Briar Rose: A Novel of the Holocaust

by Jane Yolen

Overview

Jane Yolen’s classic novel of memory, stories, and the Holocaust—now in a beautiful pocket-sized hardcover edition—is a powerful retelling of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty that is "heartbreaking and heartwarming."

An American Library Association "100 Best Books for Teens"
An American Library Association "Best Books for Young Adults"

Ever since she was a child, Rebecca has been enchanted by her grandmother Gemma's stories about Briar Rose. But a promise Rebecca makes to her dying grandmother will lead her on a remarkable journey to uncover the truth of Gemma's astonishing claim: I am Briar Rose. A journey that will lead her to unspeakable brutality and horror. But also to redemption and hope.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250242730
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/12/2019
Series:	Tor Fairy Tale Series , #8
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	648,865
Product dimensions:	4.40(w) x 6.60(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	820L (what's this?)
Age Range:	16 - 18 Years

About the Author

Jane Yolen is one of the most distinguished and successful authors for young readers and adults in the country. She is the author of more than 200 books—including Sister Light, Sister Dark, Owl Moon, and the immensely popular The Devil's Arithmetic. Her books have won awards including the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, the Jewish Book Award, and two Christopher Medals. She lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts.

Read an Excerpt

Briar Rose

A Novel of the Fairy Tale Series

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By Yolen, Jane

Tor Books

Copyright © 1993 Yolen, Jane
All right reserved.

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CHAPTER 1
 
 
"Gemma, tell your story again," Shana begged, putting her arms around her grandmother and breathing in that special smell of talcum and lemon that seemed to belong only to her.
"Which one?" Gemma asked, chopping the apples in the wooden bowl.
"You know," Shana said.
"Yes--you know," Sylvia added. Like her sister, she crowded close and let the talcum-lemon smell almost over-whelm her.
Baby Rebecca in the high chair banged her spoon against the cup. "Seepin Boot. Seepin Boot."
Shana made a face. Even when she had been little herself she'd never spoken in baby talk. Only full sentences; her mother swore to it.
"Seepin Boot." Gemma smiled. "All right."
The sisters nodded and stepped back a pace each, as if the story demanded their grandmother's face, not just her scent.
"Once upon a time," Gemma began, the older two girls whispering the opening with her, "which is all times and no times but not the very best of times, there was a castle. And in it lived a king who wanted nothing more in the world than a child.
" 'From your lips to God's ears,' the queen said each time the king talked of a baby. But the years went by and they had none."
"None, none, none," sang out Rebecca, banging her spoon on the cup with each word.
"Shut up!" Shana and Sylvia said inunison.
Gemma took the spoon and cup away and gave Rebecca a slice of apple instead. "Now one day, finally and at last and about time, the queen went to bed and gave birth to a baby girl with a crown of red hair." Gemma touched her own hair in which strands of white curled around the red like barbed wire. "The child's face was as beautiful as a wildflower and so the king named her..."
"Briar Rose," Sylvia and Shana breathed.
"Briar Rose," repeated Rebecca, only not nearly so clearly, her mouth being quite full of apple.
 
Copyright 1992 by Jane Yolen

Continues...

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Excerpted from Briar Rose by Yolen, Jane Copyright © 1993 by Yolen, Jane. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Terrifically moving.” —The Washington Post

“Yolen takes the story of Briar Rose and links it to the Holocaust—a far from obvious connection that she makes perfectly convincing...Only a writer as good as Yolen could bring it off.” —Publishers Weekly

“Both heartbreaking and heartwarming, Yolen's novel is a compelling reminder of the Holocaust as well as a contemporary tale of secrets and romance.” —Booklist

“Showcases Yolen's skill at transforming the real world into a realm of fantasy.” —Library Journal

From the Publisher

Part of the Fairy Tale series created by Terri Windling, Yolen's recasting of the Sleeping Beauty tale is not fantasy; rather, it is a story evocatively grounded in the horror of the Holocaust. Ever since Rebecca was a toddler, she and her two older sisters had heard a unique version of Sleeping Beauty over and over again from their beloved grandmother, Gemma, who insists that she is Briar Rose. Alternating chapters advance the fairy tale and Rebecca's experiences in trying to fulfill her promise made on Gemma's death bed to find the castle in the sleeping woods, which Gemma leaves to Rebecca. Rebecca's investigation takes her to her grandmother's native Poland, from which emerges a tale of Nazi brutality, gas chambers, partisan activity, courage, guilt, and love. Both heartbreaking and heartwarming, Yolen's novel is a compelling reminder of the Holocaust as well as a contemporary tale of secrets and romance.

Sally Estes

This column began with one Holocaust story and ends with another, originally published in 1992, that is arguably the most memorable of Terry Windling's "Fairy Tales" series (Tor). Becca's Grandmother Gemma has always told the story of Briar Rose, Sleeping Beauty, insisting that she is the princess who was awakened from slumber with a kiss. After her Gemma's death, Becca seeks the truth and learns that her grandmother survived the Holocaust and nearly died in the Chelmno concentration camp in Poland. One Josef Potocki saved Becca with a "kiss" after she was gassed. Yolen's interpretation was ground-breaking both for its focus on the experience of Polish Jews and for its handling of Josef's homosexuality. A can't-miss book. Angelina Benedetti, "35 Going on 13", Booksmack!, 12/2/10

Library Journal - Booksmack!