Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Harper Trophy

Copyright Date: 1993

Number of Pages: 247

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

Part One - Beauty (really named Honour) was the youngest of three sisters the other two named Hope and Grace. Beauty didn't like her nickname because she felt like she wasn't any where near as beautiful as her two sisters. They were perfect ladies who liked to cook and sew and do lady things like that, while Beauty liked to read and ride horses and take walks. Her greatest ambition was to go to a university while during that time, it was unheard of for women to do so. Her father was always respectful of her dreams and he let her be who she was. Their family was really well off. They lived in the city by the ocean where her father was a merchant who owned many ships. Beauty's sister Grace became engaged to one of their father's captains. They wouldn't marry until Robbie came back from his three year voyage. She became a lady in waiting. That left Hope to go to parties and social gatherings alone. Not long after that Hope told Beauty about a man that she was on love with, Gervain, but he was just an iron worker and she didn't know how to tell her father. She asked Beauty to do it. Before Beauty got the chance however, their family lost everything. Most of his ships became lost or wrecked. Pirates took over one and from all this, their fortune was gone. Even the ship Robbie was on could not be located. The family, especially Grace, was devastated. As they were figuring out what to do, Gervain came to their estate and told their father that he owned a house up north that he was planning on taking Hope to live in once they were married (at this point he explained his feelings about Hope to her father) HE told them that they were welcome to come live there. They agreed. After there was an open house to sell all of there possessions, they set off in a company of traders. Before they left Beauty was given a horse named Greatheart that she had raised from a colt. He was the most beautiful horse, fit for a king, but he behaved the best for Beauty and trusted her the most, so his owner gave him to her. They took the two month journey up to their new life in a town called Goose Landing. It was a completely different life than they were used to, they had to clean and cook for themselves. They had to build and work from sun up to sun down. It took a long time for them to get used to it.

Then after a time, word came to them that one of the ships that had been lost had returned. Her father set off at once. It was right before winter so he told them not to expect him back before spring. However he was gone for only a few months when he arrived in the middle of March during a snowstorm. It was obvious that something had happened to him but he didn't want to explain it until after he had rested. The next morning he told his story. He said that he decided to leave early from the city so he set off alone. Part way through his journey he was hit by a blizzard but instead of stopping he tried to continue on. Eventually he was lost in the woods. After traveling for a time he came across a white road and so he followed it thinking it would lead him to a town. It led him to a castle. As he got closer the snow started leaving. When he got to the castle grounds it was all in bloom. He went through the gates and walked up to the doors and when he got there they opened for him. The castle took care of him and gave him a bed and fed him (he couldn't see anyone but everything worked on its own) The next day as he was leaving, he was passing through a gate that was surrounded by beautiful roses. He had promised to bring Beauty back rose seeds but this would have to do so he picked one. All at once he heard a horrible roar. Then a beast was next to him. A beast who talked like a man. The beast was angry that after all the hospitality that he gave him he was so greedy that he took one of his precious roses. For a payment, in one months time he was to bring him one of his daughters. Under the condition that the daughter came willingly. If he didn't come back in a month the beast would come and find him.

Part Two - After he recounted his tale, the family was distraught. They didn't know what to do. Except for Beauty. She knew what she was supposed to do. Much to the dismay of her family she said she would go. They tried to talk her out of it but she knew this is what she was supposed to do. So, one month later (the rose her father brought home died exactly one month after he picked it. The beast sent her father home with a packet of enchanted rose seeds and Beauty planted them. They grew and bloomed in the month that she had left and they never died) Beauty set off with her father to find the enchanted castle, all they had to do was get lost in the woods. At the gates she said goodbye to her father and went onto the grounds. She put Greatheart into the enchanted stable that immediately started grooming him and feeding him. She made her way up to the castle to find the beast. She found him in a study sitting on a chair by the fire. The first time she saw him it frightened her. She was scared of him and what he was going to do to her. But he had promised her father that she wouldn't be harmed. She found her room "Beauty's Room" which was as enchanted as the rest of the castle. Over the next few months she began to get used to her life in the castle. She was incredible lonely because apart from the beast and the breeze that was her handmaid she had no one. Having Greatheart was good for her and she took him riding everyday. Her wardrobe was covered in frilly gowns and most of them she refused to wear. She felt like they were too beautiful for a plain girl like her to wear. She had dinner with the beast every night and every night before she left he would ask her to marry him. She would always say no. As more time went on she and the beast became friends. They would go on walks together and he gave her a library. The library, like the rest of the castle was unbelievable, it had books that hadn't even been written yet. After he gave her the library their relationship became stronger. He continued to ask her to marry him and she would always say no but each time she had to say no made her more and more sad. She hated to think that she was making him unhappy. Little did she know, she was changing. Not just in her attitude toward the beast, but in her looks too. She was becoming more beautiful but there were no mirrors in the castle and so she didn't know. She also was changing her way of thinking because she believed in all the enchantedness of her home. She could hear the voices of her maids that she originally thought were just breezes. She had new eyes to see everything that was going on in the magical castle.

One day, the beast showed her his magic mirror. It showed the viewer anything that she wanted to see. She saw her family and they were talking about her. Her father had dreamt something that had actually happened and Beauty asked the beast how that could have happened. He confessed that he would send her father dreams about her, careful to exclude himself from them. She also learned that Grace was thinking about marrying a young preacher who she did not love. She was still set on Robbie but was giving up that he was still alive. The beast showed Beauty that Robbie had just returned to the city from a long journey that he had gotten lost. She was excited but sad that her sister didn't know that Robbie was alive. The beast let her go home to inform her family about what she learned but he gave her a rose that would last for a week but after the week was up the rose would die and that would mean that the beast was dieing because, he couldn't live without her. She went home to her family and told them all about what she had learned and about how she was doing. She indeed had grown more beautiful and taller too. They begged her to stay longer and they were angry with the beast for keeping her away from them. She tried to change their minds about the beast but they hated him. They talked her into staying one extra day... She did but knew that it was a mistake. Over her week with her family she realized that she loved the Beast and she needed to get back to him. She left the next morning before anyone could stop her and she rode all day. It took her hours to find the path that led to the castle. The gate wouldn't open for her... the castle was dieing. She ran through the dark hallways trying to find her beast. She couldn't find him anywhere or her room. She was scared he was dead. She kept running and running until she found him. She found him in the room where she first met him. He was sitting in his chair... in the same position she left him in. She ran to him ab thought he was dead but he wasn't. HE thought she had broken her promise but she had returned. He told her she must rest but she had to tell him first. She told him that she does love him and wants to marry him. All at once he disappeared everything disappeared. There was an explosion of light and then a man stood beside her. Somehow a gown was placed on her and she was clean. She was scared that the beast was gone. She ran away from the man to find her beast only to discover that the man was her beast. HE told her his whole story of being cursed to become a beast and how he could only be changed back if a woman agreed to marry him. Then, all at once her family was coming in a procession up to the castle. Grace had Robbie, Hope had her Ger and her three kids. The whole town came. When they emerged from the castle everyone cheered! They lived happily ever after - along with everyone else.

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?

This is a book that any girl would love and benefit from. It is a classic fairy tale retold into a more believable story. It is a beautiful love story that will have any girl or woman swooning.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?
It could be scary for younger kids because there is a beast that is obviously frightening. But other than that I think this book will do more good than harm for anyone reading it.

My reaction:

I love this book. This is my favorite book that I read this semester. I loved the beast. I thought that, rather than being frightening, he was sweet. He loved Beauty so deeply that I could feel it. He had been waiting so long for someone like her to come along. He had unbelievable patience and a deep longing to be loved. I thought that Beauty was a great character. I liked the fact that she wasn't the most beautiful of her sisters but she was the most well put together and normal character. It was a lovely story.