By Zoe Marriott (author)
Paperback Not Available
View All Editions (1)
In a Nutshell: Brave Beauty | Menacingly magical | Feminist fairy tale
A fantastical feminist reworking of Beauty and the Beast set in a fairy tale evocation of Japan, and companion to the author’s Shadows on the Moon .
Hana has a gift passed to her from her grandmother. She can hear the trees. “There is a monster in the forest,” they warn, just as mothers warn their children not to venture near the Dark Wood in a bedtime story that’s all too real, for Hana’s people are cursed. They’re trapped in their valley, and trapped by their fear of being taken by the monster that's already claimed Hana’s great grandfather, grandmother and older brother.
Hana blames herself for her brother's capture and wishes she’d been taken instead. And then her father goes missing. Hana finds him and carries him home, his body scratched by “claw marks from a paw wider than a man's back”. He’s alive but in an “unnatural sleep”, and can only be woken if someone kills the monster to break the curse.
Driven by her strong sense of duty and familial love, only accomplished huntress Hana is prepared to brave the Dark Wood and confront the beast…
The author's trademark visually lucid style (“Consciousness came back in a starburst of agony”), magnificent world-building and exquisitely formed plot make this a richly satisfying read with a smart feminist overtone: Marriott's Beauty is not the passive pawn of the original tale. Rather, Hana chooses to go to the Beast and the tables are turned - it is he who must redeem himself. ~ Joanne Owen
Zoë Marriott says of Barefoot on the Wind: “We all know what the message of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is supposed to be: love others for who they are inside. But as I got older, it began to seem more and more strange to me that in the traditional fairy tale, it is innocent Beauty who is forced to learn to love the Beast, while the Beast is rewarded for threatening Beauty’s father and taking her prisoner.
And so I set out to explore the story from a feminist perspective, asking, ‘What if Beauty went after the Beast of her own free will? And how could the Beast redeem himself in order to truly deserve her forgiveness … and her love?’”
There is a monster in the forest...Everyone in Hana s remote village on the mountain knows that straying too far into the woods is a death sentence. When Hana s father goes missing, she is the only one who dares try to save him. Taking up her hunting gear, she goes in search of the beast, determined to kill it or be killed herself.
Read the full description
But the forest contains more secrets, more magic and more darkness than Hana could ever have imagined, and the beast is not at all what she expects...
“Zoë Marriott has a high level of literary intelligence and is terrific at rebooting fairy tales with wonderful descriptions of the natural world… [She is] a rising star of fantasy fiction.” The Times
Zoe Marriott lives in North East Lincolnshire with two cats, named Echo and Hero, and the Devil Hound, otherwise known as Finn. She says of Shadows on the Moon , " I never liked Cinderella as a little girl. She seemed like the worst kind of wimp to me, and I hated the fact that she needed someone else to come along and rescue her. Then one day I was thinking about a completely different idea for a book set in fairy-tale Japan - and suddenly the two story ideas collided in my head, and it occurred to me: what if Cinderella wasn't a wimp at all? What if she was strong and brave - and out for revenge all along? And so Shadows on the Moon was born."
the best books for 9-12 year olds · the best books for teenagers
Twilight Deluxe Collector's Edition
Nightbane (The Lightlark Saga Book 2)
Lightlark (The Lightlark Saga Book 1)
There is a monster in the forest...Everyone in Hana s remote village on the mountain knows that straying too far into the woods is a death sentence. When Hana s father goes missing, she is the only one who dares try to save him.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Barefoot on the Wind and determined it is suitable for children aged 11-14 years old
Barefoot on the Wind features in the following genres: Featured Books for 11+ readers, Recommendations, Fantasy / Magical, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Romance / Relationship Stories, Recommended Children's eBooks, Featured Books for 13+ readers
Paperback. Not Available.
Barefoot on the Wind was written by Zoe Marriott and published by Walker Books Ltd
Barefoot on the Wind has 312 pages
©PTC International Ltd T/A LoveReading is registered in England. Company number: 10193437. VAT number: 270 4538 09. Registered address: 157 Shooters Hill, London, SE18 3HP. Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer
The National Year of Reading starts here. Join thousands of families and schools supporting reading for pleasure across the UK.