Beauty

Drawing on the wellspring of much-loved, well-remembered fairy tales, Tepper delivers a thought-provoking, finely crafted, and moving novel of love and loss, hope and despair, magic and nature. Set against backdrops both enchanted and horrific, the story thoroughly involves the reader in the life of Beauty, one of the most captivating heroines in modern fantasy.

Almost from birth, beauty has possessed a certain quality, something special that sets her apart from others. Even when her wicked aunt's curse is fulfilled on beauty's sixteenth birthday she is seemingly able to sidestep the tragedy. Instead, Beauty finds herself transported to a world of the future, where she is surely alone though amid millions upons millions of humans. Here her adventures begin as she travels magically through time to visit places both imaginary and real. Finally, she comes to understand what has been her special gift to humanity all along.

For in Beauty, there is beauty. And in beauty, magic. Without our enchanted places, our Faery Lands, humanity is no more than an upstart ape… And this we realize is why Beauty must be saved, both in the fantastic world of Tepper's novel and in the actual world in which we live.