'...Mother Goose tales, as they often call them: of ogres, enchantments, and talking creatures. Since she was a small girl she has adored such stories. They could make a game of it, taking it in turns to give them a modern spin'.

It's late 17th Century France, and Louis XIV has ruled for long enough to ensure that all of France revolves around his omnipotence as the Sun King. However, for some of Paris' literati, King Louis' absolutism is a point of critique, and criticising the King is.a sure way to end your life, 'Louis XIV, understanding that story telling is political has placed the literati under strict surveillance'. Undeterred, Madame d'Aulnoy gathers together a salon of mostly women to take turns to re-tell old Mother Goose stories. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those stories seem to somewhat mirror the lives of the King, court, and the salonniéres at Madame's residence, 'Ah, these Modern Fairies! In each age-old tale they borrow, there are hard-won truths...'.

The Modern Fairies is a unique story, inspired by the real adventures of the Modern Fairies in 17th Century France. They helped shape many of the well-known fairy tales we are familiar with today. Clare Pollard not only shares some of these re-tellings but also recreates the people and environment in which they are told, lifting the lid on their imagined lives and the potential debauchery they lived within. The vulgarity and circumstances, narrated about the salon attendees reaches satirical levels and underscores the almost fantastical world in which Louis XIV created and perpetuated. Dispersed throughout the book are the re-tellings of the fairy tales themselves, revealing glimpses of just how the stories we now know and love were shaped.

This is a very unique book, enhance by the fact that it is inspired by real events. However, if you're easily offended by bawdy, vulgar, humour, this might not be for you.

'We come to escape into the human imagination, which spins gold from the straw base of reality!'.

I love everything that is relatable with faeries to be honest and this book was just amazing, specially because it didn't romantazided them which is a plus for me, I only have good things to say about this story and ~I do hope the book finds it's perfect audience

Sadly, this book wasn't for me. I DNF'ed at 40% and switched to the audiobook version to see if I can grow and get into the story, but I had to DNF the audiobook too.

I liked the fairy tales part but had a hard time with the storytellers' parts.

This book whisks you away to Versailles during Louis XIV’s reign, showing off the wild contrast between glitz and poverty. Marie d’Aulnoy and her friends gather in a salon to share their thoughts through fairy tales, which leads to some pretty risky situations. This reminded me of Boccaccio's Decameron work and I liked the reference. Clare Pollard’s writing draws you in and makes you feel like you’re right there in the mix. The characters are super interesting, each with their own stories, but I wanted to dive deeper into their lives. Overall, it’s an entertaining read that gives a fun peek into a fascinating time, but I craved more depth. So, I’m giving it 4 stars.

"The Modern Fairies" by Clare Pollard is a delightful and imaginative exploration of fairy tales reinterpreted for a contemporary audience. Pollard's unique voice and inventive storytelling breathe new life into the traditional genre, offering fresh perspectives on familiar narratives.

The collection of poems and stories blends whimsy with sharp social commentary, highlighting the complexities of modern life while retaining the enchanting qualities of classic fairy tales. Pollard’s use of vivid imagery and clever language draws readers in, creating a rich tapestry of emotion and insight that resonates on multiple levels.

Each piece is expertly crafted, with themes of empowerment, love, and transformation woven throughout. Pollard's ability to juxtapose the fantastical with everyday experiences makes the stories relatable and thought-provoking, encouraging readers to reflect on their own realities.

Overall, "The Modern Fairies" is a captivating read that will appeal to fans of poetry and fairy tales alike. Clare Pollard’s innovative approach to storytelling is both refreshing and poignant, making this collection a must-read for anyone looking to rediscover the magic of fairytales in a modern context.

The Modern Fairies delves into the dark and bawdy origins of fairy tales, blending history with humour. The narrator offers an intimate glimpse into the debauchery of life at Versailles during Louis XIV’s reign, where storytellers in Parisian salons shared these tales, often laced with political satire. The book paints a vivid picture of the precarious lives of women who could easily fall out of favour and be exiled or imprisoned. Despite taking some liberties with timelines, the author stays true to the core facts, offering an engaging exploration of how these classic tales evolved. A thoroughly enjoyable and informative read, I highly recommend it for those interested in the history behind our beloved fairy stories.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Amazing!!! I absolutely adore this book. It captured my imagination and i couldn’t put it down. Rather characters and dialogue were amazing and I can’t wait to see more from this author

Pollard has given us a fictionalised account of a group of fairy tellers which started the literary, written fairy tales tradition. We are back at the time of the French Sun King, Louis the XIV, in a salon in Paris where Marie D'Aulnoy and her friends meet and recount their written fairy tale adaptations.

Like any other story these adaptations are imprinted by the people telling the story. She successfully shows the interlinking between the fairytales themselves , the personal stories of the writers and the effect of living under the reign of Louis XIV. Thus the tales are shaped by the cultural and political times in which they were written down and may have also been used to send veiled messages as regards to what was happening and morality.

Excellently done, another Pollard I enjoyed.

An ARC gently provided by author/publisher via Netgalley

There's a lot of humour in this novel, a lot of double intendre and the atmosphere of the French salons at the end of the XVII century.
I loved the vivid and well researched historical background and how well the author mixes history and fiction.
A delightful read.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

4.5 stars

This is my third Clare Pollard book and it seems when I see her name I can't help but reach for her work.

This one is a mix of enchantment and the dark side of the fairy tales - and the traits of the 16th century that were brought onto paper.

This is a very refreshing book, written in a modern, witty style, focusing delicately on the humanity of various lives that come together because of their passion for precisely these fairytales.

I loved Marie and Charles, their feathery light relationship, the ending - so modern and yet so fairytale-ish, and how it also offered space for the first owners of the Mother Goose stories to speak their opinion on their stories getting transformed into literature.

A book like no other featuring intriguing characters in a fresh, modern (as Charles :) style.

I got a copy of this in order to share my view on it.

An almost Angela Carter-esque take on the Fairy Tales that are so well known. A truly captivating and intriguing read.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for this eCopy to review

The Modern Fairies was a fascinating insight into the Salons of Paris during the reign of Louis XIV. Madame Marie d'Aulnoy's focusses on fairy tales. How Pollard connects them to characters in the story was interesting and snippets of history where detailed. The short story format detracted a bit from the plot and stopped the characters being as developed as they could be. The saving grace are the fairy tales these were dark and terrifying not the pretty versions we know

In the lavishly decorated salon of Madame Marie d'Aulnoy, the great and the not so good of Paris gather to listen to Contes de Fées. We would know these as fairy tales, stories which tell of enchanted forests and beautiful princesses but these are troubled times and the tales have a much darker message. Beautifully recreating the seventeenth century decadence of the Sun King’s court, we can be found walking the myriad corridors of the Palace of Versailles, or sipping sickly syrups in the gossipy confines of Madame d’Aulnoy's salon, listening to stories which fascinate as much as they frighten their selected audiences.

Bawdy and sexually intimate in places The Modern Fairies is a quirky little story which is both fun and frivolous but is also quite, quite tragic. It shows the attempted empowerment of women in a time where they were viewed as little more than the property of their husbands and fathers to do with as they willed, however, given freedom in their story telling attempts to make up for the imprisonment of their spirit. The author writes well, the atmosphere is gloriously alive and the way in which these fairy tales evolved is done with fine attention to every detail.

Based on the life of the real Madame Marie d'Aulnoy, who lived in the seventeenth century, this lively historical romp shines the spotlight on this fascinating time in French history.

The origins of fairy stories are lost in the myths of our ancient grandmothers, maidservants and wise women. When they were first set down in writing, the authors took their own liberties with the stories and they evolved into the classics we know today. In the salons of Paris in Louis XIV’s reign, it was popular to share these tales, the storytellers putting their own spin on them, often with underlying political satire.

The Modern Fairies is as dark as any fairytale but it’s also very funny and very bawdy. The narrator shares her memories of these times with the reader in an intimate (often very intimate!) way. We learn about the debauchery of life at Versailles in deservedly unflattering terms. Men and women lived in fear of losing their positions, if not their heads. Women who fell out of favour with their husbands or the king would be exiled to chateaux used as prisons or locked up in convents. These were bloodthirsty times and revolution against them was just around the corner.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. The author takes liberties with timelines but not with the basic facts. It was interesting to learn how fairy tales evolved and about the lives of those responsible for the earliest written versions. Highly recommended as an interesting fun read.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK for a review copy.

I enjoyed this - a fascinating time in history and this was given a slight fantasy twist with a little mystery makes for a really fun read! Like nothing I've read before. The characters lacked a little fleshing out but I can get past that

The Modern Fairies is a rambunctious romp through the salons of Paris during the reign of Louis XIV the Sun King. The story delves into exciting new/rediscovered forms of literature (fairy stories) while the salon goers are engaging in scandalous behaviour which risks a ‘lettre de cachet’ and a visit from the chief of police meaning exile or execution.

A thoroughly enjoyable read.

This was a really interesting collection of short stories! I enjoyed the glimpse into life of the nobility during 1600s and, for the most part, the writing style kept me engaged.

I’ve seen some reviews that were unhappy with the vulgarity, however I thought it was great!

My only issue with the book was that I just wasn’t able to feel much connection to the characters. That being said, this could simply be an issue of “right book at the wrong time” for me!

Didn't really live up to my expectations, which is probably more the fault of the advertising than anything else. The characters were a bit flat and I wanted more from this book.

Thanks to Penguin Books for making the ARC of 'The Modern Fairies' by Clare Pollard available on Netgalley

'The Modern Fairies' is a fictional account of the development of salons in Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV, where nobles - mostly women - would gather and perform Contes de Fées (fairy tales). Marketed as "brilliant and bawdy, witty and provocative," which it (mostly) is, it also feels necessary to highlight how much of a tragedy it is.

That this book exists in a liminal space between genres - between comedy and tragedy, at its base - is possibly its greatest strength. It's able to be a light and witty story of debauchery whilst also highlighting the seedy underbelly of a society so caught up in its own excesses that it's destroying the things that made it great in the first place.

Unfortunately, I found myself feeling a bit flat by the end of the book. Some plot points were glossed over in a way that felt inauthentic, if not outright dismissive of what the characters went through. It almost felt like the conceit of having characters write fairytales bled into the book itself, and we lost out on a more meaningful engagement with the material for the sake of having a fairytale ending; which is disappointing, because the characters deserved better.

This is one of those situations where I wish I did video reviews, because I have so much more to say. Recognising the limitations of this format though, I'll say this: I do think this was worth reading; I think the book demonstrates a lot of skill on the part of Pollard; and I wish that the ending had been stronger, because I assumed this was going to be a 5 star read, right up until it wasn't.

✨3 stars✨

I thought this book was okay! It’s a collection of short fairy tale but with a very much adult twist!

However, due to the fact that they were just short stories I didn’t feel like I connected with any of the characters and the none of the stories particularly stood out to me sadly!

I can see how and why people would enjoy this book but sadly it was just not for me.

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley.