Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

historical fiction

Fairy-tale makeover: Review of The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson

TheMerchant'sDaughtercoverI’m just going to come right out and say it: I love Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, but Melanie Dickerson’s take on the fairy tale, The Merchant’s Daughter, is far better. (And isn’t that a great cover? Beautiful and full of detail.)

Do you hate me?

A couple of months ago, I learned of Dickerson and her novels through an online fiction scavenger hunt (which is SUPER fun even if you don’t win the whole thing) and thought the idea of retelling classic fairy tales was clever and creative. (Besides Beauty and the Beast, Dickerson’s books feature Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Her next one, about Cinderella, releases later this year.)

I didn’t expect to like the book as much as I did, but I’d call it one of my best reads of 2012.

In The Merchant’s Daughter, set in medieval England, Annabel, the daughter of a deceased merchant is forced to work at the home of Lord Ranulf to pay her family’s debt. The new lord is disfigured and rumored to be beastly in temperament. Annabel considers working for Ranulf more favorable than following through with a marriage, arranged by her brother, to Bailiff Tom, an unkind, lecherous man who also works in the manor house. Time and again, Ranulf comes to Annabel’s aid when the bailiff tries to harm her.

The development of the relationship between Annabel and Ranulf is breathtaking and sweet. I literally couldn’t keep myself away from this story, and it stuck with  me for days afterward.

Even if you consider Beauty and the Beast an “old” story, I’d recommend this story. It’s a fresh take that stands on its own apart from any other version of the fairytale.

I’ll be seeking more of Dickerson’s work.

And maybe I’ll watch that Disney version again, too.

Coal miners' doctor: Review of Skip Rock Shallows by Jan Watson

Lilly Corbett isn’t what the folks of Skip Rock, Kentucky expected when they heard a new doctor was coming to town — she was a woman. In an age (the early 1900s) when women doctors were rare, Dr. Lilly Corbett has her work cut out for her in the small mountain town.

In Skip Rock Shallows, author Jan Watson takes us into the close-knit, often close-minded, community of a mining town. Lilly not only has to practice medicine, she has to work at being accepted by the people. Lilly is sent to Skip Rock for a short stint before she gets married to a fellow doctor and moves to Boston. As she serves and saves the residents of Skip Rock, she finds herself in a dilemma: to stay or go.

The familiarity of one of the coal miners makes Lilly’s decision that much harder.

Watson gives us plenty of drama in the book, a trait common to most mining towns, I’d expect. Accidents, injuries and death are part of the risk of mining. I enjoyed Lilly’s tale.

FAVORITES: The setting was so unique among other historical fiction I’ve read that I was hooked. And that Lilly is a female practicing medicine in a time when that wasn’t the norm is intriguing. I liked Lilly and the way she approached the twists and turns of her life.

FAULTS: A couple of the turning points in the story seemed to come without much personal strife in the characters. I felt the buildup was a little lacking. And the first part of the book was a little slow as Lilly did her rounds in the community and started to get to know people.

IN A WORD: Enjoyable.

NEED MORE? Check out the first chapter here. And find out more about the author here.