4 books: Love, hate, sex and a journey.
Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley
You know the story of the Beauty and the Beast. Of course you do. Disney even made a movie, right?
You know nothing.
Rose Daughter is a lyrical, fantastic and grounded retelling of the fairy tale. Three sisters, reduced by penury by their father's bankruptcy, remake their lives in a remote cottage surrounded by rose bushes.
The oldest daughter disguises herself and becomes a groom to work with the horses she loves, and the middle daughter discovers a passion and talent for sewing and becomes a renowned seamstress. The third daughter, Beauty, tends their ailing father and makes the cottage garden prosper and the roses bloom for the first time in decades.
This is a YA, so not all that long, and I can't really bear to tell you more of the plot because it's just so beautiful. And I'm not being ironic here. The language made me want to put on slippers of gold cloth and dance, or dig my fingers in the dirt - go read it. There are strong themes of family - the three sisters who learn to value themselves - and family - the three sisters who learn to value each other - and the glory of love.
Wench: A Novel by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
This taut and engaging account of 4 women slaves taken by their masters from a slave south to a resort in the "free" north is an often chilling portrayal of everyday brutality. Set just before the Civil War, the women’s purpose at the resort, besides almost endless labor at laundry, cooking and housekeeping, is to provide sex to their masters whenever it's required. Yet despite the rough treatment they receive from their masters and the disdain of the free blacks (and whites) who run the resort, the four women create a society of sorts, a friendship always threatened by violence.
It's difficult to imagine, but at least one of the women openly identifies with her master, and believes that she loves him and vice versa. Her eyes opened by his refusal to free his children, she eventually takes that step that has tempted each of the four women throughout the narrative - a try for freedom.
In a lighter vein:
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
Mary Roach brings her wry humor to the subject of sex research. By turns funny, fascinating, and stomach-turning, Roach explores orgasm, masturbation, and the foibles of various researchers.
And while I’ve promised a longer review when I read this for the May bookclub:
Betrayer: Foreigner #12 by C.J. Cherryh
If you’ve read my Librarything or blog for any length of time, you know I’m a dyed in the wool Cherryh fan. This installment of the Foreigner story did not disappoint. (And yes, there are some typos, but I can’t name a book I’ve read lately without at least a couple).
Paidhi Bren Cameron explores the boundaries of human loyalty and atevi manchi as he negotiates between atevi lords to end a dangerous, persistent political rift. Failure will start an outright war. But other forces intervene, and his team of bodyguard-assassins are hard pressed to keep him alive on a journey through hostile territory.