Happily: A Personal History—with Fairy Tales

Gilli Messer’s airy narration softens Mark’s (Wild Milk) unconventional collection of fairy tale analysis and autobiographical essays. The works were originally published in The Paris Review. Mark frames each chapter with a vignette about her family. As a Jewish mother raising two Black sons in Georgia, she worries about their youth and their future when news stories of anti-Semitism and racism increase. In these essays, she links Pinocchio and Peter Pan with references from Judaism and literary criticisms. When two of her family members get cancer, Mark segues to The Juniper Tree and Rapunzel to explain mortality and her emotions at the time. Messer’s warm, comforting voice soothes the harsh realities of each situation. As Mark’s real life becomes bleaker during the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the fairy tales become more anecdotal. Messer’s intonations glide through these sections, especially where the vignettes blend with magical realism. Messer also voices Mark’s mother, who adds a practical spin to several scenarios. She delightfully lowers her vocal register to sound like a New Yorker who has seen and heard it all.