An astonishing novel, with an opening that is both harrowing and upsetting. Liga is abused first by her father abd then, after his death, a group of boys. On the verge of suicide, she is granted a safe haven to raise her two daughters in peace and safety. The real wold intrudes, howver, and one of her daughters longs for escape. In rich, earthy, rhythmic prose, Lanagan reworks the Grimm fairy tale into a meditation on suffering and consolation, freedom and restriction. Funny, horrifying, bittersweet and uplifting, this is a major piece of literature, Young Adult or otherwise.