ASU Reacts:Jepp, Who Defied the Stars

Hello, this Jett Cattani bringing you a story about a tale of fate and history.

Host: It seems like there are new authors popping up every day, creating new fantasy novels but, not too many of them create fantastic stories about court dwarfs. Katherine Marsh was always fascinated with dwarfs as a young girl from seeing the numerous paintings by Diego Velazquez, who was famous for painting dwarfs. She even went on to study court dwarfs and how much a part of history they were, such being important to European, Chinese, and even Egyptian courts. From this obsession as a child she ended up writing a novel called Jepp, Who Defied the Stars. The story follows a dwarf named Jepp who is approached by a stranger that offers him work as a court dwarf for the Palace of Coudenberg. He then realizes how humiliating his job is because he is basically a freak show and entertainment for the court which causes him to then set out to find more in his life by going on an adventure to the see the world and to defy his fate of just being a court dwarf.

I asked a fellow student named Eric about what he thought of the story and what it could teach people such as himself.

Eric: “Well, it sounds like a really interesting story that has not really been done or told before. I’m pretty sure I have never heard anything ever about court dwarfs. But since they were a big part of history I think it is really important to have a story that maybe can relate to that history and even build awareness that there were such things as court dwarfs. The story does give a sense that it can teach myself to understand that I am not stranded by fate and if I can do anything if I put my mind to it”.

Host: Even though Marsh herself is not a dwarf she has made sure that the story is as accurate as possible by interviewing and allowing real people that have dwarfism to read her book and give her helpful hints to make it accurate. The story itself has a great message of defying fate, no matter how small you are in this world and is sure to be a hit this year.