Questions for Week One: Sections I – III: Pages 3 – 128

Laura and Iris spend their childhood in Avilion, "a merchant's palace," and, like princesses in a fairy tale, are virtually untouched by the outside world. What other elements reinforce the fairy-tale-like quality of their lives? What role does Alex Thomas play within this context? Does Iris's depiction of her life as an old woman also draw on the conventions of fairy tales?

The early removal of the mother creates a sense of the little girls being lost, adrift, as the father is somewhat feared because he is unknown. The attempt by the household to keep the aspects of the mother's miscarriage and death hidden from the girls forces them to seek out answers themselves, such as finding the miscarriage wrapped in sheets in the basin like an abandoned baby in a basket.
In her old age, Iris is forced to bestow the family fortunes ( a small scholarship) on a stranger rather like a member of local royalty.

Nicely said. I also think that the "task" set for Iris to always take care of Laura requested by both parents also has a fairy-tale slant to it. Maybe in her depiction of her life as an old woman, the relationship she has with her heart. She walks in the heat and her heart beats harder. She walks for her heart, but she pushes it too hard. Her heart has been hurt, and she is aware of it.
--BJ

I didn't really see the fairy tale quality on first reading, but definitely agree with the comments above.

Looking back at part III, Iris really does seem like a deposed princess from a fairy tale, revisiting the faded ruins of her family's fortunes and reminiscing about her grandmother Adelia's attempts to cast Avilion as a fairy tale palace with her Tennyson-inspired Christmas cards. The irony of the peaceful idyll of Avilion transmuting into Valhalla, a home for battle-hardened working-class heroes, is not lost on Iris. Her snide assessments of the well-meaning Myra and Walter drive home the fact that Iris hasn't let go of the class distinctions of her childhood.

Another fairy-tale-like element is the presence of Alex Thomas. In the early parts of the book he arrives from "outside," like a wandering bard telling strage and wonderful tales and, as we later learn, bringing a different worldview to the peaceful kingdom.

Also the riches to rags to riches (then back to rags) reinforces the fairy tale aspect. Iris and Laura were certainly sequestered from normal life and treated as though they were "above" the common people. Winifred is set up as the villian (albeit sister-in-law rather than stepmother).

Alex plays a bit of the handsome prince role. Both girls find him attractive and interesting, and he shakes loose their perceptions of the "real world" and calls their lifestyle into question. He enables them to imagine a different kind of life - one that is less tedious and less confined by upholding roles and meeting expectations.

There is a lot of talk about "happy endings" in this book too. Iris mentions how as a child she expected everything to end with a happily-ever-after. Throughout her life, she begins to reflect that this is not a true-to-live scenario, and that not every story ends happily.