| The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold is, of course, a collection of short stories that are retellings and revisions of well-known fairy tales, all by Ms. Francesca Lia Block. Sometimes the story is changed and sometimes it is simply retold from a different point of view, and of course all of them are in Ms. Block's amazing poetic style.
- "Snow" is a retelling of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," and her relationship with the dwarfs that took her in as a baby, as well as her relationship with the gardener that brought her there.
- "Tiny" is a retelling of "Thumbelina," about what Tiny thinks and does as she becomes a muse for a guy she idolizes.
- "Glass" is a retelling of "Cinderella," all about her thoughts on her sisters and on love, and her fairy godmother.
- "Charm" is more like a modern tale, about heroin and Rev's relationship with it and her female savior/lover Charm, seeming loosely based on "Sleeping Beauty."
- "Wolf" is another modern tale that may be slightly based on "Little Red Riding Hood," where a girl escapes from her sexually abusing father.
- "Rose" is a retelling of "Rose White and Rose Red" about best friend girls when one outgrows the other.
- "Bones" is another modern one based on "Bluebeard," and a girl's escape from her lover.
- "Beast" is based on "Beauty and the Beast," about a girl named Beauty whose love for her father causes her to go live with the Beast, with whom she becomes more feral and wild and alive.
- "Ice" is about an artistic, empathic girl and her rocky relationship with someone--it's based on something I don't recognize and may not have read.
This is a really interesting mix of fairy tale goodness, with sort of a dark twist on some of them. It inspired me to write my own revision of Sleeping Beauty at one point, and will be equally inspiring to others who enjoy this type of literature. |
