The Fairest of Them All

TOUCHSTONE READING GROUP GUIDE

THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL

An exploration of what happens when fairy-tale heroines grow up and don’t live happily ever after, The Fairest of Them All brings new life to the stories of Rapunzel and Snow White.

Living in an enchanted forest, Rapunzel spends her days tending a mystical garden with her adoptive mother, the witch Mathena. When Rapunzel’s beautiful voice and golden locks attract a young prince, even Mathena’s considerable power cannot stop him from climbing Rapunzel’s hair and falling into her arms. But their afternoon of passion is fleeting, and the prince must return to his kingdom betrothed to another. Years later, the prince is now a king, and his wife, the queen, has died under mysterious circumstances, leaving him with a young daughter, Snow White. At last free to marry the woman he has never stopped dreaming of, the king returns for Rapunzel and makes her his queen and a mother to Snow White. But when Mathena’s wedding gift of an ancient mirror begins speaking to her, Rapunzel falls under its evil spell, and the king begins to realize that Rapunzel is not the beautiful, kind woman of his dreams.