Alice by Christina Henry

 

So, I've recently kinda fallen for Christina Henry's writing, in a more explicitly Horror context, though I've known she'd written some novels that were spins on older stories that are generally thought of as "for children" (though I'd submit that Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass have pleasures for adults) and it's possible The Girl in Red is one of these, though that doesn't have much in common with "Little Red Riding Hood" past a couple of signifiers about the main character. This is definitely one, though: There are references to the book/s all through this, though this is absolutely not some sort of crypto-sequel, or some sort of thinly reskinned retelling. This is a novel that works on its own, and probably would for a reader who somehow knew nothing of the original novel/s. It's grim and grimy, and it reminds me a lot of some of Alix Harrow's work, especially The Once and Future Witches with its vaguely alt-historical setting. The prose here moves beyond solid into borderline magical, with some elements actually managing to be heightened without detracting from the story; the characters--especially the mains--are thoroughly considered and well conveyed, and the story itself fucking rips. There's a wide feminist stripe running through the novel, but that's not a bad thing; the novel clearly has things to say about power differentials and male gaze and plausibly things like animal rights (the Rats of NIMH Easter egg was ... unexpected) as well as things like the rich keeping the poor firmly under the soles of their boots. Really, really good stuff, here.