THE THREE TOYMAKERS

by Ursula Moray Williams ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1971

Like The Toymaker's Daughter (1969), with which it shares the characters of almost-living doll Black Marta and her evil father-creator Malkin, this unfolds in the manner of an Andersen fairy tale, complete with traditional motifs. But as the satisfying nugget-relationship between master-craftsman Peter and his orphaned apprentice Rudi is abandoned in favor of a runaway fragmented plot, the story forfeits its smooth folk-texture and control to become choppy, episodic, and ultimately unsettling. Rudi is supporting a pristine crippled sister and five brothers with five different bents; Anders the doted-on youngest is the agent of the action in his undisciplined but much-excused pursuit of selfish pleasure. It is he who makes the people of Drussl aware of malicious Malkin's entry in the contest for the most perfect toy in the kingdom, and it is he who tries to spirit Malkin's Marta away lest old Peter's dollhouse and Rudi's music-box be bettered. It is he again who later nearly wrecks that music-box in his anxiety to show it off to little Janni -- but it is also he who rescues it from the cave where Rudi leaves it, partially dismantled, when a pack of wolves gives chase to him and Peter on their way to the competition. It is Malkin, however, who has set them up for attack by the wolves, and Marta duly betrays him on the day of judgment: she can be no better than her maker, she cannot be perfect; Rudi and Peter jointly win the prize and the attendant honors. Sorcery is more conveniently than convincingly juxtaposed with the fanciful reality to advance or resolve the conflicts, and one cannot help feeling cheated when the promising simplicity is adulterated by contrivance.

Pub Date: May 1, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Nelson

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1971

Categories: FICTION