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#27 of my #20for2020tbrchallenge, to read 20 TBR books this year
This is a feminist classic, and one of the first fairy tale retellings for adults; I've been interested in this book for years. Although it is nothing like I'd imagined from the blurb, it's a compelling albeit often frustrating read, and it's still very timely and thought-provoking.
As the Author's Note makes clear, this is meant to be an allegory about environment destruction, at the beauty dying in the world, and a plea for humankind to do better before it's too late.
Unfortunately, it's very much a product of it's time, the early 1990s. The emphasis on acid rain, saving the whales, zealous Pro-Lifers and the dangers of "horrorporn" might seem very strange to younger readers today. It is an unabashedly Feminist novel, and although I greatly respect that, it is also as subtle as a sledgehammer, and tends to be a bit too much at times.
The story itself is an incredibly bizarre journey, styled as a diary written by Beauty, daughter of the Duke of Westfaire, which is a perfect, medieval magical storybook kingdom.
Beauty is, as her name suggests, very beautiful. Her mother was a fairy, but kept her heritage a secret from her mortal husband until Beauty's fairy aunts showed up to grant her blessings at her Christening.
Along with the gifts she was given, she was also delivered a curse: a sleeping sickness to activate on her 16th birthday. Beauty's father cannot abide his wife's otherworldly heritage, so she departs for Faerie immediately after the christening, leaving Beauty motherless.
When Beauty discovers a note from her mother shortly before her 16th birthday, she manages to avoid the curse. As the kingdom slips into sleep and is grown over by briar roses, Beauty escapes.
Although Beauty only becomes aware of this much later, one of her faerie aunts - Carabosse, the fairy of clocks - is manipulating Beauty's life (with the help of her consort Israfel) and had given her another, secret gift at her christening that must be preserved at all costs.
Over time, Beauty learns to travel between realms and times, as Carabosse intended. However the journey that follows over the course of Beauty's long lifetime often sees her end up at the wrong time or place.
Beauty accidentally ends up in the 22nd century, beyond the future that Carabosse can foresee, when she stumbles into a film crew that has travelled back in time to film the "last magic" - the now sleeping Westfaire. When Beauty sees the horrors that await, she becomes determined to prevent that future from happening.
Long-lived due to her fairy blood, we travel with Beauty over several lives, the gradual loss of magic through the centuries, and ultimately reach her confrontation with mortality. Her aging is underscored, affectingly, by the many generations of her faithful cat Grumpkin.
And the fairy tale of Snow White takes a nasty turn, as the character is embodied by her granddaughter (and some perverted dwarves).
This is not an easy story. It turns very grim when the Dark Lord - a power hungry Fae - catches glimpses of Beauty throughout the years and seeks to possess her, sending predatory men after her. I don't usually issue these, but there is an important Trigger warning:
The Dark Lords' hell - rather cleverly full of manifestations made by horror writers, for the Fae and the Angels cannot create, only men can - is briefly glimpsed but incredibly grotesque and unforgettable.
Beauty does get a sort of Happily Ever After, but - fittingly - there is no grand fairy tale ending. The ending is as uneasy as the story itself, deliberately so I suspect. While Beauty isn't exactly a likeable character, being too passive and not very curious, I did respect her persistence and endurance. And she had a very human, cunning intelligence which the faeries could not understand.
Overall, this is a very unusual work, and it is thought provoking. It won't appeal to all audiences, but the central message is perhaps more important than ever right now. I'm glad I finally read it, although I doubt I'll ever read it again.
I will, however, look for more of Tepper's work!
This is a feminist classic, and one of the first fairy tale retellings for adults; I've been interested in this book for years. Although it is nothing like I'd imagined from the blurb, it's a compelling albeit often frustrating read, and it's still very timely and thought-provoking.
As the Author's Note makes clear, this is meant to be an allegory about environment destruction, at the beauty dying in the world, and a plea for humankind to do better before it's too late.
Unfortunately, it's very much a product of it's time, the early 1990s. The emphasis on acid rain, saving the whales, zealous Pro-Lifers and the dangers of "horrorporn" might seem very strange to younger readers today. It is an unabashedly Feminist novel, and although I greatly respect that, it is also as subtle as a sledgehammer, and tends to be a bit too much at times.
The story itself is an incredibly bizarre journey, styled as a diary written by Beauty, daughter of the Duke of Westfaire, which is a perfect, medieval magical storybook kingdom.
Beauty is, as her name suggests, very beautiful. Her mother was a fairy, but kept her heritage a secret from her mortal husband until Beauty's fairy aunts showed up to grant her blessings at her Christening.
Along with the gifts she was given, she was also delivered a curse: a sleeping sickness to activate on her 16th birthday. Beauty's father cannot abide his wife's otherworldly heritage, so she departs for Faerie immediately after the christening, leaving Beauty motherless.
When Beauty discovers a note from her mother shortly before her 16th birthday, she manages to avoid the curse. As the kingdom slips into sleep and is grown over by briar roses, Beauty escapes.
Although Beauty only becomes aware of this much later, one of her faerie aunts - Carabosse, the fairy of clocks - is manipulating Beauty's life (with the help of her consort Israfel) and had given her another, secret gift at her christening that must be preserved at all costs.
Over time, Beauty learns to travel between realms and times, as Carabosse intended. However the journey that follows over the course of Beauty's long lifetime often sees her end up at the wrong time or place.
Beauty accidentally ends up in the 22nd century, beyond the future that Carabosse can foresee, when she stumbles into a film crew that has travelled back in time to film the "last magic" - the now sleeping Westfaire. When Beauty sees the horrors that await, she becomes determined to prevent that future from happening.
Long-lived due to her fairy blood, we travel with Beauty over several lives, the gradual loss of magic through the centuries, and ultimately reach her confrontation with mortality. Her aging is underscored, affectingly, by the many generations of her faithful cat Grumpkin.
And the fairy tale of Snow White takes a nasty turn, as the character is embodied by her granddaughter (and some perverted dwarves).
This is not an easy story. It turns very grim when the Dark Lord - a power hungry Fae - catches glimpses of Beauty throughout the years and seeks to possess her, sending predatory men after her. I don't usually issue these, but there is an important Trigger warning:
Spoiler
One of those men rapes her savagely, which is perhaps inevitable as a metaphor for the damage humans do to the Earth; Beauty cannot rest until she can be sure her attacker will not hurt others, but her fairy guardians do not understand.The Dark Lords' hell - rather cleverly full of manifestations made by horror writers, for the Fae and the Angels cannot create, only men can - is briefly glimpsed but incredibly grotesque and unforgettable.
Beauty does get a sort of Happily Ever After, but - fittingly - there is no grand fairy tale ending. The ending is as uneasy as the story itself, deliberately so I suspect. While Beauty isn't exactly a likeable character, being too passive and not very curious, I did respect her persistence and endurance. And she had a very human, cunning intelligence which the faeries could not understand.
Overall, this is a very unusual work, and it is thought provoking. It won't appeal to all audiences, but the central message is perhaps more important than ever right now. I'm glad I finally read it, although I doubt I'll ever read it again.
I will, however, look for more of Tepper's work!