Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast: Amazon.ca: Robin McKinley: Books

Product Description

From Amazon

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) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"A captivating novel." -- ALA Booklist

"A splendid story." -- Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.

First Sentence
I was the youngest of three daughters. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

mckinley(2)

female hero(2)

beast(1)

beauty(1)

daughter(1)

magic(1)

robin(1)

romance(1)

rose(1)

robin mckinley(1)

Customer Reviews

170 Reviews

5 star:		(146)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (170 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious, but falls short, Sep 19 2010

By

Ashley Boone (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast (Mass Market Paperback)

I had high expectations for this book. I thought that a retelling of this classic fairytale would surely never have awful dry spells or ridiculous, rushed endings. Boy, was I wrong!

There were many times that, while reading this book, I wanted to throw it down in disgust. There are so many errors that could easily have been caught with careful editing. But they weren't.

Really, the story had promise. But it did not deliver. It was dry, some details left unexplained, and the ending was so rushed that it totally did not make it worth persevering through the rest of the book.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 stars Beauty-ful, Feb 24 2007

By

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast (Mass Market Paperback)

The best-known and best-loved of Robin McKinley's books is also one of the best of the fairy-tale retellings -- "Beauty," a more enlightened, fully-drawn version of "Beauty and the Beast." There's a depth and a richness to the story and characterizations, as well as a beauty of atmosphere and writing.

Beauty (real name is "Honour") is the ironically-named heroine of the story -- she isn't beautiful, but is very intelligent. She has two sisters, the beautiful Hope and Grace, and a benevolent, wealthy father. Then all their lives change suddenly: the ships their father owns are lost, and the money goes with them. One of the sisters marries a poor but worthy country lad, while the other lost her beloved fiancee who captained one of the ships. After selling their possessions the family moves to the countryside.

The father leaves on a trip -- and returns with a single rose, a gift for Beauty, which carries the price of either his life or his daughter. Beauty leaves to go live at the castle of the mysterious Beast, with only her plowhorse to accompany her. She arrives at a castle of invisible servants, magical books, friendly animals, and a melancholy Beast who asks her to marry him every evening...

There is nothing new in fairy tale retellings now, but when McKinley first wrote "Beauty," it was a relative rarity. And even now, few of them are as intelligently written and have such solid heroines. Rather than giving her story a contrived "twist," McKinley merely fleshes out the storyline and gives the characters personalities.

The writing is excellent; McKinley writes the more prosaic passages of cottage life and the surrounding friendly village, as well as the more dreamlike, fantastical scenes in the Beast's castle. Lots of atmosphere, either in the poor but warm surroundings of the house, or the eerie feel of the castle.The dialogue is nearly flawless: McKinley doesn't write ye-olde-formal prose, but the characters never sound -- or think -- like modern Americans.

Beauty is a great heroine -- brainy, kind, wry-humored, brave and strong. Though the "Beauty" element is discarded, it is done so with the apparent understanding that this "Beauty" has brains and guts rather than a pretty face. The Beast himself is a little more shadowy; we never get inside his head the way we do Beauty's, but then the book is hers, not his. Beauty's father and sisters are equally well-done, avoiding the cliches of nastiness in favor of being likable or haunted.

Robin McKinley's debut "Beauty" is still among the best-loved fairy-tale retellings. With the help of a gutsy, brainy heroine, it rises above a mere retelling and becomes THE retelling.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 stars Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty& the Beast, Sep 28 2004

By

Watchgirl "watchgirl" (Oakville) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast (Paperback)

I Liked Rose Daughter but I still loved the original story . I dream of writing like Robin and This book is one of My best loved friends. a Beauty of A Book and a wonderful read....

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 170 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 307 reviews 4.6 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
Good book, I liked the twist in the story, I felt the ending was rushed, which is why I gave it 4 stars, but I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.

Published on May 10 2010 by JM

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!
I absolutely loved this novel. The story is a classic, but Robin McKinley's version is so original, and lovely, you will want to read it again and again. Read more

Published on May 5 2008 by Annie Hagopian