What happens when an author of adult fiction mixes genres usually considered popular, non literary, and often for children? Can the result be viewed as literary and potent for an adult audience? Deerskin by Robin McKinley and Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier exemplify the modern technique of adapting classic fairy tales into modern adult fantasy fiction. Little scholarship exists on this relatively recent subgenre. This book considers these two novels in terms of literary quality and technique, and particularly for the ways in which they deal with the sensitive topics of rape and healing at the core of each story. This text explores how these forms of fantasy and fairy tale, often considered light reading, lend themselves to such weighty topics as these, how, in fact, the often unmentionable topic of rape can be dealt with in a way that is both protective and therapeutic to the reader specifically due to the form of the modern fantasy fairy tale. This book would appeal to audiences interested in fairy tales, fantasy, folklore, feminism, or trauma writing.