A review by xeyra
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

5.0

An absolutely heart - and gut - wrenching novel, which seamlessly and beautifully connects the Sleeping Beauty fairytale with the Holocaust and its history of strife, horror and death. I really liked this story of a woman in search of her grandmother's story, a promise she makes on a deathbed, and how she finds what she was looking for in her grandmother's homeland of Poland, in a story that is so saddening and frightening because most of the events portrayed are historical facts. A different and touching rendering of a beloved fairytale in a dark, despairing context, but which makes for a great - if sad - read.