I recently had the pleasure to read Beautiful by Juliet Marillier in audiobook format. I thoroughly enjoy all of Marillier’s re-imaginings and re-telling of classic folktales and mythologies. Beautiful was certainly as detailed and well-written as previous novels I have read by Juliet Marillier. The inspiration for Beautiful was the Nordic fairy-tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon where a princess overcomes numerous tribulations to discover her true self. In Beautiful, the young princess is Hulde of the Hill-folk, viewed as trolls by the human populations, Hulde is completely innocent of the world beyond the Glass Mountain where the queen keeps her secluded and ignorant. Hulde’s only companion is a white bear named Rune who teaches her kindness and to trust her own judgement. Orchestrated by the queen, on Hulde sixteenth birthday, a curse will be fulfilled. When Hulde discovers the falsehood and betrayal, she prevents the curse from coming to fruition and begins her own quest to find her true self, to honour the memory of a father she never knew and to lead the Hill-folk with kindness, wisdom and justice.Beautiful was a story of wonder and wisdom, where beauty should be considered on many levels, different personalities and physical forms.
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