Golden by Cameron Dokey

Golden by Cameron Dokey A Retelling of 'Rapunzel'
179 pages

     When Rapunzel is born, she is bald! When her mother, who is obsessive over her own hair, sees that her daughter will never grow hair, she agrees to give her to the sorceress Melisande. Melisande names Rapunzel and cares for her as if she were her own child.
    When Rapunzel discovers that Melisande has a daughter named Rue, Rapunzel is not sure if she can trust Melisande any more. But when Melisande tells Rapunzel that Rue has been trapped in a tower by an evil wizard, Rapunzel chooses to be the one to save her. When the two girls meet they do not get along. Will Rapunzel and Rue figure out a way to work together before they are trapped there forever?


    "Your mother was a very beautiful woman, but her heart was less lovely than her face, for it had room for only one."
    "My father," I guessed at once.
    "No," Melisande answered in a quiet voice. "Your mother's heart had room for in it herself alone. When I saw this, I did the only thing I could. I made room for you inside my own heart. There you have stayed from that day to this. That is why you live in my house: because you lived first within my heart."
    I felt my own heart start to thump at this. Her words brougth me pain and joy. In all fairness, I had asked for both.
    "It's because I'm bald, isn't it?" I asked. "That's the reason she didn't want me."