Book Review: "Beauty" by Robin McKinley

By Amanda Linsmeier

Robin McKinley’s novel Beauty is a retelling of the classic French fairy tale Beauty and The Beast. Her novel takes the popular tale and develops the characters and emotions, taking the fairy tale to new heights.

“Beauty” begins in a city where a widower lives with his three daughters, named Grace, Hope and Honour by his literal-minded wife. As a little girl, Honour doesn’t much care for her name. When she says she’d rather be Beauty, her family takes it to heart. What begins as a nickname sticks, and as Beauty ages, she finds herself uncomfortable with her name, for she is gangly and awkward with big hands and feet. While her sisters are quite beautiful, Beauty is content to be the smart one. She spends her time studying languages, reading everything she can get her hands on and pursuing her passion for riding horses. All seems to be going well for the family until Beauty’s father, a ship merchant, loses everything when his ships are lost to a storm. The father and his three daughters are forced to sell their belonging and move to the country.

The years pass by and each daughter finds her own way in her new life. Beauty in particular thrives, for her lack of beauty doesn’t matter in the country. She is able to put her mind to work, and her plow horse Greatheart is greatly esteemed for his size and strength. One day, Beauty’s father leaves to check on news of a lost ship. When he returns, he is greatly changed. He brings back a rose for Beauty and a tale of a Beast who he must meet again in exchange for stealing the flower. In a moment of courage and love, Beauty insists that she will meet with the beast in her father’s place. When Beauty and Greatheart arrive at the home of the Beast, she finds an enchanted castle full of strange and wonderful things. Perhaps the most shocking character is the Beast himself; the master of the castle is not at all what she expects.

Beauty, in a word, is lovely. I adored the language and the description. McKinley has a gift for making the reader see what she sees. The heroine Beauty is humorous, intelligent and interesting. The characters are loveable and fully developed on their own. Beast is a particular joy to read because he is so patient, wise and obviously in love with Beauty. In my search to write about fantastic novels by female authors I abandoned the bookstore and all its glossy titles this week to write about a story I’ve read at least a hundred times before. I could never forget about this book and how it has touched my heart all these years. Beauty is marketed to readers aged nine-adult, and I agree that people of all ages will enjoy the tale. I probably read it for the first time around age nine, and it’s still a book I have never stopped loving. This must-read is a remarkably detailed and joyous novel about family, courage, love and of course, magic.