The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin"

A feisty retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. The main character was very realistic and vivid. The adventure aspect of it keeps the reader engaged and the romance aspect is not too overwhelming.

The fun thing about these reworked fairy tales in the Once Upon A Time series is seeing how the books manage to keep the essence of the traditional fairy tale while transforming it into something entirely new and different. This didn't have as much in common with its traditional tale as some of these books have. I really enjoyed stumbling upon these connections as the book went along. Crimson Thread is the tale of a young Irish woman Bridge, who comes to America with her widowed father, three brothers, and toddler sister. Bridge's father is an exaggerator who gets a job as a stable hand by pretending to not be Irish. Then he lies to the seamstress of the household where he works. He tells her that his daughter is the best seamstress in show more the land. He shows his shirt and says Bridge made it but it was truly made by her deceased mother. Bridget gets the job and falls for the oldest son and heir to the household and family business. Bridget must again live up to her father's boasts when he claims she can make a fabulous and fashionable dress out of drab blue cloth. In desperation, Bridget tells this to Ray Stalls, a street friend who seems to be around whenever Bridget needs help. He takes her to a basement where there is a spinning wheel and he makes the dress for her....then he agrees to make two more in exchange for her firstborn child. Even if you take Rumplestiltskin out of this tale altogether, it still an absolutely lovely fairy tale. The author did a great job of keeping secrets that slowly reveal themselves along the way. I was delighted with the is book and its one of my favorite in the series thus far. For teens and adults who still believe in fairy tales. show less

2/5 stars
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Growing up the fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin was one I didn’t know very well. But once I began watching Once Upon a Time, on ABC I fell in love with Robert Carlyle’s portrayal. No matter what “Mr. Gold/Rump” did I was bewitched by him and he remained my favorite. So when I came across this book I was hoping it had the same effect. I was, however, quite sad that Rumpel isn’t very mischievous in Suzanne Weyn’s retelling.

There is no magic in this fairy tale, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, one of the things I liked best about the story is that she made it work in an everyday way. They had to have their talents, rather than magic to help them along. And the setting of show more 1880 New York, in the industrial period when women had very few career options really worked well.

There were some things that didn’t work out for me though. Bertie falls for a guy she hardly knows, which I understand can happen but I get sick of books always having it one of two ways. Either they hate each other until they learn to love each other or it’s a love at first sight kind of story. I’m fairly certain there are other ways to make a romance novel work. I don’t want to go into all of the inaccuracies but there were quite a few I noticed. One especially is the strapless dress. The earliest mention I could find for strapless dresses was in the 1930s.

All in all it was alright. Enjoyable for the most part while I read it but didn’t live up to my expectations. Robert Carlyle has set my Rumpelstiltskin bar very, very high. show less

Reviewed by Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen for TeensReadToo.com

Bridget O'Malley and her family are new immigrants to America in 1880 looking for a better life full of riches and dreams come true. Things in America aren't immediately wonderful and the family finds themselves looking for jobs and food while living in a small cramped tenement apartment in New York City.

In order to obtain a job as a coachman with the wealthy J.P. Wellington, Bridget's father changes the family name to Miller and boasts that his daughter, now known as Bertie, is an impressive seamstress. Paddy is quite the storyteller, and although Bertie has a talent for sewing, her skills are not quite what her father claims.

When the Wellington's find their family show more fortune in the textile industry in jeopardy, Paddy once again makes an outrageous claim about Bertie -- this time claiming she has the talent to spin straw into gold and fashion ugly plain fabric into stunning dresses with intricate designs. Bertie fears there is no way she can design and create the dresses expected of her. Desperate and in need, Bertie finds herself relying on the mysterious Ray Stalls for help.

THE CRIMSON THREAD is the latest addition to the ONCE UPON A TIME series, a series filled with retellings of fairy tales. Setting the story of Rumpelstiltskin amidst immigrants, wealth, and fashion of 1880 was an interesting take on the famous tale and added a touch of magic. I would imagine the story of Rumpelstiltskin a difficult story to re-tell, but the author added her own twist on the tale and characters which made it unique. A wonderful addition to the series and a must read for fairy tale lovers. show less

a girl named bridget o'milley came to america from ireland with her family. they went and lived at the five point, a filthy, rat-infested estate were immigrants usually stayed. her father, paddy, her older brother, finn and one of her younger brothers, simeaus, went to work at a boxing factory, they got fired cuz paddy punched the boss. bridget worked as a seamstress in a hot, windowless atic. one day as she went to work, a man known as ray stalls gave her a spool of crimson thread. he said she would thank him later. she got fired by her mean (i would use another term, but, frankly, its inappropriate) boss cuz of her father fighting with the boss. so she went and worked for jp wilington, who had a son and she fell in love with him. her show more father, who was a couchman for jp willington, sr., overbragged about her to sr. when jr. screwed up and ordered the wrong kind of cloth. she had to make a good dress or else they would be out of work, the whole family. ray came and helped her make the dress. they agreed on a payment, but never specified on what it was. mr willington show less

1880s New York City. Irish immigrants. Not about babies, but love.
Touches on the textile industry, child labor, and unions.