The Goose Girl

Shannon Hale

Dec 2008 · Bloomsbury Publishing USA

About this ebook

In this first book in New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor-winning author Shannon Hale's beloved YA fantasy series Books of Bayern, Princess Ani must become a goose girl before she can become queen.

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life listening to her aunt's stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. As she grows up, Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but she never feels quite comfortable speaking with people.

So when Ani's mother sends her away to be married in a foreign land, she finds herself at the mercy of her silver-tongued lady in waiting, who leads a mutiny that leaves her alone, destitute, and fleeing for her life. To survive, Ani takes on work as a royal goose girl, hiding in plain sight while she develops her forbidden talents and works to discover her own true, powerful voice.

Don't miss any of these other books from New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale:

The Books of Bayern
The Goose Girl
Enna Burning
River Secrets
Forest Born

The Princess Academy trilogy
Princess Academy
Princess Academy: Palace of Stone
Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters

Book of a Thousand Days

Dangerous

Graphic Novels
with Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale
Rapunzel's Revenge
Calamity Jack

For Adults
Austenland
Midnight in Austenland
The Actor and the Housewife

Ratings and reviews

This is an amazingly and vividly written version of a Fairy Tale. The descriptions make the reader feel there. Princess Anidori grows up Crown Princess being trained to be queen and isolated from other children and the world except for the castle and her horse. She is attached to her horse. The book is full of romance, betrayal, and action, though sometimes it moves slowly and motivations are not always clear. After her father's death, her mother sends her to Bayern to marry the crown prince and keep the peace between the two countries, but instead she is betrayed by her lady-in-watiing and half of the guards. Despite her sheltered life as a princess, she is remarkably resourceful and must overcome many obstacles. She has to disguise herself and her blonde hair, keep her identify secret, and tend the king's geese as a goose girl in order to survive. In the process, she learns of unjustices in the land and forms friendships with other animal workers. She also unknowingly encounters the crown prince who also does not know who she is, and there is an attraction between them when he believes he is betrothed to another, unknown to him, the lady-in-waiting who betrayed her. This story comes to an amazing climax, gets inside the thoughts and minds of people and a nation, and ends happily with the reader wishing for more. I would rate this as one of the best fantasy novels (and romances, too) that I have ever read. I have since read all 4 of the Bayern novels and like them all, but this one is special. Donna

The Goose Girl, is one of my most favorite and beloved books upon my book shelf. It tells the story of Ani, a daughter raised under the clutches of her mother when her father and loving aunt dies. She soon runs away with Selia, a servant girl, and learns Selia plans to kill her. So Ani runs away. But that isn't the end of the adventurous humor in this wonderful novel. Brought to you by the author of Newbery-Honor winner "Princess Academy," author, The goose girl will surely be a classic to all of its readers.

When I was younger, The Goose Girl was one of my favorite fairy tales. When I read Shannon Hale's version, I felt the same way. Princess Anidori of Kildenree is on her way to Bayern to marry a prince she has never met, and rightfully does not want to meet, or marry. Along the way, Anidori is betrayed by her lady-in-waiting, whom she has called a friend for her whole life. When she reaches Bayern, pretending to be a servant girl so she does not attract attention, she must do all she can to survive as a goose girl and reclaim the crown that is rightfully hers.

About the author

Shannon Hale is the Newbery Honor–winning and New York Times bestselling author of the series Princess Academy, Books of Bayern, Ever After High, and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, as well as stand-alones Book of a Thousand Days, Dangerous, and the graphic novels Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack, among other books. She also wrote three novels for adults, including Austenland, now a major motion picture starring Keri Russell. She and her husband, the author Dean Hale, have four children and live near Salt Lake City, Utah.

www.shannonhale.com
@HaleShannon