rose daughter

another favorite today. as i finished it (for probably the 20th time) last night, i might as well post Robin McKinley's Rose Daughter.


i have always been a fan of fairy tales, whether the originals or novelizations, and Robin Mckinley writes some of the best. this is her second retelling of Beauty and the Beast, the first being Beauty, but this is the one i have always had at school with me, and have always been able to read a few pages of before bedtime to calm me down and clear my mind. i love them both, but whether it's just that this one is longer and thus lets me spend more time with it or that the maturity and complexity of the narrative touch me more, this is the one i turn to first.

Rose Daughter is, naturally, about transformation, growth, and love, like any good fairy tale. mckinley complicates the original story with the development of beauty's sisters and their own narratives in ways that make beauty herself more exceptional and, at the same time, unremarkable. it is possible to see in jeweltongue and lionheart the cruel sisters of the original tale, but only as character facets that city life encouraged and that could be quickly banished when faced with hard work and love. of the three, beauty undergoes the least transformation, despite her journey. her bravery becomes more accentuated, but she triumphs because she already has that courage and sensibility within her. she is an incredibly comforting character, both to those she interacts with in the book, and to the reader, for she is straightforward, sincere, and practical. not saintly, a little peculiar, but always the one to quietly take charge and do what needs to be done. while this makes for a lovely heroine, it does not make for a terribly complex narrative, and so it is mckinley's development of the sisters, father, and townspeople that make this story powerful.