When considering why retellings of fairy tales, myths and legends are now a commonplace subgenre, it is important to keep in mind the contents of the original texts themselves. Fairy tales in particular are generally passed down from one generation to the next and form an important part in most people’s childhoods – but retrospect is crucial when we see that many of the classic fairy tales consumed by young girls have female protagonists who fall into archetypes of a damsel in distress waiting to be saved or an evil older woman preying on the downfall of a younger counterpart (Shaffi, 2018). Therefore, it is understandable why so many authors are so keen to rewrite the boundaries these long-standing tales have seemingly set in stone. 

During the Edinburgh Women’s Fiction Festival this year, authors Jean Menzies and Georgia Leighton, sat down for a panel called ‘Spindles & Swords: Reimagining leading ladies in legends and fairy tales’ where they discussed their latest books both of which are retellings of notoriously loved fairy tales. The Bookseller has described Leighton’s retelling of Snow White, entitled ‘Spellbound’, as “a magical and moving book about the complex relationships between mothers, daughters and sisters,” (2023), seemingly moving away from the simplicity of a kiss from a zealous prince. Jean Menzies’ ‘Lady of the Lake’ is a retelling of the Arthurian Legends with a sapphic twist, reframing the narrative of King Arthur’s legendary Camelot. 

In the midst of a discussion regarding what inspired her to begin retelling Snow White, Leighton elaborated on her historic love for Disney movies and the discontent she experienced upon realising “Princess Aurora only had something like seventeen lines in the whole film which is wild because it’s her story,” (2025) which urged her to rewrite the stereotypical princess and give her a sense of agency and depth that Snow White in her original form was never afforded. 

This point was further emphasised by Jean Menzies who suggested that fairy tales and myths have always been a point of obsession for readers and that a retelling is nothing new, however, with current retellings authors are honing in on current issues that matter to them, explaining, “I don’t think what we’re doing is any different, but we’re doing it for this time. So, like, we were exploring all these themes of female empowerment, female rage, the different experiences of womanhood from motherhood to being a teenager to everything in between – what is relevant to us and contemporary people.” (2025). 

There may be some who argue that retellings are unoriginal, but this criticism seems unfair, especially when we consider how authors like Leighton and Menzies are “rewriting the canon […] by putting a feminist spin on classics of literature.” (Shaffi, 2018). Fairy tale and mythological retellings seem to be steadily maintaining their popularity, signalling the opportunity to bring diverse and engaging stories that work within a familiar framework of much-loved classics – carving out space for voices that previously were not given permission to be heard (Goldman, 2023). 

Bibliography

Goldman, M. (2023). The Rise of Fairytale Retellings in Publishing. Publishing Research Quarterly, 39(3). doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-023-09949-x.

Menzies, J. and Leighton, G. (2025) “Spindles and Swords: Reimagining leading ladies in legends and fairytales”, Edinburgh Women’s Fiction Festival (27 September 2025, Edinburgh).

Sharif, S. (2018). How women are rewriting the literary canon. [online] http://www.stylist.co.uk. Available at: https://www.stylist.co.uk/books/feminist-retellings-classic-stories-greek-myths-fairy-tales-gender-swap/263972 [Accessed Oct. 2025].

The Bookseller. (2025). Transworld pre-empts ‘magical and moving’ debut by Penguin General’s Leighton. [online] Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/transworld-pre-empts-magical-and-moving-debut-by-penguin-generals-leighton [Accessed Oct. 2025].