"White As Snow" by Tanith Lee (published 2000)
Tanith Lee’s “White As Snow” is a disturbing and powerful book that infuses mythology, specifically the Demeter and Persephone story, into the Snow White fairy-tale. However, you do not need to be familiar with the Snow White tale (which you probably already are) or the Greek myth to understand and enjoy this book. It is hard for me to say that I *loved* this book; there is so much sorrow within it as well as horror, but I did love it, because I felt a strong sympathy for the two main characters, Arpazia and Coira. I also enjoyed reading the structure and intricacy of the plot. The Walt Disney version’s main elements are still here, but they are altered, magnified, and made profound. The mirror plays a more abstract role in “White As Snow”; there is much to say about what it symbolizes (vanity? fear? wonder?). The story is unabashedly serious in tone, starting off with a fourteen-year-old Princess’s rape in the woods, after her father’s (the King’s) kingdom is sacked by another bru...