When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years because of Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.
As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. With the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors—one welcome, the other decidedly less so—the girls are confronted with both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.
With Shannon Hale’s lyrical language, this little-known classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset in a land inspired by the Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise.
Discussion questions:
· How would the story have been different if Dashti had been less patient and subservient with her social superiors?
· Could Dashti have been the same person if she were beautiful? Would it have changed her relationships with the other characters?
· Dashti’s relationships with animals are also important to her. Have you had a pet who meant as much to you as My Lord or Mucker did to Dashti?
· If you were going to be locked into a tower for seven years, what would you take with you?
· How would the story have been different if Dashti had been less patient and subservient with her social superiors?
· Could Dashti have been the same person if she were beautiful? Would it have changed her relationships with the other characters?
· Dashti’s relationships with animals are also important to her. Have you had a pet who meant as much to you as My Lord or Mucker did to Dashti?
· If you were going to be locked into a tower for seven years, what would you take with you?
