In praise of fairytales

We've just finished reading two very different books, but both could be described as fairytales.

Firstly, Angela Carter's collection in The Bloody Chamber - a series of gothic and folk tales, several quite adult and all delicious.  Her prose is exquisite she delights in eloquent descriptive scenes, which are not really the vogue today, and her stories contain minimal dialogue (apparently Angela despaired of writing good dialogue and instead chose to live without it).  These are best picked one by one, as a continuous reading can become too heavy on the eyes.  Our favourite story was The Werewolf, which has an unusual twist as to the identity of Red Riding Hood's wolf.

Secondly, read Rowan Coleman's The Happy Homes For Broken Hearts - a more modern fairytale with a happy ending (for once). Really enjoyed this - quite a surprise as was expecting a frivolous chick-lit romp.  It's certainly a romp but with lots of heart too.  Got into the main character and at the end was quite sad to have leave the cast of likeable lodgers.  A good holiday read.