their mistresses out to see the festivities while their wives stayed at home with their children. They went out only to church, or to visit family in their private homes, their hair tucked under demure caps, their bodies encased in armour of fathingales and petticoats. I could not bear such a life.

The interesting thing to me is how in Bitter Greens power and the possibility of choice for these women always comes with responsibility. In becoming a witch like Sibillia, Selena in the end oppresses others. She can give a position and protection to people in difficult circumstances, but always at a cost to their own freedom. In court, a similar situation is painted of people always in battle over rights and positions, facing the possibility that one upgrade might mean a downgrading, or even a loss of life, of others.

It is not that there is only oppression in Bitter Greens. Even though the book very much engages with the idea of empowerment at the cost or at the benefit of others, with violence, and moreover with a lot of sexual violence in the form of rape (trigger warning, there are repeated graphic descriptions of rape), there is also a storyline of redemption woven through the book, where there are choices and sacrifices that allow these women to find a place in life. Bounded by circumstances, sure, but definitely with the possibility of some form of peace of mind. And because the reader is constantly shown in what ways these women suffer, I did not read this redemption as a “see, however bad the circumstances, anyone can find happiness” storyline, for it is not. It is rather about the possibilities of finding your own space, at the cost of constantly having to negotiate about that space, a negotiation that you can lose easily in these societies. As I said before, there are stories of selfish love, but also those of a more healthy kind. And very important, there is sex as oppression, but sex is never shamed as such, and its pleasures are also explored.

What I loved about Bitter Greens is how it manages to combine so much of what I enjoy: it is complex fiction, historical fiction, fairy tales, feminist perspectives, reflections on the use and abuse of power, an appreciation for individual circumstances in the midst of societal forces, and even a note on religion (albeit, I think, mostly in a negative way). I fear I cannot even begin to do this book justice, as I struggle to do with a lot of books that are complex and lovely. I hope this reflects some of what I meant to say. I know I will be returning to this story in my mind for quite a while. Days after finishing, I found myself returning to the settings and people that appear in this story, longing for more, even if in itself, Bitter Greens already offers everything and more than I expected (and I had high expectations going in). I suspect this may end up ranking high on my-favourite-reads-of-2013 list.

I would love to discuss this book more in-depth with those who have read it. For example, there is one thing I wonder about: what about the portrayal of GLBTQ characters? There are heavy hints towards two persons having gay relationships, and I felt that perhaps, they were not always handled particularly sympathetic. The king’s brother becomes somewhat of a caricature, and the reader is not offered much beyond the glimpses of his dress and affair with a man. Another character… receives a more redeeming storyline in some respects, but her attempts towards physical contact with members of her own sex are mostly painted in light of power relations and oppression. In part, this fits with this book’s narrative surrounding sex as a means of joy or violence. On the other hand, I wondered at the choice to include gay characters mostly in this manner. I cannot quite make up my mind how to feel about this. If you ahve thoughts, please share them with me.

Other Opinions: The Worm Hole, The Little Reader Library, The Broke and the Bookish,  Book’d Out, Yours?

Bitter Greens, as a retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale, fits Carl‘s Once Upon a Time Challenge perfectly. For me, it was a great book to start the challenge with.

* This is an affiliate link. If you buy a product through this link, I will receive a small percentage of the purchase price.