The Tale of Despereaux

A mouse falls in love with a princess...a rat hates living in the darkness of the dungeon and longs to live in the light...a serving girl wants to be a princess...The Tale of Despereaux is rife with impossible-to-resolve conflicts. Only in a fairy tale can a mouse find a way to marry a princess...a rat find a way to live in the light...a homely servant find a way to become a beautiful princess. Though much of the book feels like a fairy tale, the author chooses to go another direction at the end. No one lives a sappy sweet happily-ever-after. Dreams aren't realized in the way one might hope, but instead in the way one needs.

The book is chock full of ponderings about the power of hope, forgiveness, and love, but, again, the author shows how these save one, though not in the way one might expect.