While Beauty Slept

by Elizabeth Blackwell Narrated by Wanda McCaddon

Overview

I am not the sort of person about whom stories are told.



And so begins Elise Dalriss's story. When she hears her great-granddaughter recount a minstrel's tale about a beautiful princess asleep in a tower, it pushes open a door to the past, a door Elise has long kept locked. For Elise was the companion to the real princess who slumbered-and she is the only one left who knows what actually happened so many years ago. Her story unveils a labyrinth where secrets connect to an inconceivable evil. As only Elise understands all too well, the truth is no fairy tale...

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

11/18/2013
This retelling of “Sleeping Beauty” by debut novelist Blackwell is faithful to the original while offering a fresh interpretation. Though set amid the pomp and pestilence of a fictionalized medieval kingdom, the novel’s characters—a couple dogged by infertility, a young girl resisting overprotection, a family torn apart by jealousy—have a contemporary resonance. Its narrator, Elise Dalriss, is raised on a farm, but feels most at home in the royal castle. Rising quickly through the ranks there, she becomes handmaiden to the queen, allowing her to witness the royal family’s troubles firsthand. Unable to produce an heir, Queen Lenore turns to the king’s aunt, Millicent, who is reputed to have magical powers. The queen bears a healthy girl with Millicent’s help, but not before King Ranolf grows resentful of his aunt’s imperiousness. Millicent is banished from the kingdom, becoming one of many dangers beyond its walls, while Princess Rose grows up sheltered against her aunt’s parting threats. When her parents’ elaborate defenses fail to protect their daughter, it is Elise, her confidante, who must keep Rose alive. Elise’s own tale grounds the novel, and the twists that resolve the women’s stories are both convincing and moving. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

"Following in the inspired footsteps of Gregory Maguire’s fairy-tale twists, this debut novel puts a spellbinding new spin on a classic yarn.” —Booklist 

“Unexpected and heartrending . . . A gripping tale full of romance, secrets, and promises made and broken. This beautiful, original reinterpretation of a classic story is engrossing and often surprising.” —Library Journal, starred review

“Blackwell is a storytelling genius.” —Meg Cabot, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Elizabeth Blackwell’s writing is magical in this complex, dark, and sensual retelling of ‘Sleeping Beauty.’ Imaginative, evocative, full of surprises, this is a captivating debut.” —M.J. Rose, international bestselling author of Seduction

" While Beauty Slept is like no version of the Sleeping Beauty story that you’ve read before." —Alma Katsu, author of The Taker trilogy

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"Blackwell, previously a reporter and romance writer, makes her historical fiction debut with a gripping tale full of romance, secrets, and promises made and broken. This beautiful, original reinterpretation of a classic story is engrossing and often surprising." —Library Journal Starred Review

Library Journal - Audio

09/15/2014
Blackwell (The House of Secrets) here reimagines the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty, telling the story from the perspective of Elise Darliss, a maid who becomes a lady-in-waiting. The queen gives birth to Princess Rose after a long period of childlessness, and her sister-in-law, the evil Millicent, puts a curse on the family, especially Rose. Elise is a participant in and spectator to all of the events in the castle and in the life of the royal family and the only one who knows the true story of the slumbering princess. Retold tales are a popular genre in both fiction and in film, and this well-written version will be appreciated. Wanda McCannon's skillful reading keeps listeners engaged. VERDICT Recommended for fans of historical fiction, fantasy, and fairy tales. ["This beautiful, original reinterpretation of a classic story is engrossing and often surprising," read the starred review of the Amy Einhorn: Putnam hc, LJ Xpress Reviews, 1/2/14.]—Mary Knapp, Madison P.L., WI

Library Journal

★ 12/01/2013
In this retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story as seen through the eyes of Elise, a loyal servant and confidante to the royal family, readers follow Elise as she strives to learn how to be a servant while rising quickly through the ranks, balancing her new life as a friend to the queen with her downstairs friendships with maids and servants. Royal intrigue mingles with fairy tale lore and when the curse falls, as readers know it will, it is unexpected and heartrending. Even if at times the story appears to be following a predictable route, the surprises keep coming, and events dance around one another to form a new path to the climax. VERDICT Blackwell, previously a reporter and romance writer, makes her historical fiction debut with a gripping tale full of romance, secrets, and promises made and broken. This beautiful, original reinterpretation of a classic story is engrossing and often surprising. Recommended for fans of fairy tale retellings or gothic historical fiction.—Katie Lawrence, Chicago

MARCH 2014 - AudioFile

Blackwell takes the traditional story of Sleeping Beauty and turns it on its head by placing it in a fictional but highly realistic world approximating late medieval Europe. Narrator Wanda McCaddon clearly understands the emotional arc of Blackwell’s story and gives a moving performance. Her mature voice helps anchor the listener in the premise that this is a story Elise is sharing with her granddaughter about her time as a servant and companion to Princess Rose, called Beauty, a fact which is easy to forget in print, as the older Elise appears only at the beginning and end of the story. The emphasis on this point of view adds an extra layer to the story, causing the listener to question Elise’s reliability, just as her granddaughter likely would. J.L.K. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2013-12-25
In her first novel, Blackwell keeps her retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" in the once-upon-a-time past but makes the standard version's reliance on magic subservient to a more psychological/sociological interpretation. When aged Elise overhears her granddaughter telling the popular legend about a sleeping princess brought back to life by a kiss, she feels compelled to tell the real events she witnessed 50 years earlier while a beloved servant of King Ranolf and Queen Lenore: Aware she was the bastard offspring of an unnamed father connected to the castle where her mother once worked as a seamstress, Elise arrived at court as a teenager. Although her quick rise to becoming personal attendant to Queen Lenore made her unpopular with other servants, Elise adored her work and the gentle queen. But all was not as copacetic as it at first seemed. Lenore's inability to bear an heir was creating a political as well as a marital crisis. Ranolf was about to buckle to pressure to name his brutal brother Bowen as successor, when Lenore returned from a journey with Ranolf's great-aunt Millicent and announced her pregnancy. Soon, Millicent and Ranolf were locked in a power struggle over influencing Lenore, and Elise found her own allegiance to the queen compromised. And after Princess Rose was born, stubborn Ranolf banished Millicent, who vowed to destroy Ranolf's kingdom. Whether she possessed any special power was less important than the "distrust and fear" that gradually overtook Ranolf's rule as Rose grew up. Equally devoted to Rose as to her mother, Elise also lived her own life, complete with an early love and a complicated marriage. By the time Rose was 17, Ranolf had won a pyrrhic victory in his war against his enemies, including his brother, and Lenore had drifted under the spell of a religious fanatic. Then the kingdom faced an even greater crisis and Elise was assigned to protect Rose at all costs, including complete isolation. Intelligent escapism that should please Brothers Grimm lovers more than Disney fans.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171212926
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	02/20/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos