292 pages
English language
Published Dec. 1, 1998 by Ace Books.
Beauty grows to love the Beast at whose castle she is compelled to stay, and through her love he is released from the curse that had turned him from man to beast. A beautiful retelling of the fairy tale Beauty & the Beast from Newbery Award-winning author Robin McKinley. Twenty years ago, Robin McKinley dazzled readers with the power of her novel Beauty. Now this extraordinarily gifted novelist returns to the story of Beauty and the Beast with a fresh perspective, ingenuity, and mature insight. With Rose Daughter, she presents her finest and most deeply felt work--a compelling, richly imagined, and haunting exploration of the transformative power of love.
I did not want to do anything but sit and read this book non stop until the end and I know that I love it so much I will want to re read it someday. I have rarely felt this way about a book.
Robin McKinley writes very well indeed, but if this book is anything to judge by, her plotting is lackadaisical. This builds up slowly towards what should be a strong finish; the villain is revealed in all his blackguard villainy - and is then flicked out like a light - poof! After that, we meander to another climax, which is dealt with in an equally desultory fashion. A character who has been flitting in and out in mysterious ways since the beginning subsequently pops up to explain the whole intrigue behind the Beast's predicament, but the explanation seems contrived and unconvincing. We are left to understand that the real villain - not that one, another one - has in some way or another been hoist by his own petard.
I read this because Ursula Vernon recommended it, and found in it inspiration for her own retelling of the tale. Vernon's version …
Robin McKinley writes very well indeed, but if this book is anything to judge by, her plotting is lackadaisical. This builds up slowly towards what should be a strong finish; the villain is revealed in all his blackguard villainy - and is then flicked out like a light - poof! After that, we meander to another climax, which is dealt with in an equally desultory fashion. A character who has been flitting in and out in mysterious ways since the beginning subsequently pops up to explain the whole intrigue behind the Beast's predicament, but the explanation seems contrived and unconvincing. We are left to understand that the real villain - not that one, another one - has in some way or another been hoist by his own petard.
I read this because Ursula Vernon recommended it, and found in it inspiration for her own retelling of the tale. Vernon's version is more vigorous and a lot more fun, McKinley's poised prose notwithstanding. Neither of them are able to shake off the bourgeois moralism of Mme Leprince Beaumont's tale. Vernon does catch the echoes of Bluebeard that are heard even more clearly in earlier versions, such as Straparola's Re Porco.
Loved this book as a young adult! But I remember being frustrated by the ending. Hope to read it again as an adult - I have a feeling I'll like it even more now!
Robin McKinley's Rose Daughter tells the story of Beauty and the Beast, which she has already told before, and in my opinion, better, in [Book:Beauty]. She claims she felt she had to retell the story when she learned more about roses, after cultivating them. Never have I read a book before where I felt so much like the author was simply marking time until she got to the bit with the compost. Manure provides an important climactic moment. She certainly manages to convey what roses mean to her, but sadly, I'm afraid they don't have quite that importance to me.
Not to say this is a bad book. I'd loan it to a friend without qualms, but I wouldn't let anyone buy it new. The plot is a bit of a mess; it feels like she wasn't quite sure what was happening herself, so she threw in a lot of …
Robin McKinley's Rose Daughter tells the story of Beauty and the Beast, which she has already told before, and in my opinion, better, in [Book:Beauty]. She claims she felt she had to retell the story when she learned more about roses, after cultivating them. Never have I read a book before where I felt so much like the author was simply marking time until she got to the bit with the compost. Manure provides an important climactic moment. She certainly manages to convey what roses mean to her, but sadly, I'm afraid they don't have quite that importance to me.
Not to say this is a bad book. I'd loan it to a friend without qualms, but I wouldn't let anyone buy it new. The plot is a bit of a mess; it feels like she wasn't quite sure what was happening herself, so she threw in a lot of details in the hope that some of them would fall in a story-shape. There's no attempt at a real explanation for any of what happens, which to me is sort of the point of retelling fairy tales.
It is, however, remarkable for being a book that addresses one of the most common complaints about Disney's [b:Beauty and the Beast|41424|Beauty A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast|Robin McKinley|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169613617s/41424.jpg|2321285]. But telling you that complaint might constitute a minor spoiler, so stop reading now if that is a concern for you: in the end, the interesting beast is not substituted for the boring prince.
