Jacey Bedford's Journal

Read by Bianca Amato

Another Beauty and the Beast retelling and since I read T Kingfisher's Briony and Roses recently, it's hard not to compare and contrast. Both writers are excellent storytellers. Rose Daughter might be slightly lighter in tone though both focus on Beauty as a gardener. In this version we follow three sisters and their bankrupt father. The sisters are fully rounded characters in their own right, whichis a nice touch. They all have skills. Beauty's skill happens to be growing things are there are hints that she might actually bee a green witch. When Beauty ends up in the Beast's palace, she tries to save the Beast's roses which are slowly dying an an enormous glass house. It's a very pleasant listen with just the hint of the narrator's English accent sometimes defaulting to orff instead of off. I checked and she's South African so considering her English accent is probably learned, she does quite well. It does worry me sometimes that they don't have English narrators doing English accents. Surely there are enough English readers available.