When I was young, I read a book called _Beauty_ (NOT the Tepper book)
which was novel-length retelling of "Beauty and the Beast." As I recall,
it was *wonderful*. Unfortunately, I can't remember the author. Has
anyone else read this? "Beauty" is an ironic nickname for the main
character, who though intelligent, skilled and kind, doesn't fit
conventional notions of beauty. Interestingly, her sisters are _not_
portrayed as evil or jealous--they are beautiful, sweet women whose only
flaw is that they are not quite as sensible as their youngest sister. Is
this feminist? I don't know. I read the book long before I even really
knew what feminism was (if I do now). But as a young girl, I felt it was a
perfect way of setting the fairy tale straight.
If anyone has read this, I would love to hear what you thought of it.
Honor (which, btw, is the main character's real name---perhaps another
reason why I enjoyed it!)
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