The Door in the Hedge: And Other Stories

Written by Robin McKinley

Narrated by Bianca Amato

From ensorcelled princesses to a frog that speaks, an enchanting collection of fairy tales from the Newbery Medal–winning author.

The last mortal kingdom before the unmeasured sweep of Faerieland begins has at best held an uneasy truce with its unpredictable neighbor. There is nothing to show a boundary, at least on the mortal side of it; and if any ordinary human creature ever saw a faerie—or at any rate recognized one—it was never mentioned; but the existence of the boundary and of faeries beyond it is never in doubt either.

So begins “The Stolen Princess,” the first story of this collection, about the meeting between the human princess Linadel and the faerie prince Donathor. “The Princess and the Frog” concerns Rana and her unexpected alliance with a small, green, flipper-footed denizen of a pond in the palace gardens. “The Hunting of the Hind” tells of a princess who has bewitched her beloved brother, hoping to beg some magic of cure, for her brother is dying, and the last tale is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses in which an old soldier discovers, with a little help from a lavender-eyed witch, the surprising truth about where the princesses dance their shoes to tatters every night.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705031759

Robin McKinley

Robin McKinley has won various awards and citations for her writing, including the Newbery Medal for The Hero and the Crown, a Newbery Honor for The Blue Sword, and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature for Sunshine. Her other books include the New York Times bestseller Spindle’s End; two novel-length retellings of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Beauty and Rose Daughter; Deerskin, another novel-length fairy-tale retelling, of Charles Perrault’s Donkeyskin; and a retelling of the Robin Hood legend, The Outlaws of Sherwood. She lives with her husband, the English writer Peter Dickinson; three dogs (two hellhounds and one hell terror); an 1897 Steinway upright; and far too many rosebushes.

Reviews for The Door in the Hedge

[Alayna Petre · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this collection of fairytales! Perfect narrator for the storytelling too!

[abycats_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely beautifully rewritten and expanded classic fairy tales. Expands on the air of wonder and mystery with delicately flowing pictures of scenes and people. Featured by the NYPL on its e-book website and I can see why. I've loved McKinley's fantasy novels before but this is special. Thanks NYPL.

[sandyamcpherson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A foray into "Faeryland"; stolen princesses, talking frogs and the interface between "our world" and that other one (that lurks). A retelling of older stories that have been around in our myths 'forever'.

[reading_fox · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Typical Mckinley short story collection. Very enjoyably written gentle faerie tales featuring the common sorts of themes - dancing shoes, missing babies and the like. The frog/prince one is twisted wonderfully even though you know it's coming. There's nothing intense here, no peril, little drama, just quiet romance, picturesque countryside, and people living their lives as princes and princesses as best they can - amongst the manipulations of the fae. Short but enjoyable.

[altheaann · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Retellings of classic fairy-tales. Beautiful stuff - some interesting twists, but very pure and true to the tradition of these stories.
Not as memorable or powerful as The Blue Sword (but that's one of my favorite books EVER). A quick read, and wholly enjoyable.

[silentq_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've had this on my wish list for a while (it may be the last of her books I didn't own yet) and finally got it for Christmas this year from my brother. It's a short book of 4 fairy tales, told in McKinley's signature style (aka wonderful). I only wished that they were longer so that I could spend more time with the characters. I think "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" will stick with me the longest, the retired soldier coming to see the king that he spent so much of his life and health for was an interesting character, though the women weren't really filled in that much. The three visits to the underground ball room were well done though.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I like these re-tellings of fairy tales, because Ms. McKinley somehow makes me think they are real - there's enough reality in the stories that she almost makes me believe there is a place out there in the world where magic and enchantments are real. This is a nice follow-up to "Beauty".

[bjappleg8 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

[The Door in the Hedge] comprises four fairy tales: two original, two traditional stories retold. McKinley tells the stories in beautiful, dreamy language and the images she creates are lovely, but there is not much added to these stories in the way of characterization or plot, as there is in her fairy-tale novels.

[ncgraham_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So far my summer reading seems to be centering upon the rediscovery of old favorites, and Robin McKinley certainly qualifies. When I was about twelve years old I gobbled up everything I could find by the author, and after Beauty this was my favorite. The Door in the Hedge consists of four stories; two of them are original creations of the author's, and the other two are reworkings of old and beloved folktales. All are awash in McKinley's beautiful prose, all deal with the unknowable and ethereal, and I would class all of them under the category of "modern fairy tales." Additionally, they all contain elements that are left unexplained, which different readers may find either weakens the plot considerably, or adds to the mystique of the stories. Otherwise, they vary quite widely in setting and tone. "The Stolen Princess" is a charming, graceful, and even somewhat haunting story that tells of the last mortal kingdom on the border to Faerieland. The focus is on the royal family and their immortal neighbors' custom of stealing mortal children. I loved all the characters, but was more interested in the elder generation than the young, love-at-first-sight romance. I thought Galvin a particularly well-developed character, and found he and Alora's story beautiful, and McKinley's description of it as being unpoetical quite hilarious. My only criticism is that I felt, given the author's treatment of the fairies, she ought to have come up with a reason for their child-stealing customs. The shortest tale in the collection, "The Princess and the Frog" used to be by far my favorite of McKinley's short stories, and it is still stunning what she is able to do with so simple and childlike a story as "The Frog Prince." Here it becomes a highly-wrought family drama set against the backdrop of an epic battle between good and evil. It is the most action-filled tale in The Door in the Hedge, which is probably why it appealed to me most as a child. "The Hunting of the Hind" has its faults, which have been enumerated many times by other reviewers; in addition to a woefully short climax and a magic that seems to operate without rules (which will appeal to some as much as it alienates others), it is one of those everyone-finds-a-mate-even-though-it's-not-necessary-to-the-plot stories. Yet it also boasts a quiet but resilient heroine, and the atmosphere and use of illusion invite the most delicious comparisons with Patricia McKillip's work, as well as McKinley's own The Hero and the Crown. Surprisingly, "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," which I used to find deadly dull, may now be my favorite story in the collection. It is a fairly unassuming retelling, but full of striking images, from the doe-like appearance of one princess at the dinner table to the vision of them dancing with their dark suitors in the palace beneath the earth, looking like captured butterflies. I've spoken about the great characters in almost all of the other stories, but in my opinion the protagonist of "Princesses" takes the cake. McKinley emphasizes the description of him in the original tale as sad and old (at 38!), but he has the good humor to joke about it with his friend the ostler, and a ready, spontaneous smile that wins him into the heart of the king—and into the heart of this reader. There is a kind of silent communication between he and the eldest princess throughout the tale, and when he chooses her as his bride at the end, it is no longer a random decision, but the beautiful climax of so many hopes and whispers. I don't think The Door in the Hedge ranks quite as high on my list of favorites from McKinley as it used to, and it would not be my first recommendation as an introduction to her work, but it is a lovely memento of one of our best young adult fantasy authors in her prime.

[the1butterfly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a collection of four stories: "The Stolen Princess," "The Princess and the Frog," "The Hunting of the Hind," and "The Twelve Dancing Princesses. "The Stolen Princess" plays out the traditional motif of babies being stolen by faeries, but in this story faeryland and the bordering kingdom eventually merge. Out of the four this was the only story I wasn't that into. "The Princess and the Frog" was an interesting take on the traditional story of the frog prince, in which the prince's younger brother is responsible for what has befallen the prince. It becomes a battle of good, evil, and wits. "The Hunting of the Hind" is a take off on the traditional fairy tale motif of a golden hind (and might be a retelling), and in this story it is a non-traditional strength of character that succeeds. "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" is a traditional retelling except in one aspect- the eldest princess seems to have sent a sending out to the soldier to warn him and help him.

[bluesalamanders · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

These are light stories, ephemeral like much of her earlier writings. I like them ok, but there's not much real conflict in them.

[carmilla222 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I love The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown, which are other books by McKinley. I kind of suspected that this wasn't going to be as good, and I was right. I wanted another Blue Sword. In fact, every book I read is part of that search. This wasn't as good. It was pretty disappointing.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Interesting interpretation of some faerie tales, and some new stories that read like faerie tales, two of each.