35. Beauty

Title: Beauty
Author: Robin McKinley
Publisher: Harper Trophy
Copyright Date: 1978
Number of Pages: 247
Reading Level: 10+
Genre: Fantasy

Summary
Three girls were born to a mother and a father they were named Grace, Hope and Honour. Honour didn’t like her name so she decided she wanted to be called Beauty. Unfortunately while growing up she turned out to be the plainest boyish looking of the three girls. Grace becomes engaged to one of her father’s most esteemed workers and Hope is in love with Gervain who only stays in town to be close to her. The family falls on hard times when Grace’s intended, Robbie, is lost to sea and almost all of their father’s fleet is lost as well. The family has to auction off all their valuables including many of Beauty’s beloved books. Gervain goes to them one night and asks for Hope’s hand in marriage and offers a solution for them all to go and live with him and Hope where he grew up. The family takes the offer because they have no other options and they know that Ger offered in earnest because he cared for them. They pack up the things they have remaining to go and live in the country. The trip is long and once they get to their new home they are met by Melinda who had told Ger about the opened blacksmith place and suggested he come. The family is welcomed and they settle into their new lifestyle but Beauty seems to adjust the best to the harder labor. Word comes that one of father’s ships returned so he sets out to settle the sale of the ship and whatever came back on it. When he returns father is distraught and carries a rose. He tells them that he has a month to either send his daughter back to live with a terrible beast or return himself. Beauty volunteers to go and with great reluctance from the family they allow it. Her father escorts her to the Beasts castle and immediately Beauty is dazzled by the enchanted castle. The beast is kind but every night he asks Beauty to marry him. Slowly Beauty starts to care for the Beast and at times she thinks more of him. On one occasion the Beast mentions her family and says that he sends them dreams. She asks if he can see them and he shows her a mirror. She sees that Robbie is alive and insists that she leave for a short time to go and tell Grace before she marries another man. Beauty promises if he lets her go she will never leave him again. He gives her a week. Beauty leaves immediately and takes her time while at home not wanting to rush the news. Finally when it is time to return to the castle Beauty has a hard time finding it because the Beast usually helped those that were lost to find the castle but because she had left he was dying. When Beauty finds the Beast she says that she loves him and he turns into a handsome man and he shows her that she had been changing as well the whole time she was at the castle. They get married as well as her father and Melinda and Robbie to Grace.

Recommendation
If you love Beauty and the Beast you’ll love Beauty. I think that it is a wonderful retelling of such a classic tale. I would recommend this to mostly girls who feel out of place in the world who feel they can do great things. For a girl who feels plain but whom I know is beautiful on the inside.

Problems/Conflict
In the end Beauty is beautiful and the Beast turns into a handsome prince. I felt like this could be taken wrong and interpreted as you can only have true happiness if you are beautiful. Beauty is all that matters.

My Reaction
I loved this book the first time around. It had me completely enthralled and I talked about it endlessly afterwards. This time I was a little disheartened because it seemed so lengthy in descriptions. I guess I’ve grown to be impatient. I also took some new meanings from it that I wasn’t as happy with like I mentioned in the problems and conflicts part. I felt that they had to be beautiful to be happy even though I knew it was inner beauty that was shining out. It just came off different this time.