The New York Times bestselling author of Sunshine and Hero and the Crown presents a beautiful retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
When their father’s business fails, a young woman named Beauty and her two sisters leave their fine house in the city and move to a tiny cottage far away from everything they’ve ever known. The neglected cottage is engulfed by the long thorny stems of some unknown plant. Beauty patiently tends to them, and when, the following summer, the mysterious flowers are the most beautiful things the sisters have ever seen, an old woman tells Beauty: “Roses are for love. Not silly sweethearts’ love but the love that makes you and keeps you whole…There’s an old folk-tale that there aren’t many roses around any more because they need more love than people have to give them to make them flower…”
When Beauty takes her father’s place in the terrifying beast’s palace, she discovers that his beloved rose garden is dying; and because she needs something to do to distract her from missing her family, because she loves roses—and because she pities the Beast—she determines to bring it back to life…
“[A] heady mix of fairy tale, magic, and romance…dazzling…has the power to exhilarate.” –Publishers Weekly
“This luxuriant retelling of the story of the Beauty and the Beast…is full of asides and surprises, and is suffused with obsession for the rose and thorn as flora, metaphor, and symbol…The story is full of silvery images.” –Kirkus Reviews
“Every sentence and every occurrence seems infused by magic.”—Fantasy & Science Fiction
“McKinley is at home in a world where magic is mainstay, and, with her passion for roses, she’s grafted a fully dimensional espalier that is tangled, thorny web of love, loyalty, and storytelling sorcery.” –School Library Journal
“Readers will be enchanted, in the best sense of the word.” –Booklist
“A beautiful retelling of Beauty and the Beast…The language is compelling.” –Rambles.net
“One of the delightful things I found in this book is just how well McKinley kept things maddeningly familiar—but then skillfully avoided the well-worn plot paths to forge new ground.” –SF Site
