Source: Goodreads
Princess Amy is the youngest of seven princesses, and her parents are sure she will be the most beautiful… until the court advisors insist that all of the local fairies should be invited to the christening, and then no one bothers to provide adequate transportation for the eldest fairy, Crustacea, and she gives Amy the gift of being ordinary. When her parents begin to despair and the court advisors begin to get desperate for her to marry, Amy decides to run away and live in the forest. The approaching winter pushes Amy to get a job as a kitchen maid in order to afford new clothes. Little does she know that the man-of-all-work she quickly befriends is really the young King Algernon, who is just as ordinary as she is!
This book holds a special place in my heart as the first story I have memories of reading all on my own. I’m sure there were others before it, probably the Little Golden Books versions of Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, maybe even some other beloved books, but I don’t remember reading them like I remember reading this. I remember loving it so much I immediately started it over from the beginning.
Amethyst (Who’s name I distinctly remember pronouncing as “Azmyth”) was ordinary, with mousy brown hair like my own, and she ran away and made a life for herself. She was never a princess that needed to be rescued. She fell in love the way normal people do, slowly, and she lived happily ever after with a gaggle of children and the love of her life.
This book showed me that there was magic to be found in the mundane, that you didn’t need to be “the chosen one” to have an adventure – that life was the adventure – and that everyone has their own path to take to get where they’re headed.
Princess Amy and Prince Perry’s story might be the one that started my writing. If someone like Amy could find adventure and love, then so could anyone. And if adventure was a possibility for anyone, than writing was possible for me. It gave me permission to be myself instead of the cookie-cutter images of perfect little girls I saw on television and in other books. I could pursue my interests, chase my curiosities, have my adventures, and still someday find love. I’m happy to say that since that day, at maybe 6 or 7 years old, I’ve never looked back. I’ve chased my dreams and let nothing hold me back. And I’d just like to thank Queen Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne (originally of Phantasmorania) and King Algernon (+7 more names, one of which is Peregrine) of Ambergelder for showing me that being myself was the best thing I could ever wish to be.
HHC Rating: 5 Stars.