“	Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there was a certain young lady of the Literal persuasion who longed for a life of adventure. Raised among other Literals, she thought to see the wider worlds--especially the Fable Homelands, which her ancestor Kevin Thorn had spent such care inventing. As soon as she came of age, she left her home among the Literals and set off to see the worlds, to begin slaking her unquenchable thirst for knowledge.	„
	― Mister Revise narrating Prose Page's story to Jack Horner, Jack of Fables #32 — "The Book of Revelations: The Books of War, Volume Five"

Prose Page was a human Literal who appears in flashbacks in Jack of Fables #32 — "The Book of Revelations: The Books of War, Volume Five." She was apparently Jack Horner's mother, who gave birth to Jack after an affair with a Fable, Prince Charming. She later gave birth to the Page sisters, Hillary with Mister Revise; and Priscilla and Robin with Bookburner.

History

The adventurer

Prose was a Literal who dreamed of forbidden things, namely, interacting with Fables. Going against the rules of her community, Prose began to visit different Homelands. She spent much time in the land of Alexandria where it is said that she found her "theme" — most likely referring to^[1] her job as a librarian^[2] since the great library resided in the historical Alexandria.

However, this was not the thing that would have the greatest impact on her life; she met a prince, Prince Charming to be exact, and became pregnant with his child. This child she abandoned at the home of a poor Fable farmer and his wife since it was forbidden for Literals to breed with Fables. That child grew up to be Jack Horner.^[1]

The librarian

At some point, Prose became one of Mister Revise's Senior Librarians.^[2] It is known that she had two children^[1] with Bookburner:^[6] Priscilla and Robin.^[1] This information is contested by Bookburner (who told Hillary Page that he wasn't able to have any children with Prose)^[7] but proved to be factual by Bookburner's father, Kevin Thorn.^[6] Prose was then "stolen away" from Bookburner by his brother, Mr. Revise,^[7] where that couple had one child, Hillary Page.^[1][6] This could mean that either Prose didn't want Robin and Priscilla to know their father or that she didn't want the Bookburner to know of his children. Hinting that he either changed or became dangerous, and that she may have left her husband out of fear.

Sadly, Prose died giving birth to Hillary^[1] and for reasons unknown, Mr. Revise never told Hillary of their relationship.

Legacy

Mr. Revise later says to Prose's daughter Hillary that her mother was the only one of his Senior Librarians that was "worth a damn," except for Hillary herself.^[2] Indeed, Hillary has inherited her mother's love of books, and doesn't stray too far from her mother's ideals as she secretly dreams of being a Fable.^[8] Revise states that Hillary has got too much of her mother in her, and is the spitting image of her mother, in every way.^[2]

Appearances

Jack of Fables

• Jack of Fables #9 (first mentioned, indirectly)
• Jack of Fables #18 (mentioned, as Miss Page)
• Jack of Fables #19 (mentioned indirectly)
• Jack of Fables #27 (mentioned indirectly)
• Jack of Fables #32 (first appearance) (flashback) (first identified as Prose Page)

Trivia

• Prose Page may or may not be related to Eliza Wall in some way, as Eliza has referred to the Page sisters as her "cousins"^[9] but then again stated that Priscilla was her niece.^[6] But since Kevin Thorn has not stated having a daughter, she could possibly be Prose's sister.
• Given the fact that Jack Horner is supposed to be a copy of Wicked John,^[5] Prose Page may actually be his mother and not Jack's. However, this has never been addressed by the comics.

References