REVIEW: Rumaysa: A Fairytale by Radiya Hafiza
Step into a Once Upon a Time where anything is possible . . . Radiya Hafiza’s enchanting and funny debut weaves together three stories, spinning the classic fairytale to show that anyone can be a hero.
‘Rumaysa, Rumaysa, let down your hijab!’
For as long as she can remember Rumaysa has been locked away in her tower, forced to spin straw into gold for the evil Witch, unable to leave. Until one day, after dropping a hijab out of her small tower-window, Rumaysa realizes how she might be able to escape . . .
Join Rumaysa as she adventures through enchanted forests and into dragon’s lairs, discovers her own incredible magical powers and teams up with Cinderayla and Sleeping Sara!
Rumaysa: A Fairytale is a magically fresh, empowering and funny debut, which retells three classic fairytales – Rapunzel, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty – with beautiful inside illustrations by Rhaida El Touny and cover illustration by Areeba Siddique. Discover more of Rumaysa’s adventures in the enchanting sequel Rumaysa: Ever After.
Dear Ms. Hafiza,
What a gorgeous cover! I first saw this book about 18 months ago and wanted to request a copy but it was only available as a paperback so I held off. Now it’s being rereleased and will have a digital edition. Yay. The book is split into three stories Rumaysa, Cinderayla, and Sleeping Sara and gives the classic stories of Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty a Muslim, POC twist.
Rumaysa begins with a husband desperately trying to find work and food for his pregnant wife. At his wits end, he ventures into the garden of a reputed witch. The time comes when the price for his theft must be paid. Fast forward to young Rumaysa who has been held in a t-a-l-l tower her whole life and forced to spin straw into gold for evil Cordelia (let’s throw some Rumplestilskin, and later some Aladin, in while we’re at it). All Rumaysa has are her books and her friend Zabina, an owl Rumaysa can communicate with due to the magical food her mother ate before Rumaysa was born. Rumaysa has tried to escape but the tower is tall, the surrounding forest is filled with thorns, and a poisoned river flows all around it. Then one day Rumaysa has An Idea. A Wonderful Idea. She knows how she can escape but can she manage it in time before the witch takes her to a new prison?
This is cute. Rumaysa does indeed let down her hijab but not the way I was expecting. Then someone else appears and an exasperated Rumaysa thinks, I waited all this time for some help and now it arrives? Forget any wandering Prince showing up to claim all the credit. This is one young woman who saves herself. One thing I wished to see was more of Rumaysa as a Muslim. She does wear hijab and learned to pray five times a day from one of her books but that’s kind of it. B
Cinderayla is a kind, lovely girl whose mother died young and whose father made a terrible choice for his second marriage before dying in a shipwreck while on business. At that point, stepmother Amelia begins to make Ayla’s life miserable. Her two daughters don’t treat Ayla much better. To celebrate Eid, the King announces a grand ball. Of course Amelia and daughters will go – in new dresses – while Ayla is forbidden to attend despite reworking one of her mother’s old gowns. I was delighted that Ayla expresses her rage at the situation and it’s this that brings her “fairy godmother” into the picture. With a new dress and snazzy gold shoes whose attention does Ayla catch? Why a handsome guy, with whom she debates a famous love story, as well as Amelia. Oops. Ayla and her godmother haul out of there leaving the shoe which the Prince now insists every young woman try on.
Lots of little things added up to a different view of the Cinderella story. We actually see a little bit of Ayla’s mother and Ayla feels some anger at dad for marrying a shrew as well as dying and leaving Ayla in a mess. The godmother is a clever twist which I won’t spoil. I had a feeling – based on their differences of opinion – how things would go when the shoe fits Ayla and the Prince is astonished. The final ending is also a nice change. Oh and the royal guard – is a woman! B
Sleeping Sara is not enchanted due to a fairy but rather because her clueless parents haven’t any idea how to rule their kingdom and are so fearful for their only child that they all hide in the palace. An evil wizard takes advantage of the power vacuum, Sara is lulled into an enchanted sleep and then kidnapped before being saved by two characters who have appeared in the previous stories. Everything ends all hunky dory but frankly I wasn’t convinced. This is definitely the weakest of the tales for me. C
The stories are told using modern language, phrases, and slang. They are feminist retellings along with having Muslim characters of color. I wasn’t ever sure exactly how old the main characters are supposed to be. In Cinderayla she is of an age with her stepsisters who are hopeful of finding husbands at the Eid ball. But in the last story, the MCs are referred to (three times) as children. The changes to the classic versions of the stories are good but I kind of agree with other reviewers who wanted more Muslim. Still as the character arc of one person remains unfinished, I’m looking forward to the follow up book. B/C
~Jayne
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