The Ordinary Princess

Before all the fractured fairy tale movies and other retellings, there was The Ordinary Princess. This is from the 1980s and has been reprinted several times, with progressively worse covers, but I am lucky enough to have the original cover.

This is an original fairytale in the style of Eleanor Farjeon and Milne, who wrote what are usually called "fairy stories" that might or might not have contained actual fairies. Princess Amethyst Alexandra Aurelia Anne was the seventh daughter of a fairy tale king and queen but received an unusual gift at her christening; "You shall be ordinary!" says the Fairy Crustacea. And ordinary Amy is. She has a snub nose, cries, and is no more a golden-haired, romantic princess than the maids of the castle. show more So it's easy for her to switch places with one Clorinda and retreat to the forest where she enjoys a happy life. But one day she meets a boy named Perry...

I think, if reprinted with the original or a good cover, this fairy tale would find an audience. It has just a little romance, a lot of humor, and pokes gentle fun at fairy tale tropes without being crude or raucous. It's still a fairy story with magical creatures, floating dresses, and royalty. It's also a sweet fantasy with animals, a truly delicious and unique fairy godmother, and an ordinary heroine who is anything but ordinary.

Verdict: I can't recommend you purchase this now, the only in print cover is awful, however, it's worth looking for a used copy to enjoy for yourself.

ISBN: 0153046120; Published 1984 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; From my personal library show less

I heard about this on a Twitter thread started by Gail Carriger, and I thought it might be just the thing after finishing a gritty urban fantasy novel earlier today.

What an adorable story! I adored Princess Amy, the fairy Crustacea, and dear dear Peregrine. I loved that Amy liked herself and knew her own mind—the letter she left when she decided to run away was priceless. And the scenes with Peregrine were so sweet! I enjoyed the author’s sense of humor as well.

This was a comforting, quick read, and I’m sure I’ll read it again.

P.S. Don’t skip the author’s intro when you read it!

This book--a charming fairy tale and a lovely read-aloud--does what is does extremely well.

There's some troubling gender and other stuff floating around here (asking the heroine's father for "her hand," for instance, and the insistence on very pale skin and hair as the beauty standard, and the happy ending of marriage sort of reinforcing the "old maid" as shameful failure vibe pushed by the heroine's family). But for a *princess* book, it's downright progressive. It rejects the idea of trading a woman between men for political/family purposes and also rejects the idea that a man needs to rescue the princess from the tower. It downplays the importance of being pretty, beautiful, glamorous, and stereotypically feminine. It gives us an show more enterprising, interesting, and blessedly ordinary princess. Without prettying her up at the end, it acknowledges that an ordinary-looking, active, no-nonsense girl/woman can be happy and loved. And it does romance in a way that models a healthy sort of relationship, fun and egalitarian.

Also, I mean, there's this princess and she has animal companions and she and her friend build a cool structure in the woods for picnics and suchlike. Good times.

I wonder why I didn't know about this book as a child? It was around, after all: it was originally published in 1980. show less

4.5 stars! This was such a funny and sweet read! This is written in a typical fairytale style. It follows Princess Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne, who is born beautiful and perfect, just like all of her older sisters. When she’s still a baby, the king and queen have a classic Sleeping Beauty-esque ceremony where all the fairy godmothers come to bless the baby. The princess has a whopping 17 fairy godmothers to bless her with various attributes, so by the time the 17th rolls around she’s already been super blessed. But number 17 is in a terrible mood because of all the traffic jams she experienced on the way there, so she “blesses” the princess with the gift of being “ordinary,” at which point the show more princess becomes simply “Amy.” Everyone is thoroughly horrified, and the story continues from there…

The stand out character in this is totally Crustacea, the 17th fairy godmother. With her pet frogs in tow on leashes, she arrives at the ceremony dripping salt water and covered in seaweed (she lives in a watery place and doesn’t take kindly to drying out). The author also drew the illustrations, and the ones she did of Crustacea are fantastic! No written description could do them justice. Amy, as a main character, is a delight to follow as well. She likes being ordinary and sees it as a gift!

This is definitely a great “read aloud to your kids at bedtime” sort of book. Highly recommend! show less

October 2019 Reread:

I have still never read a book that's more delightful, lively, sweet, warm, bright, joyful, and heartwarming than this one. It's charming in every way, in the truest sense of the word. It's also whimsical and witty. It never fails to put a huge smile on my face, make me laugh, and fill my heart to bursting with warm and wonderful things.

I keep reading this darling novella again and again, and it will never get old. This month's reread was my second in less than six months. I can't believe I've only read it four times, and only read it for the first time three years ago. It feels like it's been part of my heart for my whole life. I waited too long to read it for the first time, even after I heard about it late, when I show more was a teenager. Don't wait to pick it up, like I did!

I shall try to sum up the basic premise, but every time I've tried to capture this lovely book in the past (including very recently), my words have failed to do it justice. I also tried not to spoil anything in my first review, but there will be basic spoilers in the next paragraph.

This is the tale of a young princess who's too ordinary in every way to appeal to any suitors. Her parents love her dearly, but they're horrified at the disgrace of a princess failing to marry. But the Ordinary Princess decides she's much happier living an ordinary, independent life, and she firmly resolves to never marry at all--though she's genuinely forced to run away to ensure that. Forging her own path, she finds adventure, friendship, and a life of her own making. And, unexpectedly, she meets a friend who's as ordinary as herself. . . .

The Ordinary Princess herself is a wonderful and endearing protagonist. I love her cleverness, resourcefulness, mischievous spirit, and determination. And I love each of her friends, especially a certain young man! I love their friendship and the way they relate to each other and have loads of fun together--it's so sweet! It's so obvious that they truly care about each other and want the best for each other.

I love everything else about the book too! My original review below sums up a few of those things.

This is a fairy tale, it's true--but it’s not a retelling of a traditional fairy tale, even though it pays homage to them and pokes fun at them. Rather, it's an original fairy tale made up by the author--she purposefully included some aspects of original tales and contradicted others, such as making her princess ordinary instead of willowy and blonde. This tale does feature at least one fairy--but not the type of fairy you’d expect. And there is a titular princess--but as the title suggests, the princess is not the usual type of princess, either.

This was published as a children's book, but it has just as much to offer for adults. It can truly be enjoyed just as much by teens, adults, or anyone of any age. Some aspects of the book are targeted more at older people, such as the humor and romance, but will also delight even the youngest child.

The Ordinary Princess will delight readers of all ages who love fantasy, fairy tales, or children's books for any age--or those who simply love sweet stories with heart, humor, and unique and lively characters.


March 2018 Review:

The Ordinary Princess is one of the sweetest books I have ever had the immense pleasure of reading. Indeed, I have never read a sweeter book! There's such a blissful, joyful, cozy, warm, and heartfelt feeling that comes packed into this little book. It's utterly delightful, and I read it each time with a huge, beaming grin on my face. It's also humorous - I laughed out loud often throughout!

The characters are wonderful and so, so sweet. I love that the main character is a princess yet ordinary, sensible, and practical. She's so sweet. A certain important friend of hers is just as sweet and wonderful, a person whom I adore for many reasons. And I love the princess's parents and each of the other characters in turn. They're all so vivid and sweet and funny!

The settings are colorful and beautiful, and the descriptions allow me to see each flower, tree, and castle. The forest is especially gorgeous, and I wish I could spend an afternoon there. The accompanying illustrations by the author are adorable, and they fit the book perfectly.

I love the satirical commentary on princesses, princes, royalty, fairy tales, and court customs. It's hilarious! The author makes fun of the common fairy tale cliches and turns them on their heads, and I love it.

Also, I adore the author's perfect use of the "Lavender's Blue" song, which was interwoven perfectly and very meaningful.

I wish I had read or discovered this book sooner - and obeyed the recommendation from a dear friend earlier! But I'm just glad I did read it when I did, even if it wasn't till my late teens. I spent a blissful afternoon under the trees and sunshine immersing myself in the story, and I read it in one sitting, which I never, ever do! I've been greatly looking forward to re-reading it ever since I read it the first time, and it was wonderful to do so just now. Since my first read, I've also been anticipating someday reading it to my little sister, which may not be far off now - and I can't wait! It will be such a fun read-aloud, and I know she'll love it just much as I do - perhaps even more as she grows older.

I highly recommend this book to people of all ages - it can be enjoyed equally by children and adults who delight in a sweet story. show less

The eponymous princess in this book, Amy, is the youngest of seven princesses, each more beautiful than the last. At her christening, the water fairy Crustacea comes and announces “You shall be ordinary!” Which is just what Amy grows up to be, mousy hair and freckles and a turned-up nose, and when she’s of marriageable age nobody wants to marry her, and what with one thing and another she runs away and gets a job as a scullery maid in another kingdom. There she meets a very agreeable man-of-all-work called Perry, and on their days off, they hang out in the forest feeding nuts to squirrels and building a little cottage for themselves. (Until all is discovered.)

M.M. Kaye is so mysterious. She wrote two books about India, Shadow of show more the Moon and The Far Pavilions, which I really enjoyed. She wrote a series of mysteries, which I found terribly tedious. She wrote a book called Trade Winds in which the protagonist gets raped and falls in love with her rapist and they live happily ever after, which I’m not even going to get into because it makes me so furious. And then she wrote The Ordinary Princess, the loveliest book ever.

I can see how this book would sound totally saccharine – Amy hums merry songs while she does her drudgery work, and she has animal friends with names that follow her around. She talks to her wisteria vine and likes picking wildflowers with the local maidens. This talking to plants and animals and frolicking in meadows tends to be the sort of thing about which my mother puts on her old lady voice and snaps “Too sweet to be wholesome!” EXCEPT THAT, M.M. Kaye obviously decided that every time she started to be saccharine, she would stop being saccharine and be AWESOME instead.

True story.

Moreover, in case this story wasn’t already genius enough (it was), M.M. Kaye illustrated it herself, and I have rarely read a book in which the illustrations went so well with the story. Not even The Ghost of Opalina. Amy looks exactly like you’d think she would – ordinary. Not ugly. Just ordinary. And Perry, who is introduced as “the nice young man” looks like an exactly nice young man. I would go out with Perry. He offers her illicit ice cream, and makes her a necklace out of acorn cups.

I can’t imagine why anyone would not like The Ordinary Princess. Do you have books like that, where you really can’t see any reason for anybody, ever, to dislike it? Is it because they’re stunningly good, or because they’re just friendly and likeable? show less

By tradition, all the fairies are invited to the christening of Amethyst, the seventh princess. Most of them give traditional gifts of Wit, Charm, etc, but Crustacea (fairy in charge of water) decides to stir things up and makes her Ordinary. So, along with being witty and charming and healthy and courageous, Amy has mousy hair and grayish-brown eyes and freckles! Plus she prefers climbing trees and playing in the forest over spending time with her very un-Ordinary sisters.

I was having trouble concentrating on anything longer, so I grabbed The Ordinary Princess, which I loved as a kid. For the most part, the story still holds up. It's sort of a parody of the Disney fairy tales where all the princesses are blonde and blue-eyed and show more useless (which Amy's sisters, who we never really meet, apparently are).

It's a charming story about a princess who doesn't want to wait around to meet her prince (and maybe doesn't even want to get married at all!) and instead runs off to have some ordinary adventures. Reminiscent of Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede; Amy and Cimorene would probably be great friends. show less