Book Review: The Witch’s Apprentice and Other Stories

Reviewed by Chelsey Tucker

A fun, thought-provoking collection that brings old tales to new life in unique fashion

The Witch’s Apprentice and Other Stories explores the worlds of well-known fairy tales by coloring in the empty spaces with unique re-imaginings. Throughout this collection, the author seeks answers to questions like, “Why did Jack and Jill need that pail of water in the first place?”

There are five reimagined tales in all, with each one being told in its own way. The visual structuring of the short stories works well. Before each story there is a question page with a reference to a classic fairy tale along with the question that started the unraveling of the reimagined story. There are also themed icons used as breaks within the stories (i.e. a broomstick for the wicked witch or a spindle for sleeping beauty) that add a nice whimsical element—essential for a fairy tale collection.

“The Witch’s Apprentice” is from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the East’s younger cousin. This first person account of what was happening in Munchkinland prior to Dorothy’s arrival is a more serious and detailed view into the Oz universe. The ending of the story provides a twist that introduces another classic into the mix. This is definitely in contention for my favorite story of the book.

The second story, “Denying Hamelin” is a short poetic telling of what happened in a town whose children were all led away by the Pied Piper. A rather grim tale, it bounces back and forth between a conversation of great consequences and prose describing the toll of those consequences. The execution is excellent.

“The Honor of Emperors and Thieves” adds depth and tension to a world based on the tale of the Emperor’s New Clothes. While captivating the reader with a love triangle, Garg drops in a reference to “Magic Beans,” a nod to yet another great fairy tale. The references don’t stop and neither do the delicious breadcrumbs.

The adaptation of Jack and Jill seems to be set in the United States during the 1950s, “The boys couldn’t stop talking about Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra, and Jack would have dared anyone to say that the Yankees could be beat that year.” This adds color and personality to the otherwise straightforward nursery rhyme.

Some stories take elements of original versions, and others, the original is only a building block of a forward-looking iteration. For example, with “The Beauty Before She Sleeps,” the author uses one of the oldest versions of the story as inspiration with the 1634 Italian version “Sun, Moon, and Talia,” with Talia being the name chosen for the princess.

Each story has a different vibe and they all could pass as stories from five different authors. The variety from story to story makes it feel like the collection goes by in the blink of an eye. The thought experiments before each story set up each story well, but they al can be enjoyed without having background knowledge of the source material.

Like so many of my favorite fairy tales, these stories are not necessarily child-friendly in the modern sense. Teens and adults will eat up these stories that are grim in nature and brimming with nuance.

Thank you for reading Chelsey Tucker’s book review of The Witch’s Apprentice and Other Stories by Ekta R. Garg! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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