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

Beauty, Robin McKinley's graceful retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale, is one of my all-time favorite books. It's gorgeously written, by turns spare and abundant in all the right places. With its crystalline prose, believable characters, and sense of reality augmented by references to our real world, Beauty richly deserves every award it's won. It is much to be preferred to McKinley's second retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale, Rose Daughter.

Honor is the youngest and gawkiest of the three sisters, but her nickname "Beauty" was given her before it became apparent that she would never be as lovely as her older sisters, Hope and Grace. When the family falls on hard times, they are forced to move to the country, show more near the enchanted forest that no villager will enter. They set out to make a new life for themselves, and slowly begin to adjust to their new world.

One day their father, returning home from a trip to the city, becomes lost in the forest and is forced to take refuge in an enchanted castle. The price he pays for that night is a steep one: the Beast asks that he send one of his daughters to live in the castle. Beauty offers to go, and thus begins this romantic and imaginative love story that culminates with the breaking of an ancient spell and Beauty's discovery of her own loveliness.

Already McKinley is establishing a stock relationship in her books, that of the heroine and her (usually male) animal, in this case the horse Greatheart (whose name is, interestingly, also the name of a character in Pilgrim's Progress). The family relationships are drawn precisely rather than profusely, and the characters are realistic. Our heroine is ordinary-looking, especially next to her gorgeous sisters. But those gorgeous sisters aren't nasty and vain, as stereotypes would suggest. Instead, they are loving and sensitive toward their awkward younger sister. The relationship between Beauty and the Beast is fascinating; he is drawn so sparingly. We see only the edges of his despair, which is all the more potent for McKinley's reticence.

I love the classical touches, the references to Plato and Catullus and Euripides. McKinley also refers to more recent works, such as Browning's complete poems, C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, and Rudyard Kipling's Kim. Beauty's library in the castle, which contains books that had not yet been written, is calculated to provoke the envy of every bibliophile.

This slim little novel, crafted to a word and so self-containedly perfect, remains the standard by which I judge all other fairytale retellings. If you haven't read it yet, treat yourself. show less

I picked this one because it is my favorite of the classic fairytales--I don't know, I just have a thing for "appearances can be deceiving" morals. But what made this stand out was they pulled this with the heroine--Beauty is really only called that because of something smart alecky she said as a girl. Even more than the Beast is her transformation, one that I've always empathized with; that from a prickly and clever girl into a confident woman.

This is also an introduction to a writer that worldbuilds without rambling; something I'll admit to being more than annoyed with. Exposition is flowing, and goes with the action and feels natural. Not only that, it's interesting because the characters within the world are interesting. It doesn't show more suffer from the typical fairytale problem of only using the older siblings as plot devices, nor does it make them perfect.

My only complaint is the ending felt a little rushed, as if breaking the spell just sped everything up. It felt abrupt and I wanted more. But considering the author had another re-write of this I have a feeling she knew this.

Verdict? I need more McKinley, even though I'd already been told this five billion times. I'm getting to it! show less

Beauty also has brains and honour, a mix that makes a suitable heroine for this version of Beauty and the Beast.
In this version readers are treated to just enough detail and several fun twists (ex. invisible maids). The storyline gently progresses from ignorance and fear through pity and stubbornness until it finally reaches a happy ending.
But it's the little things that make this a book I wanted to own. The spice cake, the library ladder that wants so much to please, a young woman who realizes she's grown because she had to lengthen her stirrups... Not your average fairytale.

I absolutely adore the story of Beauty and the Beast, and this version did not disappoint. I hadn't intended to read it all in one sitting, but here we are. For those expecting something similar to the Disney film, I must warn you that it's a bit different. The original French tale guides the story, however little details, such as the virtue inspired names, lend the common society an English, specifically Puritan feel. I understand that it's done to justify calling Honour "Beauty", but as no such explanation is provided in the original French, I imagine the choice was made as a clarification for modern American audiences.

Beauty is described as a retelling, however it often appears to be more of a translation, albeit with plenty of show more detail added. Few points are altered, though there are some key differences. In a tale where appearance is so important to the story, it's interesting that Beauty is not, in fact, beautiful. She is short and strong, with big hands and feet, and mousy brown hair. Her pastimes are books and learning, as well as helping the village people with her horse, Greatheart. Her sisters. Grace and Hope, are kind, pretty, good-natured, and selfless, a departure from the French edition. The beast is likened to a seven-foot-tall anthropomorphic Yggdrasil with human eyes, always clad in a velvet coat and lace. For those squicked out by incest, rest assured that Beauty and Beast are not described as cousins.

I suspect this book was a significant influence on the 1991 film, as certain details, such as Beauty's love of books and the Beast's attire are reflected in it. If you like fairy tales, then you'll almost certainly enjoy Beauty. It has a happy ending, I promise :) show less

What caught me this time was not the enchantment, or the falling-in-love, but Beauty's relationship to her family: that the people we love, the people who love us, often work keep us who we have been rather than accept who we are becom(ing).
I find less to adore in this book than I used to (but I know it very, very well) - but I'm still impressed by its calm, almost wry tone - like the narrator is actually recounting the tale. Telling it to who? It gives the impression of depth - like the story is ongoing, like there's more to tell, but Aunt Beauty had to stop in the middle to take out the new foal for some exercise.
Or something.

And of course I love Ger. Papa, buy me one of those!

This book has me wondering what the definition of "retelling" is exactly, but part of my puzzlement is that I've never read the actual tale of "Beauty and the Beast." Anyway, I did enjoy this very, very much. I think one of the marks of a well-written children's or young adult novel is that an adult can happily read it too--books that fit that description are rare, so Beauty was a lovely surprise. Lovely writing, fun story.

One of the hallmarks of fairy tales is that they are told in a "serene, anonymous voice," and have "conventional, stock figures" (to quote Philip Pulman, who may be quoting someone else). McKinley decided to throw out those conventions here, and I think that's what made the novel so strong. The story is told in show more Beauty's first-person point of view, and we get all her ideas and emotions. I also really liked McKinley's world-building--there is an enchanted castle, but otherwise there was very little magic or fantasy or any of the outrageous elements one finds in typical fairy tales.

Robin McKinley has come strongly recommended for many years, and I'm glad I finally got around to reading her. Will definitely look for more of her books.

Recommended for: readers who like fairy tale retellings that are well written. As much as I enjoyed this now, had I read it when I was 11 or 12, I would have adored and read it over and over and never stopped talking about it. show less

I loved this. Beauty and the Beast is my favourite fairytale and this retelling is simply magic. Beauty was an extremely loveable character who is genuine and hardworking and honest and fair and practical. She is smart and caring and adaptable to bad circumstances. But it's not just her, her entire family are the stars of this book. All of the secondary characters are well drawn and fully developed. Hope and Grace and Ger and Father are all fierce and caring and loveable characters in their own right. All that besides, it was so nice to see a family portrayed as loving and caring and loyal and defensive of each other. There was no real bickering or animosity between them, they all supported and cared for each other and the amount of show more love was perfect.

Although a fairytale of love and acceptance, the romance itself is of little importance. Mainly the author focuses on developing the friendship between Beauty and Beast and showing how they come to care about each other.

Something about this book screamed more. As in more than anything else. I can't place my finger on what the more is but it's there. It just felt more fleshed out and emotive than many retellings. show less