Rose Daughter
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A second retelling of the tale of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley.
Like McKinley's original Beauty, the heroine has a strong, independent personality that sets her apart from the average fairy-tale female. In the original fairytale, Beauty's sisters were selfish and vain. In the first retelling the family was healthy and loving. Now in Rose Daughter Beauty's two older sisters are brave and clever, but with no patience for people less brave and clever than themselves. Here the impoverishment of the family is the making of the two older sisters who now learn love and patience.
The story here is heavily focused on roses. Roses are flowers that can only be grown with magic and they are extremely rare, certainly not simply just another flower. When the family moves to a lonely cottage left to them in a will from an unknown, distant relative, they find the house surrounded by an unpleasant thorny type of bush. Though they do not recognise the plant Beauty argues that nobody would grow such a nasty plant around the house without a reason and argues for keeping it until they find out what it is.
The family now find out that there is a story or curse saying that something will happen when three sisters live in the cottage. As the oldest sister, Braveheart, has cut off her hair, disguised herself as a boy and gotten a job as a groom the neighbours do not know that the prophecy/curse is about to be fulfilled.
Beauty comes to stay at the Beast's house where, over seven days she now takes care of the almost dead roses in the Beast's greenhouse. The house is grand and confusing but Beauty finds that the roof of the house is covered with paintings that have a unique nice quality. The beast now reveals that he painted these pictures.
As expected Beauty leaves (finding out that she had actually been gone for seven months), then comes back, finds the Beast near death, and discovers/reveals that she loves him.
At this point Beauty is given a choice. The Beast can be returned to his human form, his wealth and fortune will likewise be returned to him and Beauty and her family can return to their former wealth and status. She and the former Beast will use their wealth to help other people and their names will be spoken from afar. Alternatively they can stay in the village in the new life they have created for themselves. Beauty asks how she and the former Beast will be spoken of. It is now revealed that they would be spoken of with fear and loathing as nobody can know how best to help people they don't know.
Unconventionally, Beauty chooses to stay in the village and, uniquely, the Beast is not returned to his human form. Beauty points out that he would have missed being immune to the weather and being incredibly strong.
