A long-time feminist and supporter of Protect.org's anti-child abuse movement (in fact, 10% of the sales of her first book go directly to Protect), Alexander indicts those within the household and outsiders who would rather convince themselves that such atrocities as child abuse do not happen, along with the very monsters who perpetrate the acts directly.
To quote Alexander's own introduction to Once Upon A Childhood:
"I always liked the Grimm fairy tales. The darkness and the horror and the truth of them appealed to me.
So often, the real monsters in those stories are the parents. Hansel and Gretel, abandoned to starve in the forest. Donkeyskin, with the King's horrific lust for his daughter.
I lived those stories. I knew that the monsters were real, and that my father was the most terrifying monster of them all.
Living in the monster's lair was 18 years of terror and pain and isolation. The scars on my body, the scars in my heart, are a dot to dot constellation of unrelenting loss and fear.
We outgrow fairy tales as we get older. They lose their immediacy and ability to terrify.
For some of us, though, they still loom large. There are wolves. There are monsters. They're family."
While many authors have spun the darker side of fairy tales, Gwyndyn Alexander goes one step further by making the stories very relevant. They will make the reader uncomfortable, angry, outraged, while striking chords of sadness and empathy. From her own take on Briar Rose, to Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella, and even Little Red Riding Hood - where the Big Bad Wolf is on trial in a public court - Once Upon A Childhood is unlike anything you've ever read. If you have any preconceived notion of what a fairy tale should be - light and charming, or dark and menacing - cast those ideas aside and pick up Gwyndyn Alexander's Once Upon A Childhood today!
*Note: It's free to read if you have Kindle Unlimited
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