Beauty in Thorns is a book I was waiting to read after following Kate Forsyth’s blog during the time she was writing the story. Kate, is a wonderful writer and also one who is generous in sharing her writing skills and knowledge with other authors.
~ Quotes from the backcover blurb.
‘A spellbinding reimagining of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ set amongst the wild bohemian circle of Pre-Raphaelite artists and poets.’
‘Bringing to life the dramatic true story of love, obsession and heartbreak that lies behind the Victorian era’s most famous paintings, Beauty in Thorns is the story of awakenings of all kinds.’
The story is written in mulitple view points~Lizzie Siddal, Georgie (Georgiana) Macdonald, Jane Burden, and later in the novel Margot Burne-Jones the daughter of Georgie and Edward (Ned)Burne-Jones.
Beauty in Thorns takes the reader on a journey. With mulitple view points Kate Forsyth has magically brought all the view point characters to life. It is a character driven story with a wonderful backdrop of the Pre-Raphaelite circle including as well as the aforementioned William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti (a wonderfully romantic name).
Kate has had an obsession with the Pre-Raphaelite circle since, as a young uni student, she came across a copy of Proserpine by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, modelled on his lover, Jane Morris nee Burden. Kate bought the print (sacrificing food and bus fares fro a week).
Proserpine
Beauty in Thorns is a treasure: exquisite writing, research woven through the story (research you can rely on) that brings the story to life, a book that makes you want to turn back to the first page to read the story again when you finish reading.
You can read more about Kate’s work on her website: www.kateforsyth.com.au
Have a wonder week~dreaming, reading and writing!
Elise
what elise wrote 