Briar Rose
34. Jane Yolen, Briar Rose
Becca Berlin has grown up listening to her grandmother tell the story of Sleeping Beauty, or Briar Rose. Gemma’s tale is a little bit different from the Disney version of the story, but it’s Becca’s favorite anyway. However, when the last words Gemma speaks before she dies are “I am Briar Rose,” Becca is shocked: is Gemma’s mind wandering, or do her words have a rational meaning? Becca promises Gemma that she will discover the truth of the story, thus beginning a quest that will take her all the way to a tiny village in Poland. Ultimately, she learns the horrible truth behind Gemma’s fairy tale and discovers a new aspect of her own identity.
I was so intrigued by the concept of this book, connecting the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty to the Holocaust. In my opinion, Yolen does this beautifully: Gemma’s story intertwines with the mysterious events of her early life perfectly. I must confess, I found Becca herself a bit annoying, and her love interest Stan even more so. In fact, all the modern characters (except Becca) seemed basically unnecessary to the novel. Gemma’s story is much more interesting, and I felt that this aspect of the book could have been fleshed out a lot more. It seems like Yolen had to skim over or rush through a lot of things, possibly because this is a YA novel, and I think an adult novel might have been more successful. This book wasn’t a bad read by any means, but I was underwhelmed by it, probably because I’d heard so many rave reviews. I’d recommend it for the concept, but I was not a huge fan of the execution.