I, Coriander

By: Sally Gardner

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

It is night, and I have lit the first of seven candles to write my story by. My name is Coriander Hobie, and I have a great many things to tell–of silver shoes that tempted me and an alligator most rare; of London, the home of my childhood, and another, stranger land, one that I thought only existed in dreams; and of an ebony box whose treasure only now am I beginning to understand. The box was once my mother’s, but its secrets were meant for me.
This being my story and a fairy tale besides, I will start once upon a time . . .©2005 Sally Gardner; (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

More main story please

Though overall I enjoyed the book I could have done without the trip into fairyland. It was like mixing Girl with the Pearl Earring with the Wizard of Oz. The villains aren't as bad as some others have made them seem. To be sure they are bad, but if you know anything about the history of the 17th century they aren't anything that can't be documented. It did help listening to the author's interview at the end of the book to explain why the fantasy part was in there. I was thankful though, after hearing her say that the fantasy section was originally longer, that she dropped it from the book. The ending was also very abrupt. I would listen to the author's new work as well, but am hoping to stay put in reality this time, so to speak.

Wonderful tale read by the best!

Juliet Stevenson is an absolutely marvelous narrator and storyteller. She brings magic to everything she reads.

Long lost favorite

I first read this book when I was 10 years old. I loved it so much then that I would sneak out of my schools library with it. (We could only check out the same book so many times as to not have students hog it to themselves, which is exactly what I did). Listening to this book again took me right back into that magical world! I am 23 now and I, Coriander is just as captivating and exciting as it was when I was a child. Very few books stand up to rereading, but this is one that only gets better each time.

Magical adventure

I love the adventure Coriander went on. And the author interview at the end was very lovely

Really good

I enjoyed the book very much. The baddies ARE really bad--it's a fairy tale. Juliet Stevenson is great, as usual. It's a good "empowerment" book for young girls, I think. Coriander is definitely ahead of her time as an educated, independent female in the 1600's. It's quite an entertaining read. Maybe not for young kids; there is some real "evil stepmother" type mistreatment that could be disconcerting. But, then, Grimm's and most other fairy tales are the same.