Michelle Tocher merges fiction and nonfiction in her beautiful memoir THE TOWER PRINCESS, in which she discusses how fairy tale princesses, in particular Rapunzel, are feminist icons who extol the positive virtues of womanhood. Tocher’s relationship with her own womanhood prior to her revelations detailed in the book revolved around the social expectations of girls and women, her infertility, and her years of chronic pain led to a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. In retelling the story of Rapunzel in THE TOWER PRINCESS, Tocher explores how storytelling can shape a woman’s self image.

Tocher’s keen observations succeed in digging deep into what it means to be a woman in this world. For instance, she was punished for her perceived vanity as a four-year-old in ballet class admiring herself in her tutu in the mirror, a characteristic depicted in fairy tales as either negative, when an evil queen compares herself to a beautiful young princess, or a positive attribute akin to self-reflection and confidence. Tocher uses the motif of mirrors in an intelligent way to discuss how people view themselves when they believe their appearance is indicative of their character: “You cannot be one person on the inside and another on the outside. Are you the inside person or the outside person? If you think you are only what appears, you are under a spell.”

Both in discussing societal nuances like the above and in extrapolating meaning from fairy tales, Tocher’s literary analyses are poignant and balance ethos and pathos with scenes of personal experience and smart language. The three layers of the book—Tocher’s version of Rapunzel’s story, her own past experiences, and her imagined conversations with “fairy godmothers”—are written with tactical, concise word choice that conveys Tocher’s specific meaning. The language is often poetic, and its dreamlike effect lingers in the memory. The structure of the book has these three parts alternating by scene, drawing forward literary analysis and connecting it to real life as Rapunzel’s story progresses and deepens. The bulk of the book consists of the retelling of Rapunzel and Tocher’s dive into a fantasy where fairy godmothers ask her thought-provoking questions about her identity; while Tocher’s version of Rapunzel is unique and compelling and her observations keen and touching, the balance of content makes the book feel more like literary criticism than a memoir.

Blending fiction and nonfiction, Michelle Tocher’s THE TOWER PRINCESS is a gorgeous feminist memoir that draws poignant meaning from fairy tales with dreamlike language and keen literary analysis.

~Aimee Jodoin for IndieReader