The Wall

Fairy tales are tricky things. I loved running around as a kid pretending I was a Princess battling an evil curse until I achieved my happily ever after by vanquishing a demon or two. As a grown up, I had some serious moral qualms about questionable consent, overt moralizing and the fact that most of the female characters were either villainous harpies or waiting around for someone else to save them. A far cry from the sword wielding Princess I used to pretend to be.

Sarah Jane Singer’s Jewish coded fairy tale The Wall provides a happy medium. While the heroine Thea starts out hopelessly naive, sneaking out from the walled home her father erected to protect her, she luckily puts her trust in the right people. Her rescuer, Eytan, not only defends her but also ensures she learns to defend herself. As Thea, Eytan and a golden lion named Zav journey across the country together, Thea unravels the mystery of the family curse that required her to live within a wall, the strength that lies within herself, and even a mystery or two about Eytan. Yes, you read that correctly, the heroine rescues the hero just as much as he rescues her.

For Hebrew speakers, the book is peppered with many fun references like the lion’s name as well as the dessert country being named “Midbar”. These linguistic clues may also help diligent readers catch some hints about Eytan’s mysterious past, but a reader unfamiliar with Hebrew will not suffer for it. There is also significantly more queer content found in these pages than traditional, sanitized, fairy tales would allow.

The trio faces a journey of self discovery together. Although Thea and Eytan each have very different demons to battle, it is only with the strength of the other that they can move forward on their individual journeys. It is a true partnership, the likes of which are not often seen in fairy tales. Although Thea is no Princess, by the end of the book she is also not a damsel in distress. She is a force to be reckoned with.

Note -I received a free e-copy of this book from the author in the hopes I might review it.

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E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.