Its shiveringly romantic conclusion will leave readers spellbound. But the genius of the novel lies not just in the details but in its breadth of vision. Napoli imagines the precise quality of the mother's supernatural powers, the colors of the stones in Zel's tower, the rustle of the trees in the forest. Konrad, meanwhile, must discover the difference between love and obsession. Isolated, Zel wavers between recognition of her mother's sacrifices and her own fury, and wanders into madness. Zel's mother, no longer a routine villainess, has sacrificed everything, even her soul, for the witchcraft that enables her to have a daughter a desperate fear of Konrad's attentions drives her to imprison Zel in the famous tower. Napoli gently guides the reader through the inevitable consequences of this meeting, mining every movement in the fairy tale for its psychological treasures. By chance she meets a youth named Konrad unknown to her, he is the son of the count, and he is charmed by her apparent simplicity and forthright manner. Her novel Zel was named an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists, a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon, and a School Library Journal Best Book, and a.

She won the Golden Kite Award for Stones in Water in 1997. In mid-16th-century Switzerland, Zel, on the threshold of adolescence, accompanies her mother on a rare trip from their remote cottage to the village. Donna Jo Napoli is the acclaimed and award-winning author of many novels, both fantasies and contemporary stories. Books by Donna Jo Napoli (Author of Zel) Books by Donna Jo Napoli Donna Jo Napoli Average rating 3. As she has done for The Frog Prince and Hansel and Gretel, Napoli here visits her magic upon the tale of Rapunzel, creating a work of depth and beauty.

Zel by donna jo napoli