2013 Books: Late May, Robins
May. 30th, 2013 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melita66Madeline E. Robins aka ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
madrobins has written a young adult book called Sold for Endless Rue. It's a very loose retelling of Rapunzel, set in medieval Salerno. It's mainly the story of two women--Laura and Bieta. Laura ran away from a raider and was adopted by an herbalist and midwife in the hills above Salerno. The town is the site of a famous medical school which admits women. The herbalist, Crescia, wants Laura to become a doctor (medica or magistra) and then teach Crescia or at least return to the hills and use her skills there. Laura is driven and close to being examined when she falls in love and almost derails the entire thing. Her life does change radically. The second part of the book (I think it's actually the third part) focuses on Bieta, the adopted daughter of Laura. Laura keeps Bieta very close and has laid out her entire life--attend the medical school, become a doctor, and be even better than Laura as she will have had every advantage. Of course, that doesn't go quite right either.
I felt that it's main theme was of mothers trying to control their daughters. Forcing their own dreams onto their children whether the dreams are right for the children or not. It's a thought on my mind now that I have two of my own. My mother is a doctor, but I knew very young that I didn't want to be one. "Too much work!" I'd say when asked. About the most direction I got from them (never really stated that I remember) is that I end up in a STEM field (yep), and once from my mother that she wanted me to go to graduate school (yep, but just for a master's degree).
madrobins has written a young adult book called Sold for Endless Rue. It's a very loose retelling of Rapunzel, set in medieval Salerno. It's mainly the story of two women--Laura and Bieta. Laura ran away from a raider and was adopted by an herbalist and midwife in the hills above Salerno. The town is the site of a famous medical school which admits women. The herbalist, Crescia, wants Laura to become a doctor (medica or magistra) and then teach Crescia or at least return to the hills and use her skills there. Laura is driven and close to being examined when she falls in love and almost derails the entire thing. Her life does change radically. The second part of the book (I think it's actually the third part) focuses on Bieta, the adopted daughter of Laura. Laura keeps Bieta very close and has laid out her entire life--attend the medical school, become a doctor, and be even better than Laura as she will have had every advantage. Of course, that doesn't go quite right either.I felt that it's main theme was of mothers trying to control their daughters. Forcing their own dreams onto their children whether the dreams are right for the children or not. It's a thought on my mind now that I have two of my own. My mother is a doctor, but I knew very young that I didn't want to be one. "Too much work!" I'd say when asked. About the most direction I got from them (never really stated that I remember) is that I end up in a STEM field (yep), and once from my mother that she wanted me to go to graduate school (yep, but just for a master's degree).
