Who doesn’t love a fairy tale retelling – and this one is done to perfection. I wasn’t aware of the storyline of The Goose Girl before starting the Noble Servant so was able to read the story without any preconceived ideas and even without the back knowledge of the original tale (I always found the Brother’s Grimm rather blood thirsty for fairy tales anyhow) this story sings beautifully off the page. Mixing a teenage cast with a medieval theme sounds dangerous but not in Melanie Dickerson’s skilled hands and pen.
Lady Magdalen is destined to marry a Duke – the Duke of Wolfberg whom she meets at a dance. Her family and village are relying on her to marry well to help their current plight and she is willing to sacrifice love for her duty. But on the way to her betrothed – her maidservant and maidservant’s fatÂher conspire to force her to assume the servant’s identity and lose the chance of an advantageous marriage.
Arriving at the castle, she is given the most menial task that can be found – looking after the geese while her maidservant happily steps into her previous life and marries the Duke. Magdalen soon meets another young man – looking after the sheep in the fields who appears to also carry secrets. Could they become allies and find away to right the wrongs done to them both-
The Nobel Servant was a wonderful quick read – basically read in one sitting and brought back the wonderful whimsy of childhood fairy tales. I can’t wait to read more.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via The Fiction Guild, and was not required to post a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.
