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Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn
Unavailable
Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn
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Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn
Audiobook11 hours

Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn

Written by Donald Spoto

Narrated by Kimberly Farr

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Her name is synonymous with elegance, style and grace. Over the course of her extraordinary life and career, Audrey Hepburn captured hearts around the world and created a public image that stands as one of the most recognizable and beloved in recent memory. But despite her international fame and her tireless efforts on behalf of UNICEF, Audrey was also known for her intense privacy. With unprecedented access to studio archives, friends and colleagues who knew and loved Audrey, bestselling author Donald Spoto provides an intimate and moving account of this beautiful, elusive and talented woman.

Tracing her astonishing rise to stardom, from her harrowing childhood in Nazi-controlled Holland during World War II to her years as a struggling ballet dancer in London and her Tony Award-winning Broadway debut in Gigi, Spoto illuminates the origins of Audrey's tenacious spirit and fiercely passionate nature.

She would go on to star in some of the most popular movies of the twentieth century, including Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Funny Face, The Nun's Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady. A friend and inspiration to renowned designer Hubert de Givenchy, Audrey emerged as a fashion icon as well as a film legend, her influence on women's fashion virtually unparalleled to this day.

But behind the glamorous public persona, Audrey Hepburn was both a different and a deeper person and a woman who craved love and affection. Donald Spoto offers remarkable insights into her professional and personal relationships with her two husbands, and with celebrities such as Gregory Peck, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Gary Cooper, Robert Anderson, Cary Grant, Peter O'Toole, Albert Finney and Ben Gazzara. The turbulent romances of her youth, her profound sympathy for the plight of hungry children, and the thrills and terrors of motherhood prepared Audrey for the final chapter in her life, as she devoted herself entirely to the charity efforts of an organization that had once come to her rescue at the end of the war: UNICEF.

Donald Spoto has written a poignant, funny and deeply moving biography of an unforgettable woman. At last, Enchantment reveals the private Audrey Hepburn-and invites readers to fall in love with her all over again.

"She was as funny as she was beautiful. She was a magical combination of high chic and high spirits." -Gregory Peck

"In spite of her fragile appearance, she's like steel." -Cary Grant

"Audrey was known for something which has disappeared, and that is elegance, grace and manners . . . God kissed her on the cheek, and there she was." -Billy Wilder

"There is not a woman alive who does not dream of looking like Audrey Hepburn." -Hubert de Givenchy

"Her magnetism was so extraordinary that everyone wanted to be close to her. It was as if she placed a glass barrier between herself and the world. You couldn't get behind it easily. It made her remarkably attractive." -Stanley Donen

"She has authentic charm. Most people simply have nice manners." -Alfred Lunt


From the Hardcover edition.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 19, 2006
ISBN9781415933657
Unavailable
Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn
Author

Donald Spoto

Donald Spoto has written two dozen bestselling biographies of film and theater stars—among them Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock, Tennessee Williams, Ingrid Bergman, and Marilyn Monroe. Born in Westchester County, near New York City, he now lives in Denmark.

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Reviews for Enchantment

Rating: 3.9332211856341193 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Sleeping Beauty sleeps for a thousand years, and a young boy in Soviet Ukraine finds her on a grassy pedastal in a pit in the woods near his cousin's farm, while his parents are trying to get visas to leave the country and emigrate to America. He can't do anything about it, and he convinces himself that it was only a dream. Twenty years later, he's a graduate student, working towards a Ph.D. in Slavonic languages, and his thesis research brings him back to Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union. He wakes and rescues the princess, and when they can each see one bridge leading off the pedastal to the solid ground on the far side of the pit, it's not the same bridge. They take hers, and wind up in her 9th-century kingdom of Taina. The only survival skill Ivan has for Katerina's world is speaking the language; he has no skills which making him a plausible prince and king in this world. But they must marry, or Baba Yaga, the witch that is trying to destroy Katerina and her father and seize Taina, will win. Ivan, who in addition to his linguistic skills is a pretty fair decathlete, struggles to learn skills respectable for a knight in the 9th century, such as the use of a broadsword, and how not to disgrace himself in 9th century Carpathian society, while Katerina struggles to understand her weird betrothed, who is too educated for a peasant, completely lacks a knight's skills, and doesn't know the most basic, ordinary rules of decent behavior. Meanwhile, Baba Yaga is still plotting against them, and not everyone in Taina is altogether reconciled to the fact that Katerina is betrothed to this weird foreigner who can't fight. I think this is more original and interesting than some other relatively recent retellings of Sleeping Beauty, and Card's a good writer, and he omits the child torture this time. Recommended.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Ivan Smolek has spent his entire life with a fascination with his memory of seeing what looked like a sleeping woman in the woods in Ukraine right before he and his parents fled to America. When Ivan returns to Ukraine as an adult to do research for his doctoral dissertation, he can't help but return to the spot where he found her. Suddenly Ivan finds himself as part of the tale of Sleeping Beauty, only the evil witch is Baba Yaga and she could care less about whom she harms in her quest to conquer.I read this one on a friend's recommendation and it ended up being not quite as awesome as I had hoped knowing the kind of books she often puts on my radar. As a novel that plays with fairy tale tropes, this is pretty enjoyable and it's nice to see a Ukrainian/Russian twist on these tales. However, reflecting on the book, I could definitely tell that this book was written by a man in the early 90s. While the male characters are given a greater range of characteristics, the three major female characters fall into basic archetypes and never really stretch beyond it. Plus, don't get me started on the language and attitude used around pregnancy because that's where the male authorship really appears obvious. Not a bad read but not one I'll put at the top of my recommendation pile.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Anticlamatic ending
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ivan's childhood was full of changes. His family had to change religions which brought Ivan and his father Piotr to the painful decision of post-infancy circumcision. Then they had to move from Russia to America. Through all of these changes, what brought Ivan peace and stability was running. One run through the forest on his uncle's farm brought him to a magical chasm where the leaves danced away as Ivan approached for a closer look at a woman sleeping on a bed of rock. Ivan did what he did best: he ran.Years later, Ivan never could shake off the feeling that he should have looked closer at the woman and tried to help her. Through a series of seemingly coincidental events, Ivan finds himself back at his uncle's farm. One curious run into the forest and Ivan finds the same woman buried under the leaves. This time, he doesn't run. This was a selection for a book club that I have recently joined, otherwise I might not have picked it up. This is the first book that I have read by Orson Scott Card as fantasy books are not really my preferred genre. However, fairy tales are one of my favorites, and this came across as a clever retelling of Sleeping Beauty mixed with the folk tales of Baba Yaga and other deities. Orson Scott Card's Enchantment, although fantasy, surprised me in this combination of the three. I was further surprised that there were a few points where I lost interest yet it was quickly regained. This is not the sort of book that I could read in one sitting, as it was rather long and at some points long-winded. However, it is the sort of book that I could quickly pick up again the next day or even a few hours later. That is to say that I found it neither repulsive nor gripping. I enjoyed the storyline for the most part and I also enjoyed the alternating perspectives between Ivan, Katerina, and Baba Yaga. I thought Baba Yaga was the character written the strongest as she was despicable yet entertaining. I also enjoyed the minor details earlier in the book that became major details later. For example: a vague note from a deceased neighbor in the beginning of the book played a major factor in one of the final action sequences. Although I love fairy tales, I do enjoy the struggle that Katerina and Ivan had in their relationship. They did not love each other immediately, rather they fell for each other at different paces. I would recommend this book for any reader looking for an enchanting fantasy read with a leading female character and a bit of historical fiction. On the other hand, I would not recommend this book for readers who do not enjoy foul language, violence, revenge, murder, and sexually suggestive scenarios.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I must have read this soon after it was published. I remember it as a rich and complex re-telling of the fable, making the characters much more human and rounded.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book spent too much time explaining the plots of Audrey Hepburn‘s movies and not enough time explaining her life choices. Also this book uses a higher level vocabulary than I am used to , so some of it was difficult to read. It does reveal some surprising facts about Audrey Hepburn such as her many affairs with married men. I actually found that disappointing.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Much more than a film star, the history of a sensitive and precious human being.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Did not finish. I loved Ender's Game. A friend recommended Enchantment to me. It was interesting through the first five chapters, but then got silly.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A unique twist on a common fairy tale, with a variety of unexpected plot elements. Set amongst the folk tales of Russia, this story features a strong heroine with an equally strong, if not knightly, hero. I thought this would be a very predictable tale, but was wrong -- it kept me engaged from start to finish. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I had some doubts prior to reading Enchantment. I have read a few other Orson Scott Card, and didn't especially care for them. Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised to read Enchantment. Our story's hero, Ivan, is a Ukranian living in the United States, where he is a grad student. He is mysteriously transported to ninth century Russia while going through the forest and finds a sleeping princess. The story becomes a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The princess has been bewitched by Baba Yaga, and is guarded by Bear, who is a Russian deity. Although Ivan is immediately taken by Princess Katarina's beauty, they don't mix well at all initially. Ivan and the princess return to her people, where everybody looks down upon him despite his act of heroism. I really enjoyed how Card mixed in the modern day Ivan into the old settings. It was done is a very realistic manner. As a writer, I appreciate the thought process that went into this integration.Ivan must prove his worth in a society where almost everyone doubts him, and some are plotting against him. I also thoroughly enjoyed the portrayal of Baba Yaga, a seldomly used character of legend. All of the main characters in this story resonate. They are very well drawn and likeable, even the villainous ones. Ivan is a thinking man's character. Although athletic and intelligent, he doesn't possess the characteristics that are valued in ninth century Russia. Still, he uses his smarts and his talents to really make himself an important person to the people. He proves his heroism. The relationship between him and Katrina came alive as well, and was quite believable. The storytelling was strong. This was a good novel, well worth reading.Carl Alves - author of Blood Street
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Though the story and characters were interesting, I found the several loose ends rather irritating. Not my favorite work by this author.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my absolute favorite books. Orson Scott Card is an a-mazing storyteller.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I greatly enjoyed this modern meets historic fairy tale come true, complete with time travel!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book was something like a ferry tale and I enjoyed reading it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved this book! It is one that keeps coming to my mind years later, and I just think, "Wow, that was a great story!" Great love story, great tension, great imagination and world building for the fantasy cross over sections.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was a fairy tale version of A YANKEE IN KING ARTHURS COURT. Rather than the princess coming into the 20th century Prince Charming travels back to the 9th. It has all the elements of a fairy tale with a modern twist. The cast of characters from the usual (the princess, prince charming, the wicked witch) to some more obscure characters borrowed from the traditional russian stories (the bear, Baba Yaga) and few references to well know characters borrowed from the likes of The Wizard of Oz and others. It was definitely an entertaining book. I enjoy time travel books, but they always leave me pondering the part where you have to ask yourself the question of "If the character is in the past, does it effect his future? Is he still in the future? etc.?" Despite my personal conundrum with time travel, this was a good read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    As we outgrow our childhood, we say goodbye to many fun traditions. No longer do we believe in the Easter Bunny or hope that the Tooth Fairy will bring us gifts in the night (although some financial assistance for crowns and wisdom teeth extractions would be nice). With adulthood, we stop reading books that begin with “Once upon a time… ”. But, some days, when work is, well work, and newspapers are filled with stories about the bad economy, a fairy tale seems like the perfect escape from the real world. And better than anything that Calgon has to offer, listening to the audio version of Orson Scott Card’s Enchantment, can really take your mind away.

    Running through the forest in Russia, 10-year old Ivan finds a beautiful sleeping woman who is magically frozen in time. Not fully believing what he sees, but still sensing danger, Ivan flees the clearing. Soon after, his family moves to the United States. Over a decade later, Ivan, now fully Westernized, returns to Russia to complete his research of Russian folklore for his graduate thesis. Although he has never mentioned it to anyone, the scene in the forest has haunted him and he returns to banish this hopefully imaginary event from his mind. Instead, he discovers the beautiful Princess Katerina, who has been asleep under a spell for hundreds of years. Ivan breaks the spell and awakens the princess with a kiss. Now all of us recognize this as the end of that classic, Sleeping Beauty, but where Disney’s story ends, Enchantment is just beginning to take off. This magical fairy tale transports Ivan to 9th century Russia where Ivan must save Katerina and her kingdom from the evil Russian witch, Baba Yaga.

    In Enchantment, Orson Scott Card has created an unusual meld of fairy tale and Russian mythology with modern day action and suspense. Part of the humor and fun in the story is the combination of medieval culture with present day society. Ivan’s advanced education, intelligence and lean physique might be a magnet for women in the 20th century, but do not impress Princess Katerina, who expects men to be brawny and able to wield a broad sword, not a quill and parchment. Unlike the traditional fairy tale, the princess does not wake from her thousand year slumber in love with the man who has broken the spell. Her disdain for Ivan and the tension and sparring between the two heroes of this story add romance and humor to this charming fairy tale. Throw in some exciting and clever plot twists and you have a performance that appeals to both romance lovers and adventure addicts – the perfect audio book for a long car trip with someone special.

    .Although the book originally published in print in 1999, the audio version was recently released in 2010 by Blackstone. The combination of magical fantasy and fast paced suspense make this a superb story to enjoy in audio. Orson Scott Card shifts the point of view several times during the book, giving the reader the opportunity to hear the story from eight different people including Ivan, the princess, and even the wicked Baba Yaga. This Blackstone production features two award winning narrators, Stefan Rudnicki and Gabrielle de Cuir, who make the transition between the various points of view seamless. Both narrators give stellar performances, switching often between American, Russian and Yiddish accents. The audio book is lengthy – over 17 hours – but Rudnicki’s soothing bass voice and de Cuir’s incredible performance as both the young heroine Katerina and the old crone Baba Yaga will have you savoring every moment.

    So, if life gets too hectic and you need to escape in a fairy tale, or if you are just in the mood for a well told story filled with magic, romance, and adventure, pamper yourself with this beautiful story – you’ll be enchanted!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    3.5 stars.Ivan grew up in Russia, but moves with his parents to the U.S. when he is 10 years old. When he returns to the Ukraine as an adult, after he’s become engaged, he is drawn to a forest where he saw something as a child – something that always haunted him. In that forest lay “Sleeping Beauty”, a.k.a. Katerina. Once Katerina is awakened, she and Ivan go back to the time she fell asleep – the year, 890. Basically, Enchantment tells the story of what happened after Sleeping Beauty was awakened. It was good, but I felt it took a long time to really get going. During the first bit, I kept waiting for the “real” story to start, but even after it did, it took a while yet for me to really get into it. The story was told from different points of view, and I enjoyed Ivan’s and Katerina’s points of view much more than the others, but I didn’t find myself all that interested in the point of view of Baba Yaga, the witch who put the spell on Katerina to begin with.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a great retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I love anything that has to do with Russia so that was an added bonus! When I was learning Russian my teacher told me about Baba Yaga (this scary witch woman from old Russian folk tales) and she is in this book as a character so that was pretty interesting.

    Also, there are a lot of times I was pissed at Katarina for the shit she put Ivan through. If I were him I would've just kicked her in the shin and freaking booked it back to the future. Nevertheless, I still liked the book and would recommend it to most people. There's a lot of crude jokes in it (which I though was funny considering I assumed(wrongly) that this was an Ender's Game-type young adult book of Card's) but you can overlook most of them.

    Audiobook caveats: I dozed off a couple times during the Baba Yaga sections of the book-->The woman reading her sections was good at the narrative voice and the witch but her voice as the bear was ridiculous. It sounded like what my mom would sound like if she tried to talk like a bear...ridiculous.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A really interesting retelling. There were several points throughout the book at which I had no idea where the story might be heading, but I'm glad I stuck with it. It wasn't as fanciful as I'd hoped; it was much more realistic, with bits of humor and folklore, but engaging nonetheless.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This novel is a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. Katerina is a 10th Century Ukrainian princess that has been put under a sleeping spell by the evil witch Baba Yaga. Ivan is a 20th Century doctoral student doing research in Russia for his thesis on Russian folklore. On his way back to American he stops to visit his cousin Marek in the Ukraine. He first saw Katerina when he was ten years old. She was lying asleep upon a pedestal surrounded by a chasm in the middle of a clearing in the forest. He visits the clearing again as an adult and she is still there.The first half of the story takes place in the village of Tainia in the year 900 C.E. Ivan must learn the customs of the time so the people will accept him as the princess’s husband. Even though he is considered an athlete in our time, the king’s men regard him as a puny weakling because he isn’t strong enough to fight with a sword and shield. Latter on Katerina finds herself out of place in our world, but she adapts better than Baba Yaga who is mesmerized by our modern technology.This was a very well written novel. I haven’t read Card in a while and had forgotten how good a writer he is. His writing style is a joy to read. The characters are well crafted. And even though this is a take-off on a fairytale, it is an adult novel. There are mature themes and realistic plot points about life, death, religion, and family relationships. I recommend this book to fans of the author as well as those who enjoy fantasy novels.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An interesting retelling of the Sleeping Beauty and Baba Yaga fairy tales, set in modern day and 9th century Ukraine. Ivan Smetski, a modern day Jewish Ukrainian-American, has been drawn to and afraid of a clearing in the woods near his uncle's Ukrainian farm all his life. On a trip back to the Ukraine to do some research for his PhD he decides to return to the clearing to face his fears and ends up awakening Sleeping Beauty. Except this Sleeping Beauty speaks proto-Old Church Slavonic and isn't at all interested in having a 21st century scholar as a husband, she needs a 6-foot knight with a sword to lead her people into battle to defend her kingdom from Baba Yaga. Ivan can speak proto-Old Church Slavonic but he can't even lift a sword and now he's awakened the princess he has to accompany her back to her kingdom or the spell temporarily protecting them from Baba Yaga will be broken and neither of them will be safe.Card has done a really good job of making the 9th century kingdom of Taina seem real and believable despite the magical elements. It doesn't feel like the generic medieval fantasyland unfortunately so common in some fantasy books. The discomfort Ivan feels trying to adjust to a completely different culture is also well done as is the discomfort Princess Katerina feels when she travels back to Ivan's time with him.In some ways I felt there were some missed opportunities with this book though. Ivan is Jewish and travels back to a very Christian 9th century Ukraine. The differences are mentioned, Ivan has to get baptised for example, but nothing much is really made of this. If Ivan had been Christian (or of any other belief/religious system) instead of Jewish the book would have been fundamentally the same. Why not make him an atheist? That could still have brought up issues surrounding baptism. Why was he Jewish? It just frustrated me a little.So it was a very enjoyable read but I felt it lacked the sort of depth that could have made it a great book. Recommended if you're interested in fairy-tale retellings or Russian/Ukrainian culture.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Enchantment by Orson Scott CardThis is a fantasy tale mixing themes from Russian folklore and the traditional sleeping beauty story. The main character is Ivan Smetski and the story starts with his childhood in the Ukraine. One day his parents tell him they are Orthodox Jews and are going to immigrate to Israel. Instead of going to Irsael they move to the United States where Ivan and his father, who is a professor, become experts in ancient Slavonic. Ivan remembers spending time at his Uncle Marek’s farm as a child so when he does research for his master’s project on Russian folklore he returns to his homeland and to an enchanted grove near his uncles farm that he also visited when he was a child. In the grove he discovers a sleeping princess and with a kiss she awakens. Ivan must battle an evil bear who guards the beauty to escape with her to her homeland. The princess is Katerina, she was placed in this state of suspended animation by the evil sorcery of the Russian witch Baba-Yaga. Ivan travels back in time with Katerina to her village and is now supposed to marry her. He is anything but a strong strapping warrior, which is what the townsfolk expect, and things get more and more complicated for him as the story continues on. Baba Yaga causes trouble for them throughout the story and much of if seemed cliche, but that is the whole jist of the story in the first place; a re-telling of folklore. Ivan began to bug me after a while as the story continued on because he was such a wimp and only made thing harder for himself by doing the things he did. The story has a nice happy ending which I will admit I like in a book, but the characters went from despising each other to being a perfect picture of love. Yes corny and a little too neat to actually keep me interested. I put the book away for a few weeks and read something else, then went back to it because I knew I was really close to finishing and did not want to waste all the previous time I spent reading it. (3 out of 5 stars for Enchantment)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
     A retelling of the classic Sleeping Beauty. A young Jewish boy stumbles into a clearing in the woods of Russia to find a young woman asleepin the center. He runs away but never forgets. He returns as a grown man and finally finds out what will happen when he wakes her up. A great new take on the famous tale. Orson Scott Card develops the characters and there relationship artfully. A great understanding of the differences of the past and the present and how a collision between the two results.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a great book! One of those stories I could read a hundred times and not be bored.... and one that will stick with me even in between readings.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mixing reality and fantasy, and exploring old myths and fairy tales, Mr. Card creates a complex and interesting story. Oh, and there's a bit of romance tossed in for good measure. This isn't like any Sleeping Beauty re-telling I've ever read, and it made me really interested in the old folk tales of Russia. Mostly, though, I loved the premise and how the story turns out.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed reading this version of the "Sleeping Beauty" tale. It was an easy read, and put a "Russian" twist to the tale. I especially enjoyed the witch, Baba Yaga, as she was well conceived and her thinking was evil but fun to follow. Her childish, twisted mind was a large part of the energy contained in the story. Great book, like most from this author.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of my all-time favorite books, and one to which I return again and again for relaxation and comfort. It is a take-off on the Sleeping Beauty story, set in modern-day Ukraine and New York. I just love it.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Summary: Enchantment is the story of a Ukraine-born, American grad student who finds himself transported to the ninth century to play the prince in a Russian version of Sleeping Beauty. He and his cursed princess contend with the diabolical witch Baba Yaga to save the princess’s kingdom. Enchantment is a time-hopping tale that is part love story, part adventure. Opinion: The book is slow at times and wordy. The best part is the time-travel experiences, in which both Katerina from the 9th century and Ivan from the 1990s experience each other’s world.Objectionable material: Has some crude wordings and some offensive language, and a non-explicit love scene between two married characters. Religious confusion (mostly between Christianity and Judaism) and disbelief in God. Religion seems to be a mere formality, with Ivan easily casting away his Jewish “faith” to become a Christian because that’s what is expected of him. In the end, only real power comes from witches.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Enchantment is the story of Ivan, a Jewish boy living in the Ukraine, who accidently stumbles upon a beautiful woman asleep on a pedestal, surrounded by a moat full of leaves, hiding a chasm containing some sort of monster.  Ivan runs off, but never forgets this encounter.  His parents decide to move to the United States where Ivan grows up and receives his education in languages, the same as his father.  When he returns to the Ukraine to do research, he finds once again the place in the forest with the beautiful sleeping woman.  This time, he fights the monster (who is a bear), kisses the girl (who is a princess), and awakens her from the spell she has been under.  They then return to her world, which is the 9th century in the kingdom of Taina (later to become Ukraine).  Unbeknownst to Ivan, he has set in motion events that will profoundly affect the course of history.  The wrath of  the evil witch Baba Yaga is unleashed, and Ivan and the Princess travel back and forth between the 9th and 20th centuries in order to figure out how to prevent her from gaining complete control.One thing I learned is that there are several sub-genres within fantasy, including mythology, fairy tales, and folklore.  All three provide context for this book, along with various religious traditions.   Gods from Russian mythology work with figures from Russian/Slavic folk tales.  It is also a reworking of the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty".  But mostly it is a straightforward tale of good (represented by Christianity) versus evil (the folklore character Baba Yaga and paganism).  Who will win?With the exception of some issues I had with elements of time travel and some seemingly unanswered questions, I thought the book was very interesting and well-written.  Card also has fun with his characters (Baba Yaga and her husband Bear are the bad guys you love to hate).  I didn't agree entirely with the way the plot played out, as it seemed everyone relied entirely too much on magic which took away freedom of choice.  But then, the story is fantasy after all.  Overall, it was a very entertaining read.