Book cover of Undine

Book description

Undine is a fairy-tale novella, written by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (1777 – 1843). A true classic of the genre, it tells the story of Undine (a water spirit), who marries a knight named Huldebrand in order to gain a soul. It is an early German romance, which has…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Undine as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

As a teen, I'd visit my aunt, in her flat above a laundrette. The flat had a small attic room with a little window and a few old boxes of junk. My cousins and sister and I would play up there, or sit up there telling ghost stories, because it was one of those unclaimed spaces, overlooked by adults, that children colonise. A liminal space almost, where adult rules and laws don't quite apply and therefore magic can happen. One day I was snooping up there and found a beautiful copy of Friedrich De La Motte's Undine, illustrated by…

From Victoria's list on The best dark fairytale books.

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