Ash by Malinda Lo

Ash
Malinda Lo
ISBN 978-0-316-04009-9
264 pages
Little, Brown, & Co., 2009

Genre: Fairy Tale; LGBT

Readers Annotation
In a retelling of Cinderella, Ash strikes a bargain with a male fairy and falls in love with Kaisa, the King's Huntress.

Plot Summary
Set in an unnamed kingdom a long time ago, most people dismiss fairy tales and magic as cautionary tales  meant to scare people and keep children safe. Only few women known as greenwitches remember the truth: that fairies are real--and dangerous. Ash's mother was one of them and passed along a few of these traditions to her daughter,despite her husband's disapproval. After Ash's mother dies suddenly, Ash's father quickly remarries a woman with two step-daughters, then dies suddenly himself.  Lady Isobel, who believed she had married a wealthy man, is shocked to discover her late husband is deeply in debt and forces Ash to become a servant to her and her daughters to pay it off. Consumed with grief at the sudden loss of both her parents, Ash can do little but accept her fate. She wanders the woods by her house alone, half-remembering fairy tales that her mother told her, and wanting to disappear into their world.  She encounters a fairy named Sidhean, who warns her of the dangers of the forest and gives her a cloak to protect her.

During her walks in the woods, she encounters Kaisa, the King's Huntress. They slowly and cautiously form a friendship, with Kaisa teaching Ash to ride whenever her stepmother and stepsisters are out of town. Ash asks Sidhean to grant wishes that will allow her to get closer to Kaisa, but Sidhean warns her that as payment, she will belong to him. It seems a preferable fate to a lifetime suffering the cruelties of her stepmother, so Ash agrees. However, as Ash realizes that she is falling in love with Kaisa, she begins to regret her promise.

Critical Evaluation
Ash is a beautifully written book; its prose has a poetic, haunting quality. While it is a retelling of Cinderella, it is mostly a story about grief. The first half of the book shows how a grief-stricken Ash walks around the world, numb, wishing desperately to return to the comfort of her mother. Through her wanderings in the woods, Ash has seen the human girls captured and enchanted by fairies, and how they are driven to a sort of madness. However, even before she strikes the bargain with Sidhean, she wishes to be one of them, because it would be preferable to the pain she experiences in the human world. Ash's romance with Kaisa is notable because Kaisa reawakens in Ash the desire to live. She begins to see the beauty in the human world and realizes that the fairies must resent the humans because fairies can never experience the same warmth and joy that humans can.

Though there is a plot involving the prince holding a ball to seek a bride from all eligible girls in the kingdom, and Ash does attend the ball and dance with the prince, there is a never a hint of romance between Ash and the prince. The romance in the book is solely between Ash and Kaisa. It's interesting to note that lesbian relationships are acknowledged and accepted in the kingdom; at the ball, Ash notices several women trying to catch Kaisa's eyes. The story of fairy's influence, too, is changed. Rather than a benevolent fairy godmother, Sidhean's presence is complicated. Though he protects Ash from fairies who wish to do her harm, he also extracts from her the promise that she will turn himself over completely to him. In a confession late in the book, we find out Sidhean's history and motivations. The book's conclusion is quite moving.  The book reminded me of Beauty by Robin McKinley, in that our appreciation of the original fairy tale broadens after the author shows us what the heroine's complicated emotions might have been.

About the Author
Ash is the first novel by Malinda Lo, who previously worked as managing editor of the site AfterEllen.com, an entertainment news site for lesbian and bisexual women. She was awarded the Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for Excellence in LGBT journalism.

Curriculum Ties
Ash might be used in a high school English class to discuss the way that fairy tales can be altered and changed to remain relevant.

Booktalking Ideas
1. Sell the book as a lesbian Cinderella, focusing on the budding romance between Ash and Kaisa.
2. Talk about the book's focus on grief; Ash is so numb and hurt after her parents' death that she is willing to give up her life to escape the pain.
3. Focus on the complicated relationship between Ash and Sidhean. What does he want from her? What does she want from him?

Reading Interest/Level
The book's writing is fairly complex, making it most appropriate for high school readers.

Challenge Issues
While the book has no graphic or objectionable content, the mere fact that it is about two girls who fall in love may cause some people to challenge its presence. If it were challenged, the librarian should ideally read the book to best be able to respond to the challenge; if not possible, the librarian should read reviews of the book in professional journals and look at sites like Common Sense Media to familiarize herself with any potentially controversial topics. She should also be able to explain and defend the library's selection policy and explain how Ash fits into that policy. She could point to the numerous positive reviews that Ash received, including a starred review in Kirkus, to defend its worth.

Selection Criteria
Ash received a glowing review on a YA blog I read (A Chair, A Fireplace, & A Tea Cozy), which intrigued me. I realized that I knew the author (Malinda Lo) from college, so I was doubly intrigued!