The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden
The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden is a 2006 novel by Catherynne Valente. It won the 2006 James Tiptree, Jr. Award, with Half Life by Shelley Jackson. It's a series of nested or frame tales, stories nested within stories, such as the Pancatantra, 1001 Nights or My Name is Red; part of the genre of political literature called "mirror for princes" which set out to teach methods of good government to the ruling class, in a framework of fast-moving labyrinth of entertaining fables and tales. Valente's masterwork is notable for its interweaving of Persian, Hindu, Northern European, and other myths, fairy tales, and literary traditions.
The stories of In the Night Garden and The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice are set in an alternate, mythical, or fantastic Persia, India, and Europe.
Plot Summary
List of Characters
List of Places
Outline
Editions
- Bantam Spectra: 2006 (ISBN 0553384031) 482 pp. Illustrations by Michael Kaluta.