The Goose Girl

The Goose Girl is a fantasy novel by Shannon Hale based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same title, published by Bloomsbury in 2003. It is Hale's debut novel and the first in her Books of Bayern series. It follows the story of Anidori-Kiladra "Ani" Talianna Isilee (later called "Isi"), Crown Princess of Kildenree, as she travels to the neighboring kingdom of Bayern to wed their crown prince. On the journey, she is usurped by her jealous lady-in-waiting and must prove her true identity as the princess. Critical reception of the novel was mostly positive. The book won the 2003 Josette Frank Award for fiction and has been published in English, Spanish, Hungarian, Dutch, Japanese, and Vietnamese. Development While in graduate school at the University of Montana, Hale decided to write a novelization of her favorite fairy tale, The Goose Girl, after a challenge from a friend. She sought to mainly stay "as close to the skeleton of the original tale" as possible while diving deeper into parts of the story that were left unexplained before. Her original manuscript was 80 pages long. It was rewritten some 30 times and rejected by multiple editors before publication. Hale wanted to create a world that readers could reconcile with reality. The land of Bayern that Ani travels to was "partly inspired by Germany". Hale wrote the novel with both her teenage and adult self in mind as the ideal audience. Both Ani and Enna's friendship and Ani and Geric's romance were inspired by Hale's own relationships. Plot When crown princess Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee was born, she did not open her eyes until her aunt held her. Her aunt became her nursemaid and constant companion, nicknaming her Ani and telling her stories about three gifts people have: people-speaking, animal-speaking, and nature-speaking. The aunt has the second ability, and teaches Ani to speak with birds, mainly swans. Ani grows to be more comfortable at the pond than in the palace. When her aunt leaves, Ani is forced to abandon her unique talent. At age sixteen, she devotes herself to preparing to be the next Queen of Kildenree, but finds solace in communicating with her horse, Falada. After her father dies, Ani's mother tells her that, instead of becoming queen, she is to travel to the kingdom of Bayern and marry the crown prince.