In my Kingdom series, I’ve taken the main character of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl” and put her into a fantasy epic as a queen. If you’ve read “The Little Match Girl,” this may seem like an odd choice. Yet, Andersen’s short story is a fairy tale, and fairy tales have princesses. So it’s not a big leap after all. But why The Little Match Girl? Cinderella and Snow White are also queens in the novel, and this choice makes sense. But the Little Match Girl? Seriously?

Yes, very seriously.

I had to make some adjustments. First, I had to age the girl up from eight-ish to teenager inline with the rest of the fairytale princesses. Her age in the novel is fifteen, near the age most of the heroines of fairy tales are in Grimm. Second, and most importantly, she doesn’t die as she does in the original. And third, she’s a sister to the other fairytale princesses, ensuring she rules equally over the land.

In Kingdom Come, the first novel, each queen is symbolic of a certain type of good-hearted monarch. All suffer hardships and adversity, but their suffering has meaning when they ascend. They don’t forget who they are. As an example, Cinderella is raised in an arrogant family, and refuses (as queen) to become arrogant herself. When I outlined my idea, I needed a queen who champions the poor—a social justice queen. The character that leapt to mind was The Little Match Girl.

She doesn’t have a name, so I bequeathed her the moniker Valencia, which means “beautiful city.” The name is an irony since the city in the original tale is anything but “beautiful” being cold, harsh, and dirty. Valencia is a victim of social injustice as people leave her to die in the wintry streets. Never forgetting her roots, Valencia becomes the relatable queen, the “one of us” queen, the true rags-to-riches queen. But, you may say, isn’t that all the fairytale queens? If you think about it, Snow White, Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella are mistreated, but the abuse is domestic-focused. Valencia suffers from a social ill, and therein makes all the difference. The illustration to the left is by Dan Johnson and depicts Valencia before she ascends.

In book two, On Earth as it Is, I had fun “flipping” the characters of the fairytale queens to show what they may have become. Women are disguised to look like the missing fairytale queens, and they have characteristics that the monarchs may have had if they had given into certain temptations. Valencia’s mirror image is a woman named Virginia. Virginia, a merchant, only cares about money, and will use any means, including theft, to acquire it. Valencia understands Virginia’s desires, and sees in her what may she (the Match Girl quee n) may have turned into. The illustration below is by Lauren Nalepa of Virginia (and guard).

In book three, Deliver Us, I start to move past her Little Match Girl origins. She’s twenty-one in this novel and is an acknowledged queen and adventurer. The scars of her childhood, being hemmed into one place, makes her travel to distant lands. Her setting again tempts her innocence, but this time there’s no evil twin. And in the end, her commoner roots comes up with a creative way she can stay with her lover. The illustration to below is by Dan Johnson and shows what Valencia has chosen as her throne—a common chair for the common folk.

Finally, book four (Will Be Done) brings Valencia back to her childhood and poses the question “what if she had surived her wintry night but hadn’t become queen.” I use her background to explore how childhood abuse affects adults. In the novel, a villain erases her memories of her queen years, and new memories are placed in her mind. In her faux past, Valencia runs away and finds a place to stay in a toy shop as a worker. When she is rescued, she has trouble adjusting to a life without abuse, a life of comfort and friendship. I think those of us who dream of having money have thought what it would be like to “rescue” a poor person from a dangerous or hopeless situation. But it’s never easy.

If you enjoyed these posts and want to read more about Valencia, here are the links to the books.

Kingdom Come: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KYKH538

On Earth As It Is: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L2G7ZS9

Deliver Us: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Y73XD6W

Will Be Done: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C99KD4JF

And two collections of short stories, each with a story where Valencia is the main character.

Kingdom’s Advent: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085WSSW1C

Kingdom’s Ascension: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0960101748