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A review by novel_nomad
The Beast's Garden by Kate Forsyth
5.0
I read this book over two days. It held me under a fierce spell, keeping me reading into the wee hours. I cried and even became distressed for the characters and the horrific experiences they were witness or made to endure. Not many books have been able to enchant me with such swift ferocity, as Kate Forsyth’s Beast’s Garden, and not many have been able to inform me and touch my heart so profoundly.
I have had a long fascination with the war and have studied the memoirs of many survivors who were witness to the atrocities of WWII. The Beast’s Garden once again gave a life and vivacity to the people who you can normally find in history textbooks, as they interacted with Kate Forsyth’s characters it was as if she was honouring their strength and sacrifice.
The story follows the basic outline of the Beauty and the Beast but having a stronger impression of the Grimm’s tale ‘The Singing, Springing Lark’. It moves away from the original tales to take a form of its own, not wanting to stress the importance of devotion to arranged marriage (as the French version) rather the courage, independence and individuality that Ava, Leo and all the resistance fighters held in the face of social conformity and government brutality.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book, even if you have no background knowledge of WWII and the internal power of the Nazi party, read the Beast’s Garden to find the courage to be your own person in the face of social pressures.
I have had a long fascination with the war and have studied the memoirs of many survivors who were witness to the atrocities of WWII. The Beast’s Garden once again gave a life and vivacity to the people who you can normally find in history textbooks, as they interacted with Kate Forsyth’s characters it was as if she was honouring their strength and sacrifice.
The story follows the basic outline of the Beauty and the Beast but having a stronger impression of the Grimm’s tale ‘The Singing, Springing Lark’. It moves away from the original tales to take a form of its own, not wanting to stress the importance of devotion to arranged marriage (as the French version) rather the courage, independence and individuality that Ava, Leo and all the resistance fighters held in the face of social conformity and government brutality.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book, even if you have no background knowledge of WWII and the internal power of the Nazi party, read the Beast’s Garden to find the courage to be your own person in the face of social pressures.