This book is an interesting recommendation for me. It is a southern tale having been told for many, many years and also changed a bit through time. What I love about this book is the love story. The youngest daughter of an aging plantation owner is asked, along with her two ungrateful sisters to prove their love for their father in order to help him decide who he would ultimately pass his wealth to when he died. The two sisters found flattering words to express their love (albeit shallow and without true love) while the youngest and wonderfully genuine daughter could only find these words to express her love, "I love you more than meat loves salt."
Horrified and angry at her expression of love, being misunderstood, was ordered to leave the plantation and never return. She is ultimately helped along by a "fairy godmother" and the meaning of her words to her father coming back to truly express how much she really did love her father and at the end, her father did finally understood her deep love for him.
What I didn't love about this story was the griss griss woman who helped young Candice. Although this story is southern Cinderella story, the griss griss woman appears strangely magical when compared to the jolly, plump fairy godmother in the traditional Cinderella story.
However, it is one of our favorite stories. My daughters and I have read and reread this story dozens of times. It has solidified our bedtime expressions of love to each other. I begin with "I love you more than meat loves salt." And one child will come up with something creative like, "I love you more than pigs love mud." And " I love you more than T rex's love to hunt!" Back and forth until we finally can't come up with more.
I hope you will read it one day.
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