★★★☆☆
(Historical Fantasy) In post-World War II France, the young narrator acquires an old château, but she discovers the roses are going to present a difficult problem. (4,725 words; Time: 15m)
"La Bête," by Leah Bobet [bio] (edited by Vanessa Rose Phin), appeared in Strange Horizons issue 03/09/20, published on March 9, 2020.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2020.164 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: The bit of French at the end, “C'est nous qui brisons / les barreaux des prisons / pour nos frères,” is from a song for the partisans in France who fought the occupying Nazi army. It means “It is we who break the prison bars for our friends.”
The roses seem to symbolize the way people (or maybe just women) were oppressed down through the ages, but the narrator means to make a better world.
Con: This isn’t really genre. It’s an allegorical mainstream story.
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Leah Bobet Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: The bit of French at the end, “C'est nous qui brisons / les barreaux des prisons / pour nos frères,” is from a song for the partisans in France who fought the occupying Nazi army. It means “It is we who break the prison bars for our friends.”
The roses seem to symbolize the way people (or maybe just women) were oppressed down through the ages, but the narrator means to make a better world.
Con: This isn’t really genre. It’s an allegorical mainstream story.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Leah Bobet Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
I'd consider it genre as a reimagining of Beauty and the Beast with the château as la Bête.
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