Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire is a modern twist on a classic fairytale. Loosely translated, Bianca de Nevada means Snow White. Mirror Mirror is the story of a young girl who, through a strange twist of fate, is caught up in a web of lies, deceit and the search for immortality. In this intricate tale, however, there are eight dwarves instead of seven.

Bianca de Nevada is a young girl who lives on a rambling estate in Tuscany during the Italian High Renaissance. She is the epitome of innocence, purity and, above all, beauty.

Bianca lives a quiet, sheltered life as the daughter of successful landowner Vicente de Nevada. Vicente is a Spaniard and a single parent who settles in Italy under mysterious circumstances after his beloved wife dies in childbirth. One day, Vicente finds an old mirror at the bottom of a lake on his property.

Bianca's closest friend is Primavera Vecchia, the housekeeper and cook at Montefiore. Primavera and the local parish priest, Fra Ludovico, are entrusted with Bianca's care whenever her father leaves Montefiore on business. After a visit from Lucrezia Borgia and her handsome brother Cesare, Vicente de Nevada is forced to make a terrible choice. Cesare Borgia is a religious and very superstitious soldier who hopes to rule Italy someday. When Cesare promises to protect Bianca and Montefiore, Vicente departs for Greece.

In the meantime, the woods beyond the de Nevada estate are shifting and changing. There are dwarves in the woods. While the dwarves in the classic tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves are seven diminutive miners who live peacefully and inconspicuously beyond the edge of reality, the dwarves at Montefiore have more pressing concerns on their minds. Where once there were eight, the dwarves notice one day that one of their brothers has gone missing. None of them have names. Until their number goes from even to uneven, none of the dwarves are aware that they are, in fact, individuals. The dwarves find Bianca de Nevada on their threshold one day and after the natural world meets real human life, none of them will ever be the same.

Mirror Mirror blends reality and fantasy, history and fiction. The result is a mixture of fairytale and cautionary missive. Lucrezia Borgia takes the place of the evil stepmother but she is no less devious than her classic counterpart. Lucrezia and her handsome brother, Cesare, represent the evils of the real world and are fictionalized in this unusual narrative. Also of note is the manner in which the author blends Renaissance events and sensibilities into a story that enlivens the story of Snow White and her woodland companions.