Ting-A-Ling

Frank R. Stockton was the 19th century's answer to a writer who could make you laugh while teaching you something about human nature, without ever preaching. In this charmingly off-kilter fairy tale, he gives us Princess Aufalia, a king with more heart than wisdom, and the titular fairy Ting-a-ling, whose mischief drives the plot in directions you won't see coming. When Aufalia sneaks out for a clandestine walk and meets a young prince, she triggers a chain of events that lands him in prison and her in despair. But Ting-a-ling has been watching from the shadows, and the fairy decides to meddle in the name of love. What follows is a journey through a kingdom where magic operates on its own peculiar logic, where humor sneaks up on you in the middle of sentences, and where the resolution arrives with a wink rather than a lecture. Stockton's genius lies in his refusal to moralize. Instead, he lets his fantastic characters reveal the absurdity of greed, jealousy, and abuse of power through sheer, delightful storytelling. If you loved The Lady, or the Tiger?, this is the gentler, more playful side of Stockton's mischievous genius.