The Shadow of the Bear by Regina Doman is the first of the (currently, five) Fairy Tale Series of Novels by Regina Doman. Shadow is a retelling of Snow White and Rose Red by the Brothers Grimm. Each chapter begins with a quote from the original fairy tale, and the events of the chapter relate to each.
Some important points: even though the novel takes place in “reality” (relatively recent NYC), it has fairy tale elements that make it not strictly “realistic.” Some of the specifics (young people trying to solve mysteries on their own, people getting out of dangerous situations improbably) are more in the fairy tale mode than realistic mode.
We need to be clear here, both in our reading and in our discussions, about what plot elements are meant to be an interesting, page-turning part of the story, and what could be edifying or useful to us in our lives.
We’re not meant to think through how we would handle the situation if a group of surly teenagers kidnap us, or how to foil an evil treasure-crazed man in an abandoned church, because those events from The Shadow of the Bear are not likely to happen to us.
But we can take away a number of points about how to behave from, for instance, what Rose does right (and what she could have done differently) on prom night, because while we won’t be in the specific situation described, situations like it are very likely to come up during one’s high school and college years.
Also, we’re not meant to emulate the specific actions of the characters (trying to solve capital crimes on our own, putting ourselves and others in dangerous situations), but rather learn from their virtues (thought they are not perfect) and their ability to view situations in the light of their Catholic faith. Most of all, we’re also meant to enjoy this fantastically written and engaging story as the great story just as it is!
Here’s a link from author Regina Doman’s website, of pages on The Shadow of the Bear.
Following are the Catechism connections we will make/discuss with this book at the Mother-Daughter Book Group. Please bring your Catechism with you, but if you want to look these up online, I love this searchable Catechism of the Catholic Church.
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Chapter 1:, p. 30: Mrs. Brier: “After all, we were sheltering the stranger and tending the sick, weren’t we? That wasn’t wrong no matter what may happen from hereafter.”
CCC Connection: 2447, 2448
Chapter 2: Blanche overhears Mr. Freet, brother of the principal (also Mr. Freet), saying, “Art isn’t about truth, it’s about form,…That’s why the absence of a beautiful, structured form destroys music. Yes, and art, too.”
Blanche consider this and wants to discuss it with her family and Bear. Is this true? (they conclude in a later chapter that it is not true, truth and beauty are one, and that even evil that appears as beauty just steals beauty away from truth)
CCC Connection: 2500, 2501, 2502 (339)
Chapter 4: Bear takes the girls to St. Lawrence Church, a now closed church next to their high school where he was an altar boy. It is dark and a little scary, since they all know the former pastor, Fr. Raymond, was murdered there.
p.82: Bear: “Um, you know, since it is my secret place, you wouldn’t tell any of your friends that I took you there, would you?” Bear suddenly seemed a bit flustered.
“Oh, we don’t have any friends to tell,” Rose assured him. “Just Mom.”
“Oh, I don’t care if your Mother knows. She’s as solid as a brick.”
CCC Connection: 2488, 2489, 2491, 2492
Chapter 8: Rose and Blanche go shopping for a prom dress and other items as a thrift store, and Rose finds and buys two dresses, and the girls buy a few other items.
p. 110: discussion of relative modesty of dresses
CCC Connection: 2521, 2524, 2525
Chapter 11: after-prom party Rose attends; be prepared for discussion about what she did right, and what she might have done differently
CCC Connection: CCC 1806 (prudence), 1807 (justice), 1808 (fortitude), 1809 (temperance)
Chapter 14: Blanche goes to talk to old Sister Geraldine to get information about Bear, and he tells her about how he and his brother Ben converted to Catholicism with the help of Father Raymond. Fr. Raymond collected and had quite a storehouse of unused church vessels that had been in flea markets, etc.
Sister Blanche: “Most people thought he was crazy. After all, most of them weren’t worth very much. But Father believed, “holy things for the holy,’ and he kept them safe and in good condition. He wasn’t a reactionary or anything of that sort. He simply believed in showing reverence for all things connected with the Holy Mass.”
CCC Connection: CCC 948
Chapter 17 & 18: When Bear parts from Blanche to “go to his fate,’” he tells her:
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well" (a quote from St. Julian of Norwich, afterwards used in a poem by T.S. Eliot.) What do you think that Bear means?
CCC Connection: 313, 314
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