Monday, March 02, 2009

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

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.



I added this book to the my TBR list when it was reviewed by Rhinoa last year. I am pretty sure that I have also seen it around the place, and talked to a few other people about it as well. This is a Young Adult book, a story about trying to find your identity as well as a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale but instead of the Disney version that we are so familiar with these days, this tale is set in the context of the Holocaust. It was originally published as part of Terry Windling's Fairy Tale series and I have to say that if this is an example of how good that particular series is then I will be reading more of them.

The main character is Rebecca, a young journalist who has always loved listening to her grandmother Gemma's telling of the story of Briar Rose - a version of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. Shortly before her death, Gemma askes Becca to never forget her story and this plea is reiterated when Gemma repeats over and over "I am Briar Rose" on her deathbed. The difficult thing about never forgetting Gemma's story is that no one really knows exactly who Gemma is, what her real name is, or how it was that she came to be in America.

Not long after her grandmother's death, the family finds a wooden box that they have never seen before, and inside there are a few photos and some newspaper clippings that seem to provide some clues as to those unanswered questions. Rebecca is determined to put the pieces together and so she embarks on a journey much more haunting than she could ever have imagined, and meeting new people who can provide some kind of background to her grandmothers life. She is aided in her research by her boss. If there is one weakness with this book it is in this relationship, particularly with the ending. Perhaps this was an effort to echo a fairy tale type relationship but this is one aspect that didn't work for me.

Despite the fact that it is a relatively short book, and there is a sparsity to the writing, there is depth, there is historical detail. In short, there is a really fascinating story that is well worth reading.

It was interesting that Yolen chose to use the Chelmno extermination camp as her main prison camp setting, especially seeing as there were so few people who made it out of that camp, but perhaps that is part of the reason for doing so - the pure horror of the camp cannot be avoided when you read anything about it.

I read this book for both the War Through the Generations Challenge and Bang Bang Reading Challenge and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in WWII fiction.

Rating 4.5/5

Other Blogger's Thoughts:


The Written World

24 comments:

  1. Marg this sounds really good. Another one to add to my library list. =)

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  2. I read this book at Christmas time. I'm not a huge WWII reading fan. It is so sad what happened to all of those people. So many thousand killed for such stupid reasons. The way they were killed just shows how evil mankind can become. It is always good to be reminded of that. How easy it is to become corrupt over the stupidest reasons. I enjoyed the book but in a very, "this is really sad" kind of way.

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  3. I'm not much into WWII fiction, but it sounds interesting. I'm having trouble seeing a connection between Sleeping Beauty and a concentration camp, though, or how the grand daughter is endangered.

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  4. There is definitely a connection Alice, but to say more would be to spoil. The grand daughter being endangered is possibly a slight exaggeration but it is there a little bit, in quite a surprising way actually.

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  5. Krissi, it is definitely a book that you enjoy in the way that you mentioned.

    Kathy, it is definitely worth reading.

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  6. I stole this book off my older sister's book shelf when I was in junior high many years ago.... I loved it then, and you've made me want to read it again to see what meaning I gain from it now. Thanks for the reminder!

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  7. I love this book to bits. I'm glad you enjoyed it too, Marg!

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  8. This sounds really good Marg. I'll have to see if my library has it. I've been looking around for a few shorter novels to read for the War Challenge instead of the really big ones I had picked out originally.

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  9. I really liked this book. I think it is the only book by her I have read, though. Should see what else I have by her on the TBR pile one of these days.

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  10. I read this last year for a couple of challenges and I found it to be so powerful and gripping. I go through WWII reading jags almost every year--usually in the spring for some odd reason and I am actually gearing up with a couple of books this month and next regarding the war. I read about WWII, lest we forget.
    Kim

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  11. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it too (and very interesting to see why!) ^-^ The story was so very different from anything I expected to find, but as others have said I enjoyed it in a "this makes me very sad" kind of way. I'm glad I had a meeting with my thesis supervisor where I had to talk.

    Like Kim, I read books like this lest we forget, but I've learned I need to keep it a small amount of my reading.

    One day, I will reread this and then I'll pay some extra attention to the relationships too. I think I missed that.

    *steals other review link to add it to hers*

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  12. This sounds like a great story. I'm adding it to my list!

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  13. I think I remember reading it as a part of the fairy tale series but I could be wrong. I do know I've read one of the original tellings before of Briar Rose.

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  14. I've been meaning to see if I can find other books in this fairy tale series.

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  15. I read this one several years ago, and it still stands out in my mind as a powerful read. I've collected several others in the Fairy Tale series, based mainly on how much I enjoyed Briar Rose.

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  16. This sounds like a fascinating book. I love Jane Yolen and fairy tale retellings.

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  17. Wonderful review Marg. I don't read much fantasy but this sounds like a good one. I added it to my TBR.

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  18. Teddy, I don't think I would call this fantasy at all.

    Caribookscoops, it is well worth getting hold of and reading.

    Elizabeth, have you read any of the others?

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  19. I just love Jane Yolen and this book is no exception. Well worth the read. Have you read The True Story of Hansel and Gretel? Another twisted fairy tale set during the Holocaust.

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  20. I loved this book, too, even though I'm a total book wimp when it comes to the holocaust (still recovering from reading Anne Frank's diary when I was twelve). Jane Yolen is a fabulous writer, and I love that she created this book as part of the fairy tales series - it was an unusual, surprising retelling.

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  21. I'll definitely have to read this at some point. Thanks for the great review. We've posted it here at War Through the Generations.

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  22. Very Interesting!
    Thank You!

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  23. I have a propensity to be vigilant for new quality literature that suits with my personality and fulfills my life with profound thoughts for instance the Briar Rose.

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