#14 in the Fantasy Masterworks series, a library of the most original and influential fantasy ever written a stunning reworking of a favourite fairy tale ' Beauty slips its message like a knife through skin and brain and bone ... it is brilliant and subtle and fabulous' New York Review of Science Fiction 'Rich, multitudinous, witty, metaphysical, continually surprising, Beauty is a feast' Locus
SALES POINTS #14 in the Fantasy Masterworks series, a library of the most original and influential fantasy ever written a stunning reworking of a favourite fairy tale ' Beauty slips its message like a knife through skin and brain and bone ... it is brilliant and subtle and fabulous' New York Review of Science Fiction 'Rich, multitudinous, witty, metaphysical, continually surprising, Beauty is a feast' Locus
"Tepper is a wise and compassionate narrator, and when it comes to
spinning a yarn that you don't ever want to stop reading, there are
few better spinners than she."--"The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science
Fiction
"Magnificent. . .This adult fairly tale entertains and delivers a
message in the best tradition of the fantasy classics."--"The
Denver Post.
Born in the 14th century to a woman of faerie blood, Beauty is raised by a negligent father and several doting aunts until her 16th birthday, when she narrowly escapes the curse set upon her at her christening. While her household falls into an enchanted sleep, she undertakes a journey across the leagues of time to the modern world and beyond, into an imaginary universe, in search of her destiny. Identifying the familiar fairy tales cleverly retold in this graceful novel only scratches the surface of the story behind the stories. Tepper ( Grass , LJ 9/15/89; The Gate to Women's Country , Doubleday, 1988) writes from the heart, using the stuff of childhood fables to tell a cautionary yet hopeful tale. Most libraries will want this.
YA-- Many a reader has had the sometimes sobering, sometimes epiphanic experience of rereading a favorite from her youth only to discover that its remembered charms only scratched the surface of its treasures. Beauty is such a book. It takes the form of a diary, written by a 15-year-old girl of noble birth, begun in 1347 as the unsuspecting heroine is about to embark upon a harrowing journey through time and space. It is not long before readers recognize the writer as a familiar character, ``Sleeping Beauty.'' Tepper's triumph in this novel is in turning Beauty simultaneously into a distinctive human character and a glowing symbol of humanity's hope. Her victory over the fantastic circumstances of her life (and do not make the mistake of assuming that familiarity with the fairy tale is familiarity with the plot) will be shared by readers. Language, story, and setting combine to enliven the character and amplify the theme. The fairy-tale allusions might provide an excellent English-class exercise, while the ethical systems presented should make for lively debate. And when today's young readers return to Beauty at age 40, they won't be disappointed. --Cathy Chauvette, Fairfax County Pub . Lib . , VA
"Tepper is a wise and compassionate narrator, and when it comes to
spinning a yarn that you don't ever want to stop reading, there are
few better spinners than she."--"The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science
Fiction
"Magnificent. . .This adult fairly tale entertains and delivers a
message in the best tradition of the fantasy classics."--"The
Denver Post.
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