The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Five stars

This was a very good book. It has a developed plot, strong characters, and unforeseen turns.

Princess Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee was born Crown Princess of Kildenree and did not open her eyes for three days. As the first child and heir, her mother, the queen, waited and paced to have her child see the world for the first time, worried more about the future of Kildenree then the health of her daughter. When the Queen fell asleep on the third day the nurse-mary, who was the queen’s sister, took the babe and sang her eyes open.

As Ani grew older she spent almost all her time with her odd aunt. far more time them she spent with her mother or her father. During these years, her aunt started to teach her to talk to animals as she could. But Ani could only talk to birds. When Ani was five years old her Aunt left, and Ani’s next nurse-mary was sour and cold. When trying to get her to take Ani to the pond she told her that she could take to the Swans there, something her aunt had told her never to do. The nurse was horrified and told the Queen, who said that Anidori could never go there again and that she should give herself over to her training as the future Queen and forget talking to birds.

Ani’s spend two years this was until she tried to run away at seven. She find her way out of the Palace, and too the pond, but falls asleep there with the swans. In the morning one of the guards find her. By that time she has a terrible fever and is sick for three weeks. After that she is treated as though she would break.

Skip to when Ani is fifteen, out riding her horse, who she can talk to, since she was with him at birth when he said his name, as only horses can, Falada, and her father tries to jump a fence too high for him and falls. For three days he is unconscious. On the third day he opens his eyes, smiles at his third child, Napralina-Victery, and dies.

Ani is very crushed by the death of her father, and doesn’t feel better when, at the burial, her mother says that her son and second child, Calib-Loncris, is going to be her heir. Ani is confused and hurt, since the first born is always heir. after the six week mourning time she goes to her mother to ask why she is not heir. Her mother tells her she arranged a marriage for her the neighboring county Bayern, and that, since she turned sixteen over the mourning time, she would be leaving very soon.

On the road to Bayern, she find that her Lady-in-waiting, Selia, is plotting to kill her and go in her place as the Princess Anidori. About week later, she is attacked and runs away with Falada, but falls off him after hour of riding fast to get away.

Ani walks on foot until she reaches a small house at the side of the forest with a fever. And faints in the carrot patch. After this she has to hide her light hair and pretend to be someone else, until she can tell the king of Bayern who she really is. And somehow finds herself the goose girl.

This book made me think someone was something, made me think he wasn’t, and then when I thought it couldn’t happen, tell me he was. All in all a very good book.

Posted under review