Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast

McKinley, Robin

4.05

80,035 ratings by Goodreads

9780060241506: Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast

ISBN 10: 0060241500 ISBN 13: 9780060241506

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1978

When Beauty's father is imprisoned by the Beast for picking a rose, she agrees to take her father's place and eventually grows to love her gruff captor

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Review:

This much-loved retelling of the classic French tale Beauty and the Beast elicits the familiar magical charm, but is more believable and complex than the traditional story. In this version, Beauty is not as beautiful as her older sisters, who are both lovely and kind. Here, in fact, Beauty has no confidence in her appearance but takes pride in her own intelligence, her love of learning and books, and her talent in riding. She is the most competent of the three sisters, which proves essential when they are forced to retire to the country because of their father's financial ruin.

The plot follows that of the renowned legend: Beauty selflessly agrees to inhabit the Beast's castle to spare her father's life. Beauty's gradual acceptance of the Beast and the couple's deepening trust and affection are amplified in novel form. Robin McKinley's writing has the flavor of another century, and Beauty heightens the authenticity as a reliable and competent narrator.

This was McKinley's first book, written almost 20 years ago. Since that time she has been awarded the Newbery Medal for The Hero and the Crown and has delighted her fans with another retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fable, Rose Daughter. Still, McKinley's first novel has a special place in the hearts of her devoted readers, many of whom attest to relishing Beauty time and again. (Ages 11 to Adult)

About the Author:

Robin McKinley is an American writer and has won many awardsin the US, including the Newbery Medal for THE HERO AND THE CROWN and a Newbery Honor for THE BLUE SWORD. She now lives in Hampshire with her husband, author Peter Dickinson, three whippets, five hundred rose bushes and a 1965 cream-coloured MGB convertible.

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