Today's post is on Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley. It is 256 pages long and is published by Harper Collins. The cover is white with a red rose on it. The intended reader is someone who likes fairy tale retellings. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. The story is told from first person close of the main character Beauty. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the dust jacket- "Like all of the other doors I had met in the castle, this one opened at my approach. The room it revealed was a large, warm, and gracious one. On one wall to my left a first was burning in a fireplace; two armchairs were drawn up before it. One chair was empty. In the other a massive shadow sat. I caught a gleam of dark-green velvet on what might have been a knee in the shadowed armchair.
"'Good evening, Beauty,' said a great harsh voice."
A young woman, well educated and honourable, accepts responsibility for her father's act and leaves her family to enter the enchanted world of castle and Beast. The Beast she finds is not the one she imagined, but can she stay with him?
A gifted storyteller embellishes the classic tale, developing a new and very real world of her own in a love story that has all the wonder and magic of the fairy tale.
Review- This is one of the best, not the best, retelling of Beauty and the Beast. McKinley is a master of her craft and she gives everything she has in this retelling. Everything is perfect in this novel from the pacing, the characterization, way the castle works, and the relationship between Beauty and her Beast. Beauty is a nickname, her birth name is Honor, and she does not feel very beautiful at all. The Beast is not a young man still angry with his curse but someone who has made some peace with the curse and the choices that he made that invited it into his life. Beauty's sisters are kind and loving, and Beauty herself is more than just a victim in this story. She is clever and wants to have an active role in her choices and life. I love everything about this book. I first read this book about 25 years and I still love it so much today. Everyone should read this book and remember the magic of fairy tales.
I give this novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this novel with my own money.
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