Rose Recommends: May | Castle Waiting

Tra la! It’s May! The lusty month of May! That darling month when everyone goes blissfully astray! Tra la! It’s here! That shocking time of year! When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear! It’s May! It’s May! The month of….

Sorry.

I was just in a production of Camelot. If you’ve ever been in a show you know how everything IRL turns into show references…

So it’s almost the end of the lusty month of May, and it’s time for a recommendation! This month, I’m recommending something I actually found and read in May, and I haven’t talked about it on my blog yet. I didn’t even know this existed, and it turns out, not many other people do, either, so it fits the criterion for my recommendation posts perfectly! It is Castle Waiting by Linda Medley.

I stumbled across this book as I was packing up my classroom at the end of the school year. It was with all the other random books that were left in that room when I came in, and I’m so glad I found it.

Castle Waiting a graphic novel and a farcical fairy tale. The main story line is about a woman who runs away from an abusive husband to find sanctuary in the fabled Castle Waiting to give birth to a baby that is not her husband’s. The origin story of Castle Waiting is basically the story of Sleeping Beauty with a few funny twists. When the woman arrives at Castle Waiting, ages have gone by and the tale of the castle has become a legend. She finds that the castle is occupied by a very motley and colorful cast of characters who have their own interesting stories to tell, including a bearded nun and a half-horse-half-man (no, not a centaur; the horse part is on top).

The book is full of quirky humor and delightfully magical characters. Here is a great example from the Sleeping Beauty tale:

I was surprised to find that this book is not well known, because it was so darn good. The edition I read was the omnibus of volume 1, and there is a volume 2 that I will definitely be wanting to get my hands on. They seem to be no longer in print, but you can find a lot of used copies online. I breezed through this book in 2 sittings, so it’s a quick read and absolutely worth it.

Genre:

Graphic novel/farcical fairy tale

Pages:

457

For those who like:

• Quirky humor
• Fairy tales
• Graphic novels

Things people might not like:

• The brand of humor may not be for everyone; it’s sometimes dry/understated

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