Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast

Although Robin McKinley has written at least two more fairy tale adaptations including another surrounding Beauty and the Beast, this is by far the best adaptation. If you've never read the original story, Beauty is the youngest of three sisters with a widowed merchant father. When the father loses all their money they move to the country and the two selfish sisters make Beauty do all the work. When one of the father's ships comes in he goes back to the city. The older sisters ask for things like silk and satin and Beauty asks for a single rose. On his way home, Dad stumbles across the Beast's castle and steals a rose for Beauty. This ticks the Beast off and he says he needs to either bring his daughter to the castle or come himself. Beauty goes back to the castle and finds the Beast to actually be a kind companion when he isn't angry. Every night he asks Beauty to marry him, and every night she says no. Until at last when she thinks the Beast is dying she tells him yes, the spell is broken and they live happily ever after.

What I like about Beauty is first that the sisters are not mean and selfish in the book. They all love each other and want what's best for the other, and all chip in with the housework. When Dad asks what they want, they do say silk and satin, but it's said in jest. They really just want their father to come home safely. Beauty is also not a beauty. In her words (the book is told in first person) it's an unfortunate nickname because she didn't want her given name of Honor at the age of five. She's a bookworm, and prefers the companionship of her books to people. One thing she thinks about when she agrees to go stay with the Beast is that she'll be able to study again because there must be some sort of library at the castle. I guess the comic relief is the two invisible servants that wait on Beauty. They always have something to say about the situation. The story stays close enough to the original fairy tale with Beauty having to agree to marry the Beast in order to break the spell, and of course everyone lives happily ever after. The book is available in paperback and in nook and kindle.