The Beast's Garden

by Kate Forsyth

It's August 1939 in Germany, and Ava's world is in turmoil. To save her father, she must marry a young Nazi officer, Leo von Löwenstein, who works for Hitler's spy chief in Berlin. However, she hates and fears the brutal Nazi regime, and finds herself compelled to stand against it.

Ava joins an underground resistance movement that seeks to help victims survive the horrors of the German war machine. But she must live a double life, hiding her true feelings from her husband, even as she falls in love with him.

Gradually she comes to realize that Leo is part of a dangerous conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. As Berlin is bombed into ruins, the Gestapo ruthlessly hunt down all resistance and Ava finds herself living hand-to-mouth in the rubble of a shell-shocked city. Both her life and Leo's hang in the balance.

Filled with danger, intrigue and romance, The Beast's Garden, a retelling of the Grimm brothers' "Beauty and the Beast," is a beautiful, compelling love story set in a time when the world seemed on the brink of collapse.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Retellings, Romance, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Fantasy

437 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2015

About the author

Kate Forsyth wrote her first novel at the age of seven, and is now the internationally bestselling author of 40 books for both adults and children.

Her books for adults include 'Beauty in Thorns', the true love story behind a famous painting of 'Sleeping Beauty'; 'The Beast's Garden', a retelling of the Grimm version of 'Beauty & the Beast', set in the German underground resistance to Hitler in WWII; 'The Wild Girl', the love story of Wilhelm Grimm and Dortchen Wild, the young woman who told him many of the world's most famous fairy tales; 'Bitter Greens', a retelling of the Rapunzel fairytale; and the bestselling fantasy series 'Witches of Eileanan' Her books for children include 'The Impossible Quest', 'The Gypsy Crown', 'The Puzzle Ring', and 'The Starkin Crown'

Kate has a doctorate in fairytale studies, a Masters of Creative Writing, a Bachelor of Arts in Literature, and is an accredited master storyteller.

Reviews

[Marquise · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel is a good example of sacrificing characterisation and storyline for the sake of showing off one's research.

The idea of retelling the German version of the famous fairy tale Beauty and the Beast published by the Brothers Grimm that goes with the title "The Singing, Springing Lark" in an hitherto never done setting was a good one, but I believe the author simply didn't know how to do it well because she's not familiar with the period and the mentality of the time as she should, nor does she seem to grasp the archetype and metaphors of BatB tales, so she went for:

a. Sticking too closely to the Grimms' tale without need.
b. Cramming in every bit of research she found catchy.

You see, one doesn't have to stay too close to the original folktale for it to be good, or even qualify as a retelling. The whole point of it being a "retelling" means an author is free to play with the basic plotline as he or she sees fit, with one caveat: be aware of what the main and overarching metaphor is. If you miss it, don't "get" it, or worse, misunderstand it, then your retelling is nothing but the use of a borrowed title for a whole new idea. I'm afraid I haven't seen Kate Forsyth succeeding in retelling a true Beauty and the Beast-like story, because all she seems to have understood from the tale is "luuuurve conquers it all."

Right. Carry on.

Normally, a blunder as significant as missing a tale's archetype/metaphor in a retelling is an unforgivable one for me, and it'd have been enough to toss this aside. But, there's more than just that: the author does have a story to tell but doesn't know how to tell it competently, and so falls into the trap many HF writers fall into, one that I call "Lemme show you my research skills!"

I have no idea if Forsyth has lived in Germany as opposed to just visiting or going as a tourist, and frankly that's not necessarily bad if you know enough of the place to use. The thing is, she doesn't seem to know Germany so well, or maybe this is simply a result of her writing, but to me the setting didn't feel like Germany. Worse than the unfamiliarity of the place was the mentality of the period, because, to put it bluntly, the protagonist, Ava Falkenhorst didn't feel like a German girl from the time, but rather like a foreigner inserted in 1930s Germany with the knowledge of events and consequences only a 21st century person would have. She knows too much, is aware of too many things for someone of her background and age. Simply too unrealistic, all that would be more credible for someone older and more worldly.

The anachronistic psychology is compounded by the author's show-off insertion of useless bits of research, so typical of writers who spend a couple years reading every book and file on a subject they can find and then shoehorn everything they possibly can into their novel. Some do it thinking they will write a more "authentic" historical novel that way, and others simply have no idea of how to convey the feel of an age without cluttering the story with bits and pieces of trivia and curio. Unfortunately, this has exactly the reverse effect: the story feels too unrealistic because a. the characters know too much or are present at every event that marked the period, and b. too many significant events happen.

That, I'm afraid, is Forsyth's big blunder in this novel: she put too much into her characters from what she read in non-fiction books and placed them in too many circumstances to be credible. Like, during research she read the memoirs of a gay Jew in Nazi Germany? Ooooh, let me make my character a jew and gay! She read a book on the Swing Kids that defied Hitler listening to forbidden Jazz music? Ooooh, let me make my characters Ava and Rupert be Jazz and Swing lovers! She read some books about German resistance to Hitler? Ooooh, let me make my character Leo be part of the Canaris and Bonhoeffer and Von Stauffenberg circle that tried to kill the Führer! She read about female opposition to the Nazis? Oooh, let me make my character Ava be chums with the Black Orchestra and the Red Orchestra civilian resistance groups and meet Libertas Schulze-Boysen, Elisabeth von Thadden and Mildred Harnack! She read about the English Mitford sisters' Nazi sympathies? Ooooh, I'm British too, so let me make Ava meet Unity Mitford in two useless scenes that add nothing to the plot! She read that Adolf was a fanatic Wagner admirer? Ooooh, let me make my character be a Wagnerian opera singer and meet the Führer in Bayreuth . . .

Seriously. I'm not joking.

If all that gives the impression of a gushy and immature writer that reads more like a fangirl than a good author, I wouldn't blame you. It's not just the cramming in of too much historical events and people that makes this story utterly implausible and belief-defying but also how easily the female main character gets out of scrapes like when Himmler forgives her for not singing Party-approved lyrics under his very own nose without even a reprimand, and when Heydrich tells her she's gypsy on her mother's side so he can blackmail her into his bed. If Forsyth read as much as she claims in her Author's Note, she'd know Himmler sent people to concentration camps for lesser offences, people more intelligent and prudent than a Too Stupid To Live pretty face; and Heydrich . . . He wasn't called the Butcher of Prague for nothing, you know. But Ava escapes because . . . because . . . er, because of what? The goodness of her little anti-Nazi heart of gold?

Sometimes you don't need to include obvious historical inaccuracies to lose your credibility as a HF novelist. Doing as this author has done, i. e. psychological anachronism and too much historical details for one person's age and background and means, is just as bad.

Not a book I am going to recommend, definitely!

[Amanda - Mrs B's Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A haunting portrait of life during Nazi occupied Germany, with gentle undertones of a Grimm Brothers fairy tale, ‘The Singing, Springing Lark’ or an offshoot of Beauty and The Beast, is Australian author Kate Forsyth’s 2015 release, The Beast’s Garden. I felt compelled to read The Beast’s Garden, as Forsyth is a novelist who comes highly recommended by many readers. I was also intrigued as to how her fairytale retelling would work under a wartime backdrop. For me, any literature that stands out from the crowd on World War II, is sure to gain my attention. The Beast’s Garden did this with ease.

The Beast’s Garden begins in 1938, Hitler has already started his removal of the Jewish population in Germany. These events signal a time of great change and danger for many. When nineteen year old Ava Falkenhorst, a beautiful and talented singer meets Leo von Lowenstein, their attraction is immediate, though Ava tries her hardest to deny it. For Ava, Leo is someone to detest, a Nazi officer. However, Ava has to put her feelings for the regime Leo works for aside, in order to rescue her family from certain death. Entering into a marriage with Leo, guarantees both her and her family’s safety at a time of great danger. Forsyth’s novel covers many harrowing experiences of this time, from Ava’s day to day survival as a young German woman during violent Berlin, to her close Jewish friend’s fight for his life in a concentration camp. The Beast’s Garden also covers the resistance movement active in Berlin, driven by brave people such as writers and artists. These brave souls risked their lives over and over again, to uncover key intelligence, or save people from the wrath of the Nazis. When Leo becomes involved in a direct plot to assassinate Hitler, Ava must summon all the strength and bravery she can to rescue her husband. This dramatic tale of love, duty and sacrifice, demonstrates the strength of the human spirit in the face of war.

Forsyth presents one of the most compelling, as well as vivid portraits of life in Berlin under the Nazi rule I have read. Over the years I have read many books, both fiction and nonfiction on this era but there was something so authentic about The Beast’s Garden. It is one of those novels that I will not forget in a hurry. What I appreciated about Forsyth’s angle in The Beast’s Garden was an aspect of the war which is hardly ever touched or mentioned. Forsyth draws our attention to the many German citizens did would they could, risking their lives to help many during this turbulent time, through the underground resistance movement. Adding to the authenticity of a book that I feel sets the bar extremely high in World War II fiction, is Forsyth’s employ of real life characters from this time, such as high ranking Nazi officers and Hitler’s entourage. These aspects of The Beast’s Garden made it all the more fascinating, as well as realistic.

Ava and Leo are such a romantic couple, it is hard to resist their individual charms. Ava’s musical talents and naturally caring nature, makes her an enduring character. Ava is paired with Leo, an extremely handsome young man, who loves deeply and passionately but has his secrets. I loved the way Ava and Leo’s romance progressed, from the first spark, to the deep love that later developed. I liked how Ava showed much resistance to Leo and eventually gave into his charms, their love story held me captive. My only complaint was I wanted more build up and tension in the early stages of their courtship. Those who appreciate fairy tales will love the sections in the book on Ava and Leo’s relationship, it beautifully echoes ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘The Singing, Springing Lark’. There is plenty of rich characterisation, as well as tragic moments, to keep the reader enthralled. The latter parts of the novel had me turning the pages at a frantic pace, I was desperate to discover the final fate of the characters I began to care so deeply about.

The Beast’s Garden is a highly skilful novel that demonstrates Forsyth’s craft in the art of weaving together historical events, with an unforgettable romance, which harks back to a traditional fairytale. The Beast’s Garden is a book I would recommend over and over again, it is a true testament of love and the will to survive in a time of war.
*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com

[Suz · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first foray into this author's work. This isn't a preferred genre for me, and my two star rating doesn't reflect this authors tremendous work on this novel. Her afterward reflects her intense level of interest, and subsequently, research into the subject of Hitler's time. This book is a great reflection of this. Germany is exquisitely visualised in this book, and I learned a lot from this novel.

I will definitely read this author again, but this book was not for me, really only as historical fiction (war) isn't one that I love to read. I highly recommend this to readers who do though.

[Kim Wilkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many of Kate's books and loved them all, but this one has got under my skin like no other. I read it in two gulps (over two days), because I was so invested in what would happen to these characters I had come to love. Ava, who is complex and strong and weak sometimes too. Libertas and Jutta: tenacious, wonderful women with strong moral compasses, who refused to give up. Rupert--oh, god, Rupert. I loved him like my own brother and his poetry was sublime. Leo: brilliantly rendered so that he was inscrutable at the start of the book, then given a viewpoint halfway through and unfolded beautifully in all his wonderful, noble dimensions. The craft demonstrated here as Kate weaves real-life characters together with fictional ones, as she takes tropes from fairytale and romance and turns them on their heads, makes it evident that she is a writer at the very height of her powers. What courage it took to write this novel, and to write it her own way; not to flinch from the dark, nor from the light. Well done, my darling friend, Kate. You continue to inspire me.

[C.W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Forsyth is doing something remarkable with her adult historical fiction: combining fairy tales with historical eras, weaving the whimsy of magic with the realities of history. It's not an easy combination to pull off, and she succeeded brilliantly with it in her first adult novel "Bitter Greens" - one of my all-time favorite reads.

In "The Beast's Garden", she adapts the original Grimm version of the beloved fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" and sets her story in Nazi Berlin, opening with Kristallnacht, the dreadful Night of Broken Glass, when Nazi thugs attack Jewish neighborhoods, smashing businesses, homes and lives, initiating the Holocaust. Ava, a young aspiring singer, and her German family, are caught up in the chaos as they try to safeguard their lifelong friends, a Jewish family about to be tested by the anti-Semitic fervor raging in Berlin. Unwittingly, Ava captures the interest of Leo, a Nazi intelligence officer in the Abwehr, who might not be everything he seems. He's engaged in a dangerous gambit, and as Ava starts to fall in love with him, compelled to trust him in order to save those she cares about, she too becomes embroiled in his quest. Other characters include Jutta, the sister of Ava's Jewish gay friend, Rupert, who goes into hiding and works for the resistance, even as Rupert is deported to Buchenwald, one of the Nazis' most notorious concentration camps. The broad cast of secondary characters include many real-life people on both sides of the regime, and Ms Forsyth excels at breathing tense life into them, and into a country careening toward calamity, wracked by paranoia, complacency, murderous righteousness, and defiant anger.

Perhaps due to an abundance of caution to avoid "romanticizing" a Nazi, the love story between Ava and Leo is safer than it could have been. Ms Forsyth has delved into the reality of the Abwehr conspirators with scholarly diligence, taking the risk of making her male lead sympathetic by presenting the historical facts involving the high-level Nazi intelligence unit; but Leo's conflicting emotions are harder to elucidate. Ava, too, is engaging, but upstaged at the start by irascible Jutta, who commands the page as one of the persecuted who finds purpose amidst the hopelessness. Eventually, Ava comes into her own, transforming into a woman of grit and courage, a match for Jutta's zeal. When she does, we're riveted by her journey as Germany begins to flounder.

The ambiance surrounding the characters is impeccable. Ms Forsyth paints Berlin in the ash and frost of life under the Nazis with such a fine-toothed edge, we can hear the jackboots marching down the avenues and anticipate the Gestapo pounding on our door. She also offers something rarely seen in World War II fiction of this caliber: she shows us that not every German was a rabid Nazi adherent, and that a stalwart, if doomed, movement arose to try and defeat Hitler. Some of the best scenes in the novel involve these resisters, maturing Ava as she's drawn into their plots, fighting to protect herself, her homeland, and her friends from tyranny. Chilling appearances by Hitler and his real-life henchmen demonstrate the hypnotic grip that Nazism had on the country, and the scenes in Buchenwald are particularly harrowing, evoking the despair of imprisonment in a death camp, but also the enduring spirit of survival. Ms Forsyth's sensitive depiction of Rupert is heartbreaking; he shines as a victim of circumstance, who refuses to become a victim.

This is a big book, both in its scope and message, the fruit of intense research, dedicated craftsmanship, and daring - because with everything known about the atrocities committed by the Nazis, it's almost impossible to believe any German stood against them. Herein lies the novel's strength, and, apparently, its controversy. Ms Forsyth does tell a star-crossed love story, but the book is more than that; it's a fictionalized attempt to shine a light on those whom popular history has neglected, the brave few who believed in a better world than the one Hitler mandated. In the end, the theme is less about a conflicted Nazi and his innocent lover - which can be seen as symbols of Germany itself at the time - but rather about how when everything falls apart and none of the choices left are safe, some still choose the right cause, even if it means they could die for it.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first Kate Forsyth novel that I’ve read (I should probably hang my head in shame at that) and I had high hopes for The Beast’s Garden. Perhaps it was going into the novel with such high hopes that ultimately lead to my disappointment with it. While there was much I enjoyed, I wasn’t completely engaged by it.

I’m someone who loves fairy tale re-tellings – so why didn’t I fall head over heels for this?

The relationship development between the Leo and Ava is limited. They almost fall in love instantly – not quiet but almost. Ava is young, just finishing school, when she meets Leo. She is courageous and innocent. However, there were odd little phrases used to describe her feelings for him that jarred with me as being too puerile. They marry out of necessity, though the mutual attraction is there. Once they were married, it seemed the relationship development within the novel took a back seat to the rest of the story.

I sometimes felt the novel was trying to do too much in one book and perhaps this is why the relationship aspect of the story became secondary to the other plot arcs. However, those arcs are great and the secondary characters are wonderful - I loved them. Not all Forsyth’s Germans are evil – many do what they can to work against the Nazi regime. Forsyth’s research is excellent and she interweaves heart rending stories covering the variety of atrocities committed by the Nazi’s.

The writing is of course excellent and there is wonderful use of musical imagery in Ava’s POV to describe events around her.

However, it wasn’t until the end of the novel, during Ava’s rescue of Leo, where the writing actually got me turning the pages rapidly - so much so that I didn’t care about the feasibility of the rescue.

Was it a good read – yes? Could it have been more – yes?

3 Stars

[RitaSkeeter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is being promoted as a Beauty and the Beast re-telling, but that it not completely accurate. It is more a re-telling of The Singing, Springing Lark , a variant of the Beauty and the Beast tale, though the second half of the story is quite different and is more in line with East of the Moon, West of the Sun. Having said that, Forsyth incorporates motifs, such as roses, from the more familiar Beauty and the Beast.

Being unfamiliar with The Singing, Springing Lark , I set down Forsyth's book to pull out my copy of Grimm's tales to read it. This was a bit of a mistake, as the book follows the structure of the fairytale so foreshadowed events to come. If you prefer not to have key points of novels spoiled, it is also best to avoid the 'about this book' page the publisher has included at the start. It gives away something rather key, with the impact being that the book was robbed of tension for me this being that Leo is a spy, and not an evil Nazi.

Forsyth has attempted a sophisticated approach to her book. She encompasses viewpoints of many characters, who are all part of the resistance in Germany. We see people from all different walks of life attempting to bring down the Nazi party and Hitler; from the Jewish resistance, to those in government departments, to hausfraus. Interspersed are sections set in a concentration camp. These sections were horrific, though short. They are important to the book because they demonstrate the horrors occurring and why many were participating in resistance activities. There are few books I've come across (in English; I'm sure it would be different if I read German), that detail the experience of Germans during WW2. The Book Thief (another Aussie, woo!) is obviously an exception to that, as is one of Ursula's lives in Life After Life. This is an important story to be told. Not all Germans were Nazis. Not all Germans supported Hitler. Not all Germans were anti-Semites. Some Germans were actively trying to bring down the Nazi party and assassinate Hitler.

I love Forsyth's work. Bitter Greens is, no exaggeration, possibly in my top 5 of contemporarily published books of all time. I also enjoyed The Wild Girl, though perhaps didn't love it as much as the former. The issue for me with The Wild Girl was how much I hated the Grimms. I spent most of the book wanting to punch Wilhelm in the nose. Even though he frustrated the hell out of me, I could simultaneously respect how much Forsyth made me feel her characters. Not many authors can write a character that infuriates me so much I want to commit violence.

This was missing for me in this book. Not the need to travel back in time to commit violence against Wilhelm Grimm, but rather to experience characters I felt so strongly about. I wanted to love Ava and Leo but, although I had empathy for them at some points, on the whole I felt ambivalent toward them. I didn't like the insta-love (god, I hate that word) or Leo's repetitive whining that he wanted screw Ava. I would have kicked him in the nuts and walked away. Instead, we are meant to believe that Ava (who has Jewish friends that are basically family), allows herself to fall in love with a Nazi. Not buying it.

I love fairy tale re-tellings. Not just Forsyth's, though hers are of a standard far higher than any others I've read. But I'm just not sure the fairy tale sat comfortably with Nazi Germany for me. The fairy tale elements were a distraction and forced a level of superficiality into the book that was disappointing. The choice of which fairy tale possibly compounded this. Surely the Beast is Hitler, and not Leo?

I was disappointed by the ending. I understand the author was following the structure of the fairy tale, but it felt contrived and unrealistic. I know fairy tales end with the and they all lived happily ever afters, but this was Nazi Germany. I just found it very difficult to accept that everything turned out all hunky dory.

My final rating: 3 stars. What puts me at a 3? The second half of the book, where the fairytale motifs were not so strong, was infinitely stronger than the first. The first half was 2 stars; the second half was 4 stars.

[S.B. Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well known for The Witches of Eileanan Series, Kate Forsyth continues to establish a foothold as a writer of historical fiction for adults.

It began (at least in my reading of her work) with Bitter Greens, which managed to blend historical fiction with myth and fairytale; to give the reader a set of tales that inhabited a narrative borderlands where the fiction and non-fiction elements were separated only by a thin veil.

Then with The Wild Girl, (Forsyth’s tale based on the life of Gretchen Wild), the fairytale element formed part of the backdrop, informing the story or perhaps underlining it. Readers were given a well researched and imagined historical.

The Beast’s Garden, is slightly different again. It’s a reimagining of one of the early Grimm tales, The Singing, Springing Lark. So if you know the tale then the plot might not present too many surprises. Then again part of the fun in reading fairytale remakes is seeing what the author does with the story. I must stress though, while based on the plot of The Singing Springing Lark, The Beast’s Garden is not in the least bit fantastical. Indeed in the afterword, Forsyth informs us, that apart from the central characters and their families, all the other major players are historical figures.

While ostensibly a love story, there’s tension and action reminiscent of the World War II thrillers I grew up reading and watching. The setting is Berlin 1938-45, covering the rise to prominence of the Nazi’s and the effect of the regime not only on the Jewish-German Berliner’s but on those who saw their beloved country torn apart by an ideology of hate.

In The Beast’s Garden we have Ava (the Beauty) the third daughter of a previously prominent Professor of Psychiatry, she’s inherited her mothers Spanish looks and talent for singing. Her family is close with the Feidlers, a Jewish family whose father worked with hers and whose mother practically raised Ava after her own mother’s early death. We have Graf Leo von Löwenstein.(The Beast) an officer in the Abwehr (German Military Intelligence) who is smitten by Ava’s beauty and her forthright spirit in the face of the regime. What follows is chiefly Ava’s and Leo’s story as they struggle against the fear and the regime, each in their own way.

Writing an historical fiction set during World War II is a daunting prospect – it’s a period that’s been worked over considerably in non-fiction, fiction and by Hollywood and countless other entertainment industries. Indeed some 75 years on and it isn’t hard to find a contemporary project based on this era of conflict. Then the writer must consider the Holocaust, how to handle a reality that still effects so many.

So the bar is set high, I think for a writer who wants to write fiction that entertains but is also true, not only to the written history but the emotional one. I think in this case Forsyth has done well. The holocaust is not glossed over and it’s not played on to manipulate our emotions. There are scenes set in Buchenwald, but Forsyth keeps the emotional focus tight on particular characters and their attempts to survive. The enormity of the holocaust (hard to envision on a personal level) is revealed through juxtaposing reports received by Leo of the mass exterminations with what the reader knows from the prisoners point of view – a personal response magnified by numbers on a page, large numbers.

I also felt that Forsyth captured particularly well the state of fear brought to bear by the Nazi’s not only on the Jews but on other Germans who didn’t support the regime - fear of being reported to the Gestapo by your own servants or family members. Much of what propelled me through the novel was Forsyth’s ability to sustain tension, fear of the authorities, fear of being discovered engaged in subversive activities, fear of those you love.

There are many stories in war and with 75 years of storytelling the action adventure angle has been done with varying degrees of success. The Beast’s Garden is not about strikes and counter strikes, hero’s storming the beaches but it’s every bit as engaging. It’s a very human story, about what small groups of people can do, what we hope people would do when faced by an evil that is unacceptable.



This review is based on an uncorrected proof.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Beast's Garden is set in Berlin from late 1938 until just after the end of the war. A loose retelling of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale, "The Singing, Springing Lark" (itself a variant of the more well-known "The Beauty and the Beast"), the combination of setting and love story makes for an often tense, harrowing reading experience. The main protagonist, Ava Falkenhorst, is a native Berliner, her father a German psychoanalyst and professor, her mother a Spanish singer who died giving birth. She has two older half-sisters, Bertha and Monika, but she was raised by her mother's best friend, Tante Thea, whose son Rupert was born within hours of Ava. Both Ava and Rupert are musicians, Rupert playing trumpet and piano, Ava singing in a low contralto. Their favourite music is jazz and blues - Billie Holiday and other American artists - and the world seems bright and full of promise, and not even the rise of Hitler is taken all that seriously in Ava's artistic, well-educated circle.

Then, Kristallnacht (Crystal Night), the Night of Broken Glass, when her friend's family is harassed, their apartment destroyed, and they are forced to leave, taking shelter in Ava's family home. It seems, to Ava, like the whole world has suddenly gone mad. It is also on Crystal Night that she meets a young Nazi officer, Leo von Löwenstein, who draws her as a man but repels her as representative of all she considers wrong in Germany. But when her father is arrested for sending letters to warn influential people in other countries about what is happening in Germany, Ava's only recourse is to turn to Leo for help, no matter the cost.

This sets up the remainder of the story, and for a book that lasts the duration of World War II, there's a lot more that happens. Forsyth's Berlin is carefully, authentically recreated, from the glorious old buildings - many commandeered by the Nazis - and Tiergarten (or "Beast's Garden"), to the rubble and ruin it is all reduced to in the air raids. That juxtaposition of glory, grandeur and beauty against the destruction of war is painfully poignant and all too tragic. Knowing, as you do when you start reading, how the war ends, how Hitler survives to the end, and what happens to the political prisoners, the homosexuals, the disabled and the Jews, not to mention neighbouring nations, there were times when this knowledge aided the tense, frightening atmosphere, yet it also made me fear for an unhappy ending for Ava and Leo.

While Ava's perspective dominates, brief scenes from Rupert's point of view within Buchenwald concentration camp - and, later, a few from Leo and Rupert's sister Jutta - flesh out and enhance the narrative while also providing that harrowing, intimate view of the inside of a concentration camp. You only need these scenes to be brief - longer and the impact would be lost - but it also serves to show that side of the war within Germany. Everything in the story takes place within that nation, mostly in Berlin, and the contrasts between the abject poverty, homelessness and violence endured by the Jews, the gypsies and even many Germans, and the opulent wealth and excessive luxuries enjoyed by the upper class, particularly the Nazi elite, is sickening. So, too, is the waste of human life, the mass exterminations and the sheer cruelty shown to people the Nazis called "sub-human".

Early on, Ava reads her niece - Bertha's young daughter - the fairy tale "The Singing, Springing Lark" and remembers her father reading it to her. When he first asked her what she thought it was about, she told him it was about never giving up. Later, she told him it was about being brave, and when she was older she thought it was about true love. This captures the essence of The Beast's Garden well: it is definitely about never giving up, about being brave and about true love, and makes you ponder the idea that these must surely be some of the most important things in life. You could add, though, that it is also about being compassionate (caring for and about others) and about standing up for what is right (which, granted, looks different to different people).

That last one is tricky, because from Hitler's perspective, he was doing what was right - just as Donald Trump (who has often been compared to Hitler, including by Holocaust survivors) also believes in what he is standing up for (or, at least, his supporters do - I'm never entirely sure whether Trump believes anything he says or is just too far-gone in the well of Spin). Forsyth provides balanced insights into the ideological and psychological aspects of Germany's people at this time, presenting the different attitudes and showing just how lacking in unity they really were. A great many of the characters in the novel, according to Forsyth's very interesting Afterword, were real people involved in the underground resistance movement. I knew of the White Rose already, from using the film Sophie Scholl in one of my English classes a couple of years ago, and I have long been curious about the German perspective and what else was going on. The French Resistance is well-known, but the German one has long fallen into obscurity - which is a shame. Ava is representative of the many who helped shelter and help Jews, and wanted to stop the war, though they were indeed too few to do all that much against the well-oiled Nazi machine. The obstacles, the price of resistance, the despair and the horror are all captured by Forsyth - she has done a wonderful job of humanising the Germans (even those who supported the Nazis) as well as the Jews, and creating a true ethical and moral crisis. It's this aspect of the story that really gives it depth, clarity and realism.

While I was worried, at first, that Ava's character seemed a little too similar to cliched heroines that I've read before, and that the romance would devolve into formulaic lines, I was pleased (and relieved) when it shifted to focus more on the war, on resisting the Nazis and trying to save their loved ones. The Ava and Leo relationship becomes an anchor throughout, a smoldering, banked fire simply waiting for peace in order to shine to its fullest extent. It is this 'true love' they feel for each other - and the love and loyalty that so many other characters show for each other - that emphasises the horrors of this particular war. Towards the end, Forsyth's experience writing Fantasy novels stands her in good stead: the final scenes (before the epilogue), when Ava attempts a seemingly impossible rescue, are full of tension, brilliantly paced and carefully plotted.

The elements of romance, historical fiction, adventure (that ending) and a responsibility to honour all those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis are all beautifully balanced here in Forsyth's capable hands. She mentions, at the end of her Afterword, the fear she felt at being able to do it justice, that "I was afraid to fail all those people who suffered so terribly during the seven years of my story. It felt like some kind of responsibility ... to do my best to bring their suffering and their heroism to life. To, somehow, bear witness." (p.437) This is one of the powers of literature, of art in general, and a reason why we should privilege the Arts in all its forms. I would also say that, for someone who wasn't even born at the time, Kate Forsyth has done a wonderful job at bearing witness, and allowing me the opportunity to feel like I was there, living it. I'm not sure what more I could want from this book.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this book 2 stars because I found nothing wrong with the story or how it was written infact I read 23 chapters before I finally had to face the truth, I just hadn't made a connection with the protagonist. That being said it would not matter from this point on what happened in the story for me so I decided to call it quilts at chapter 23.

[Tien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Beauty by Robin McKinley and I adore Kate Forsyth so I thought that The Beast’s Garden would be a wonderful magical retelling. Despite the horribleness of the setting (I meant the nasty gruesome war rather than the actual place), I thought that this would be an excellent foil for Beauty’s courage and generosity. In the end, whilst I have very much enjoyed the story, I’d say that The Beast’s Garden is inspired by (rather than a retelling of) ‘The Singing, Springing Lark', the Grimm Brothers’ version of Beauty and The Beast.

‘The Singing, Springing Lark' is quite a bit different than the well-known tale of Beauty and The Beast and if you know your literature, you’d know that Grimm Brothers’ version will be much darker. This means that our heroine must be very determined, intelligent, brave, and persistent in order to win a life with her love. Ava was young but bounteous in courage. Her courage carried her to Leo, sustained her through turbulent times, and brought her to her destined future.

It’s very clear that Kate Forsyth has done her research and I loved knowing that most characters are real historically (the exception being Ava & Leo and their family). The novel was just intricately woven together into a seamlessly stunning love story amidst destruction. It’s just like how that red rose on the cover stands out! My only grievance was the lack of magic. I’ve always associated Kate Forsyth with magic and I kept expecting something magical to pop up but aside from some hint of the gypsy, I drew a complete blank.

The Beast’s Garden has a lot to offer the readers. The friendships cultivated by Ava were true and lasting. Both Ava and Leo were bound by a force neither could fight off and by embracing love, they found a little safe haven in a dark world. As with all war fiction, you’d always wonder how you yourself will act and we are shown just how courageous some can be in fighting for humanity whilst others sought only to destroy. A smashing read and highly recommended to historical fiction fans.

Thanks to Random House Australia via NetGalley for eARC in exchange of honest review

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must say, I am in awe of Kate Forsyth. I cannot fathom how her writing just keeps getting better and better. To put it in one sentence – The Beast’s Garden is amazing. Set in Berlin in WWII The Beast’s Garden is a retelling of The Singing, Springing Lark (a Grimm Brothers’ variant of Beauty & the Beast) but this is more than a retelling and varies a little from Kate’s previous work as the historical research into this time period, bringing it to life as she has, is compelling and incredible. The characters were amazing and their tale of love and fortitude, resistance and courage will stay with me and take pride of place in my all time favourite books for sure. I feel I cannot give this review the accolade that it truly deserves, but know that I highly recommend this book 5+++

[Sally906 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew - what an emotional journey.

[Miranda]

Okay, so, while I'm really enjoying Forysth's Bitter Greens so far...

I have Very Serious opinions about the Beauty and the Beast fairytale. It's my One True Fairytale, my heart, my love. It means quite a lot to me. I also have Very Serious opinions about Nazis in fiction, namely: For fuck's sake, don't try to make them sympathetic. And especially don't use a Nazi officer as the "Beast," oh my God.

I realize the husband in question isn't actually a Nazi but a spy, but still, having the Beast character be a Nazi rubs me entirely the wrong way. I'm really starting to worry about this new trend of having Nazi characters be sympathetic or even main characters -- that was the main reason I chose not to read Prisoner of Night and Fog, due to the MC being related to Hitler and therefore supporting his ideology.

Can we not, y'all?

[Mary-ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading A Man Called Intrepid, a non-fiction WWII story about a spy called William Stephenson aka INTREPID, at the same time as The Beast's Garden. The common elements between the two books demonstrate just how much actual history Kate Forsyth has wrapped around her story. In particular, I was fascinated by both accounts of Heydrich. The depth of knowledge Kate displays here shows such a commitment to this story and makes it all the more real and powerful. I really enjoyed it.

[Eugenia (Genie In A Book) · Rating 5 out of 5]

*This review also appears on my blog Genie In A Book*



The Beast's Garden took me on an emotional journey from beginning to end, with a suite of dynamic characters and a series of events which left me reeling. I'm no stranger to Kate Forsyth's retellings, and after loving both Bitter Greens and The Wild Girl - the bar was set high. However, in this case she has once again accomplished what she does best in producing a beautifully crafted novel which explores the both the horrors and inner circle of the Nazi regime with a romance that is complex and believable. There's both a charm and a provoking insight into humanity which comes through in this novel, making it one anyone could enjoy.

I feel sure that there is goodness in the world, and it's not murder and brutality and force, it's not boots stamping and fists smashing and laughing at people's pain. It's...oh it's kindness and gentleness and trying to understand.

Though the links with fairytales such as the typical 'Beauty and the Beast' story and of course 'The Singing, Springing Lark' original are quite subtle, they still came through. The excerpts from the Grimm Brothers' story in places gave poignant meaning to the already tense drama unfolding as Ava battles to straddle the line between keeping her own family safe and helping her Jewish family friends too. Leo is the Nazi officer who is not out for blood or vengeance like the others, and instead is part of the resistance movement. This is no conventional love story, and the vivid setting provided ample opportunity to explore how, even in a regime characterized by repression and terror - people still fought back.

We are approaching the end with a sense of community, which is possible only in the face of death. Without sorrow, without bitterness. I also know now about the last things of faith, and I know that you are strong and joyful in the awareness of eternal solidarity.

The multiple perspectives and strong cast of secondary characters gave this story even more depth. From seeing what it was like in a concentration camp to the upper echelons of Nazi German society where not everybody is as they seem, I felt like this multifaceted novel had both characterisation and historical detail brilliantly done. Most of all though, I admired Ava's character. Her strength throughout and ability to accomplish the seeming impossible was inspiring. She wasn't just a singer, but an advocate of hope and made the best out of the most difficult situations. There is so much more to be said about The Red Orchestra and how everything ended up, but of course that is for you to find out when your read this masterpiece.

You have to live with honour...you have to have courage...' He compressed one side of his mouth into a half-smile, more rueful than bitter. 'You of all people know that, my brave Ava.'

FINAL THOUGHTS

Intensely emotional and stunningly written, The Beast's Garden is a must-read for 2015. It has definitely made an impact on me, and I couldn't stop thinking about it for days afterwards, If you're a historical fiction fan and love an enthralling story, then this is for you. You won't regret it.

[Isa]

I just don't think that some things should be turned into romantic fairytales... like, oh, I don't know... the Holocaust.

[Misha]

60% in and I just give up.

The premise sounded exciting: a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story set in Germany during the second World War. The execution is sadly so lackluster that despite the reading level being around YA-ish, I genuinely don't care to read any more words in this book.

Meet Ava, a woman so self-centered that her thoughts when her Jewish best friend from practically birth is hauled away to a prison camp by Nazis are to wonder if the attractive young German spy she has the hots for instigated the arrest in a fit of jealousy.

Meet Ava, i.e., every single badly-written YA heroine ever. She is strikingly beautiful but not aware of this fact. She is good at creative things *hand waving*. She lost a parent early in life and therefore has a tinge of melancholy in her life that was distant enough to not interfere with currently having a good life, but deep enough to rise up randomly to give her character depth. She is full of bold and daring ideas that she idiotically spouts to every single German soldier she seems to meet. This is how she meets Leo, a man so devoid of personality that I have a hard time remembering anything about him now except that he is a sensitive young man with a broken nose that only accentuates his manly features. He is so inflamed by Ava's fiery beauty and fiery opinions and fiery vocal talents that he immediately declares that he must bang her.

Poor Rupert, the Jewish best friend who is also gay for some reason (less threatening for the primary heterosexual couple, I assume), spends his time in this book being sad for very obvious reasons and witnessing terrible crimes against other humans. Then we move on to the next chapter where Ava is continuing to think about how attractive she finds her new husband. The contrast gives me emotional whiplash.

Add in a predictable old girlfriend from the right kind of family to add conflict, some very half-assed information passing from Ava and continued descriptions of everyone suffering around a blandly in love Ava and you have the sum of this book as far as I read it.

I'm sorry, the only reason I would force myself to finish this book was for book club, and I missed book club so if I owned this book in a physical format, I would line my cat's litter box with it so that it would serve some useful function in my life.

[Helen - Great Reads & Tea Leaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply stated, the 'Beast's Garden' is an EXTRAordinary book. Kate Forsyth does an exceptional job in blending the fiction and non fiction of this tumultuous period in time. This World War II thriller encapsulates so much that the reader is enveloped within the pages and it's difficult to come back to reality. The multifaceted components are seamlessly bought together - romance, action, fairytale connotations - leaving you in awe of the penmanship of Forsyth.

Full review at:

http://greatreadsandtealeaves.blogspo...

[Mina De Caro (Mina's Bookshelf) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Forsyth is not new to the fascinating world of fairytale re-tellings. Her latest historical novel, THE BEAST'S GARDEN, is a winning addition to the genre. Read my 5 star review on Mina's Bookshelf.
http://minadecaro.blogspot.com/2015/0...

Kate Forsyth is not new to the fascinating world of fairytale re-tellings. In Bitter Greens, she unraveled the allegorical threads of a traditional folktale, better known to most of us as 'Rapunzel', she bared it down to its archetypal simplicity, and on that thematic structure she spun her own riveting story. In her latest re-telling, The Beast's Garden, Forsyth reaches a new high : Ava and Leo's tale of courage and love, "even when all hope is gone", is wildly romantic and utterly suspenseful.

The stage scene is a World War II Berlin, at that time when Germany seemed to be in the grip of a collective madness. The fairytale chosen by the author as inspiration for her story is 'Beauty and the Beast', not the most popular version written in 1756 by the French novelist de Beaumont though, but rather the German variant, 'The Singing, Springing Lark', collected by the Brothers Grimm in the second volume of the 'Children's and Household Tales' (1819). The Grimms' rendition of Beauty and The Beast tells the story of a daughter who marries a beast (a lion) in order to save her father, but to that well-known motif the German writers added the search for the lost husband. In The Singing, Springing Lark, in fact, the daughter grows to love her beast but unwittingly betrays him and he is turned into a dove. She follows the trail of blood and white feathers he leaves behind for seven years and when she loses the trail, she seeks help from the moon, the sun, and the four winds. Eventually she will save her husband battling the enchantress who turned him into a beast and the spell will be broken.

In Kate Forsyth's historical novel, a young woman (Ava) marries a Nazi officer (Leo) in order to save her father. Ava hates and fears her new husband, but she gradually comes to realize that he is a good man at heart and part of the Red Orchestra, the German underground resistance movement that aimed to kill Hitler and overthrow the Nazi party.

Leo von Lowenstein and Ava Falkenhorst met in the dark under the winter-bare trees, the night the Nazis first showed their true faces to the world and the Jewish persecution began. The distance between their backgrounds couldn't be bigger.

Ava is the beautiful nineteen year old daughter of a kind natured professor and friend of the Jews; Leo is a high-bread aristocratic officer of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence.

Ava is dark haired and olive skinned, hardly an Aryan specimen; Leo has fair hair and eyes of a blue as pale as the winter frost. Tall and athletic - if it wasn't for the crooked line of his nose, his face would be the very ideal of masculine beauty.

To Leo, Ava is an exotic flower, "the only beautiful, true thing in a world of ugliness and lies". Mistakengly, Ava thinks that Leo is just like any other German officer, a war-mongering hawk with blood on his claws.

Ava, a gifted singer, frequently joins the Hot Club, a secret group of jazz lovers and swing dancers, mainly Jewish and Mischlings. Listening to jazz and swing was banned at the time as if it was some kind of disease. She loves Hollywood movies and Billie Holiday's raspy voice. Her favorite reads are fairytales and her father's philosophical disquisitions.

Of aristocratic descent, Leo's family owns a castle in Bavaria. His life has been mapped out for him since birth. The von Lowensteins live to serve Germany, with faithfulness unto death. Leo cannot choose desire over duty.

Despite the disparity of lineage and upbringing, despite the dangerous clash of their respective affiliations, the chemistry between these two brave souls is palpable and undeniable. No matter how ardently Ava tries to avoid the intensity of his regard, their destinies and the fate of an entire country are intrinsically intertwined. While the world seems to be irreparably entranced by the imperialistic ambitions of a mad man, Leo's love for Ava will cause a monumental shift in his loyalty to the Third Reich and its Fuhrer. Leo is not what she expected and feared: he's actually part of a conspiracy to stop the insane carnage of Jewish and German lives. Ava's realization comes too late. She has unwittingly exposed Leo's role in the conspiracy, and must find some way to rescue him and smuggle him out of the country before he is killed.

The Beast's Garden brims with climactic scenes of spine-tingling suspense and heartwarming romance. The historical references to the ethnic cleansing enforced by the Nazi regime resonate with chilling authenticity and do not spare the crudest descriptions of the labor camps' atrocities: they do serve as a powerful foil of human devastation against Leo and Ava's heartrending love story. A shining addition to the wartime romance genre.
***Review e-copy graciously provided by the author via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

[Theresa Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a vividly beautiful book The Beast’s Garden is. Kate Forsyth has managed to weave an unforgettable tale of love, honour, betrayal and bravery, that will stay with me for a long time I expect.
Set against the backdrop of WWII within Nazi Germany, this story sets itself apart right from the outset. I’ve read many books set during this era, they are certainly not few and far between, but I had never read one from the perspective of a German woman or a Nazi Officer, and that’s where this book comes into its own. It gives us a human face from the other side to examine. Kate vividly brought to life the fervour and depravity of the era, the desperate fight for many German’s to hang onto their humanity in the face of fear from an evil that was for so long uncontained. Of course at the heart of this story is the great love and devotion between Ava and Leo, our Beauty and her Beast. Leo’s story is one I found particularly moving and it gave me much to think on in terms of the position so many people were placed in during the era in which the Nazi’s ruled Germany. It’s all too simple to lump a faction of people together as a whole, but Leo’s situation raised many questions surrounding the difficulty of being in a position where you are faced with only two choices: serve against your conscience or die. To choose death is a bold move that not everyone is capable of. Nor does it necessarily achieve a means to an end. I have dwelled since finishing this book quite a bit on how a person could possibly come back from the horror of all that was endured. I’ve never really felt so affected by a story before. The ruin of a nation; it’s a stunningly heart-breaking construct to contemplate.
The way this book was laid out against the original tale of Beauty and the Beast was truly imaginative and beautiful. Such a clever parallel. I highly applaud Kate for this as I expect it was a lot harder to pull together than if she had written the story as a straight WWII novel. It also gave the story of Leo and Ava substance, a tangible goal. Ava dearly loved her Beast but couldn’t own it for the longest time. Their mutual realisation of how much they each loved the other was a truly beautiful moment within their story. The lengths that Ava went to in order to save Leo elevates this book to one of the greatest love stories I’ve ever read.
This book was brave and beautiful, painful and necessary, a triumph of good over evil. I am still in awe and remain ever grateful to Kate Forsyth for sharing her passion and immense talent. #AWW2016

[Sheree · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Kate Forsyth is one of my 'keeper' authors, a favourite author whose storytelling is a rare gift. Bitter Greens and The Wild Girl will always have my heart but The Beast's Garden was another beautiful addition to her repertoire.

The Beast's Garden is a retelling of The Singing, Springing Lark, a Grimm Brothers' variant of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. I love fairy tales, and I adore retellings ... they keep our love of fairy tales alive for generations to come, inspiring us to share both the traditional and re-imagined with our children and grandchildren.

The Beast's Garden had a slightly different feel to previous works, the historical story line extensively researched, as always, but the fairytale re-imagining, more subtle, delicately woven.

The main characters and their families are fictional but the rest of the cast are actual historical figures.

The story opens on Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass and young German woman Ava Falkenhorst races to aid close family friends, the Feidels. Ava encounters Leo von Löwenstein, an officer in the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service and their story begins ...

Kate is very respectful of the history; the terrible atrocities committed against the Jewish population and I really appreciated the fresh perspective and focus on the many Germans who were part of the resistance, actively working to bring down Hitler and the Nazi regime. Admiral Canaris, chief of the Abwehr and Harro and Libertas Schulze-Boysen of the Red Orchestra resistance group, to name just a few.

This tale of love, courage and resistance was everything I expected ... and more.

[Karen Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished The Beast’s Garden, the latest novel by one of my all-time favourite authors, Australian writer, Kate Forsyth, a while ago and found myself so deeply affected and moved by the story that I bided my time before reviewing it. I had extreme visceral responses to what’s ostensibly a love story set against the horrendous backdrop of Nazi Germany.
The Beast’s Garden explores the lead up to World War Two: the targeting of the Jews, the pogroms, the “Final Solution”, as well as the resistance movement and the general attitudes and experiences of everyday Germans to the injustice, horror and fear as their leaders declared war against the world. Set between the years 1938-1943 and beyond, the book is very much located in Berlin, the epi-centre of the Nazi regime and tells of the young and beautiful Ava, a woman with the voice of an angel, and how she attracts the attention of a handsome and very Aryan Nazi officer, Leo.
As the book opens, the persecution of the Jews is on the rise, and Ava’s close friends, the Fiedlers, especially their children, homosexual Rupert and his sister, Jutta – are subjected to incredible hardship, particularly Rupert, through whom we experience the utter desolation and cruelty of Buchenwald. Concomitant with this is the ascent of the Nazi party and the officers whose names were to become part of global history and stark reminders of humans’ capacity for cruelty – Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, etc. As the Fiedlers descend into poverty and become increasingly marginalised and disempowered, Ava’s star, as a singer of talent, is on the rise and yet, she resists what is being offered to her, aware of the injustices being meted out around her and feeling powerless to make a difference… that is, until she meets a group of courageous people.
What makes this book so unique in terms of story, apart from setting a passionate love story against such a dire and harrowing backdrop (which made it richer and deeper – out of great ugliness, beauty and love still rise and shine), is the fact it focuses on both ordinary everyday German people and the hardship they also experienced, their revulsion towards what was happening to the Jews and their efforts (often at the risk of their own lives and that of their families) to extend help and alleviate suffering and a specific wing of the German military – the intelligence services and the officers serving within it. While there were those who revelled in the downfall of a people they came to blame for all their social ills, there were so many other brave souls – outside and within the machinery of war - many of whom died for their selfless efforts. Forsyth is at pains to acknowledge these people, her exhaustive research paying homage to the risks they took and their humanity in the face of such danger and suffering.
Peppered with real figures and events (some of which are obscure in terms of familiar history, but oh so powerful), it’s a huge credit to Forsyth that the book is never didactic. It’s also testimony to Forsyth’s beautiful prose, the way her sentences flow and gather momentum, ironically building a crumbling world as she describes the beauty of a snow-covered Strasse, the brutality of the commandant’s wife at Buchenwald, and Rupert’s attempts to inscribe meaning upon his bleak existence. Her words grab you by the throat and heart and don’t let you go.
The overall narrative is loosely based on the old Grimm tale of the “Singing Springing Lark” which has been retold in various renditions as “Beauty and the Beast”. This poignant, traumatic and yet soul-stirring book is far more than a retelling of a famous fairy-tale. It’s a record of a time we should never forget – of our ability to transcend evil, through love, kindness, and connection but also of the darkness that lurks inside some people and how sometimes, we allow that to blot out the light and in doing so, we all suffer.
In the spirit of never forgetting, I feel I should also contextualise the reason for my intense response to this book. Of German-Jewish descent, I lost almost all my family to the Holocaust – Mendelssohn was our family name and, yes, we’re related to the composer, Felix (whose music Hitler banned). My great-grandfather (who was interred in Buchenwald and later died, alongside his wife, my great-grandmother, Ilse, in Tereisenstadt), also being a Felix. It was always driven home to me, by my grandmother, who escaped to Israel in her late teens/early twenties before coming to Australia, that her parents and family were first and foremost German. They were not even practising Jews and so were shocked and in total disbelief at what happened to them, their neighbours and extended family – how their birthright as Jews was turned against them in such profound and evil ways – their shared German history and undeniable loyalty to their country counting for nothing.
With every page, I felt I wasn’t just stepping into a version of history, but into personal history. It was a hard but worthwhile journey in so many ways. I thank Kate for that.
This is a wonderful addition to Forsyth’s growing body of work – from her simply addictive and clever fantasy books to her extraordinary works of historical fiction – all of which rate among my much-loved books.
Though I found myself alternately reeling, crying, sighing, having to put the book down and walk away; though memories of my own family and the stories I’d been told resurfaced and bubbled like a cauldron, I cannot recommend this book highly enough for lovers of history, great writing, and tightly plotted and executed stories that remain with you days and weeks afterwards. Simply superb.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Forsyth's last two adult novels- Bitter Greens and The Wild Girl were stunning, rich, harrowing and difficult novels. Bitter Greens is now one of my all-time favorite novels that I revisit all the time and hold every fairy tale retelling to its high standards. So I was definitely excited when I learned about the concept of The Beast's Garden.

The Beast's Garden is marketed as a retelling of Beauty & the Beast set against the backdrop of World War 2. It's a little misleading, but the only way to market it, I guess. Really, it draws more from the fairy tale The Singing, Springing, Lark (which we are introduced to right off and readers should take their cues from), which bears similarities to BATB, but plot wise it is far more complicated. The 'beast' is a lion by day and a man by night, who lays with his wife, who saved her father by going willingly with the beast. The Beast gets turned into a dove for seven years, during which the wife follows the dove and embarks on a heroic quest to save her husband and break the curse once and for all.

Ava is a German girl who dreams of being a singer. It is the eve of World War 2 in Berlin. She meets Leo. Leo is an officer working for the Nazi regime in the Abwehr, one branch of German military intelligence that plays second fiddle to the SS, which reported directly to Hitler. He is very much attracted to her, but she is afraid to trust him.

The love story did not follow the same steps that a Beauty & the Beast tale and had lesser conflict and tension than a BATB type love story which can be a bit of problematic for a reader like me who loves romances full of angst and loves her heroes and heroines learning how to trust each other and then loving each other. I thought that it actually would have served the story better to flesh out Ava and Leo's love story with more obstacles INTERNALLY. Ava resisted Leo early in their courtship, but there was no real attempt to show how Ava was fearful of Leo and rightfully so, as an officer of the Nazi regime. I felt there was a need for their courtship and early marriage to be more tense and for us-- Ava and the reader to slowly, through actions, learn to trust Leo (even if us as readers know that Leo is good--- but Ava doesn't know that fully yet, does she!). Forsyth's execution of Leo and Ava's romance was more simplistic, even if they don't fully trust each other until halfway through the book, but for most part they were pretty in love.

The book's strengths lie in pretty much everything else. It is a very well done war story. I don't care about war stories if they involve the military. War destroys lives and scars its survivors forever. War stories to me, are meant to show that humanity must never fall into such a trap again. And so in that aspect The Beast's Garden succeeds. Ava and Leo are really well-developed characters, as is their friends and the world around them as they both embark on their own resistance missions. Ava's with the civilians and friends she makes from artistic circles, along with her friend Jutta (whose brother Rupert is Ava's best friend), a Jewish girl with an indomitable spirit and unbelievably strong will to survive.

Ava's best friend Rupert, who is Jewish, is arrested for 'subversive activities' (Rupert is gay) and taken to a labor camp early on in the book and we get POVs from his time in the labor camp, which was something I didn't expect. His long struggle of survival and struggle with hope is deeply compelling and moving. I was very grateful to Forsyth to write a gay character who endures so much and ends in triumph because I will straight up disclose that Rupert does survive the war with his lover, Lucien, a French POW who he meets in the camp. I think we need stories like these more. They may be fictional, but they are a source of hope, which is more powerful than anything.

Hope, endurance and courage in the face of adversity is a running theme through all 3 of Kate Forsyth's fairy tale themed novels. Her heroines can be quietly courageous, but all of them are also not afraid to draw blood when the need arises. The last arc of the book involves Ava embarking on a perilous mission to rescue Leo after he is captured as a traitor to the Nazi regime. Ava here is a culmination of what we've come to know about her through the course of the novel: brave, resourceful, determined and driven by the love for her for Leo.

This was a deeply harrowing novel. All of Forsyth's novels aren't easy reads because she does not mince about the suffering people face in all their circumstances, and war is probably the hardest, most difficult and ugliest part of humanity and Ava and Leo's stories were right in the heart of its ugliest, at the center of the Nazi regime where they witnessed intense levels of evil and suffering. Ava and Leo lose many people they love dearly in the war and neither of them, along with Rupert and Jutta escape the war whole. Even though I did complain I found the Ava and Leo relationship less developed than I wanted and felt it could be, I still wept when I finally got to the end. Perhaps I had been holding my breath the entire time I was reading, but the dam finally broke. The triumph at the end was so cathartic I just broke down sobbing.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a longtime fan of Kate Forsyth (I vividly remember stalking the bookstore shelves waiting for each Witches of Eileanan book to be released), and particularly loved her last two books, The Wild Girl and Bitter Greens, and was thus extremely happy to be asked to read and review The Beast’s Garden.

I will admit up front, I went into this book with a small sense of trepidation. I had very high hopes, based on how good The Wild Girl and Bitter Greens were, but I did wonder about the premise of The Beast’s Garden– namely, combining a version of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast (specifically, The Singing, Springing Lark) and Nazi Germany during World War II. It wasn’t that I wasn’t sure that Forsyth could pull off such a story, I wondered if anyone could pull it off.

And now that I’ve read the book, the question: did Forsyth manage to pull it off? The answer is a resounding hell yes.

It should be noted that this book isn’t going to be for every reader. There are scenes set in a concentration camp, and while Forsyth doesn’t linger overlong on any of the atrocities, neither does she shield the reader from the true horrors of of WWII and the Holocaust. If any of this is a trigger for you, this isn’t going to be the book for you. But please, if you haven’t done so, go and read all of Forsyth’s other books. They’re more than worth it.

In the role of “Beauty” we have Ava, a German girl who is training as a singer. In looks, Ava takes after her dead Spanish mother, while her two sisters are blue-eyed and blonde-haired, fitting the Aryan ideal. Ava and her family are not safe beneath Nazi rule. Ava’s own darker colouring puts her at potential risk of being declaimed as having Romani blood, and one of her sisters has a daughter who is possibly learning disabled. More, Ava’s family are close to a Jewish family, the Feidlers. After Ava’s mother died, Ava was practically raised by Mrs Feidler, and regards Rudi Feidler (an out gay man) as a brother. Ava and Rudi are both musicians, and both attend illicit jazz clubs together. To protect all of her blood and found family, Ava marries a Nazi officer, Leo von Lowenstein.

Leo, naturally is the “Beast” of the tale, and it is the romance between Leo and Ava which drives much of the novel. At first, Ava fears Leo, only knowing him as a Nazi officer. As she gets to know him, and see beneath the public mask he wears, she discovers that he is a lot more than he first appeared. Like her, he is fighting against Hitler’s rule, and is part of an underground resistance movement.

The story follows Leo and Ava as they both navigate Nazi Germany and the various plots to disrupt Nazi rule and attempt to assassinate Hitler. We also get to follow Rudi after he is arrested for “subversive activities” and deported to the concentration camp, Buchenwald. Yet another story thread is shown via Rudi’s sister Jutta, who evades arrest and lives in hiding from the Nazis.

On the surface, it is hard to see much hope in any story set in WWII Germany. Forsyth doesn’t shy from any of the horrors: we get to see the Jewish people suffering both in the camps and in hiding, as well as the German people starving as their country begins to bend and break beneath the weight of Nazi rule and the war. But in the darkness, there is light. Even while deathly afraid, Ava finds ways to fight. And in Buchenwald, Rudi plays illicit music, saves others where he can (and is saved in turn) and even finds love.

Forsyth skilfully weaves in many historical figures and events into the narrative, giving a real weight to a book that, in less talented hands, could easily have become little more than a fluffy romance between the Brave German Girl and Nazi With a Heart of Gold, or something extremely problematic. If you’re worried about either of these issues, let me put your worries to rest right here.

With The Beast’s Garden, Forsyth cements herself as one of the most talented authors writing historical fiction (with a good dash of fairytale retelling) in Australia today.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on Desert Island Book Reviews

The Beast’s Garden is basically a fairy tale retelling set in Nazi Germany. It’s based on “The Singing, Springing Lark,” which itself is similar to “Beauty and the Beast.” Fairy tale retellings might be my absolute favorite sort of book, and every time I find one, I can’t help but read it. “Beauty and the Beast” is my favorite fairy tale and I’ve read several retellings of it, but this one was definitely a standout. A quick note: this book is (as far as I can tell) only available in audio version in the U.S. I have no clue when it will be published as an e-book or hard copy, but I listened to the audio version and really loved it! I think I would have butchered the German pronunciations, so I’m glad I had a narrator who knew what she was doing.

I really loved pretty much everything about this book. From the Afterword, I discovered that many of the characters and events are based on things that were real, and that made me like it even more. Forsyth must have done a ton of research because at times, I really felt like I was transported to Nazi Germany (not that that’s a place I really ever want to be).

I enjoyed the way that the elements of B&tB were worked into the story. If you aren’t looking for them, they aren’t obvious, so even if you don’t love retellings, you might like this if you like World War II fiction. That said, when you do know they’re there, the original plot elements woven with the story here are really unique interpretations. For example (and this is a mild spoiler, but it’s also in the official synopsis of the book), in order to save her father from deportation or worse, Ava has to marry Leo, a Nazi officer. The way this comes about makes sense in any reading of the story, fairy tale-inspired or not, but it’s a very clear parallel to Beauty going to live with the Beast after her father steals a rose.

One thing that was really surprising to me was that Ava’s family was so divided. I wonder how real families at the time dealt with ideological differences — it’s not something I’ve ever thought about. I don’t want to spoil the book, but I have to say that I really appreciated the way that her family was portrayed. It would have been easy to go a different route, especially with a B&tB retelling, but it felt like a realistic family to me. None of the characters is all good or all bad, and I appreciated that.

For a while, I had trouble seeing how Ava could bear to be married to Leo, but he grew on me after a while. That said, I have no idea what he did behind the scenes or whether he had to commit crimes for his job. But even with that possibility, I still wanted him to come out okay in the end.

The ending for me was both unexpected and predictable at the same time, and that’s maybe the only time when I felt that the two genres (historical and retelling) clashed a little. Fairy tales usually have happy endings (though, in the case of Grimm’s fairy tales, usually also gruesome), but not many people saw happy endings in Nazi Germany. I’m not sure I would have made the same decisions as this author when it came to the ending, but as a reader, I found the ending satisfying.

It’s hard to say too many good things about this book. I loved listening to it and definitely recommend it, in particular the audio version, narrated by Jennifer Vuletic. I think I got more out of this book through listening to it than I would have if I’d read it traditionally. I gave this book five stars and will be adding it to my list of favorites for this year.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

Read through page 70.

This is one of those books where every character is one-note, the protagonist is one of those generic young female leads that feel more like a bunch of standard admirable traits mashed together than an actual person, historical characters read like 21st century time travelers, and there’s something slightly off about how everybody interacts, as if they’re still in dress rehearsal for their big day at the Turing Test.

Take the first two chapters. It’s Berlin in 1938, and on Kristallnacht, our heroine, Ava, wakes up to the sound of breaking glass. Because she is Brave and Headstrong, she immediately declares to her father and sisters her intention to go help their best family friends, who are Jewish. Ava’s father thinks this is a bad idea and tells her to stay home while he goes instead, but as she’s a Spunky Heroine, naturally this directive can’t be allowed to stand. So she takes her unarmed 19-year-old self out through the riots too, with a detour past some people looting a synagogue so readers can get the full panorama. Then some strange man grabs her in a park, which apparently doesn’t bother her much because they proceed to exchange impromptu Deep Thoughts about the state of their country. He turns out to be a Nazi officer just standing alone in a park for some reason, but has immediately fallen in love with the beauty Ava didn’t know she had, so promptly turns the marauding soldiers out of her friends’ apartment. Ava and her father then help their friends pack some suitcases and return to their apartment, where they are accosted by both Ava’s Mean Older Sister and the Racist Housekeeper in quick succession, both of whom apparently have no social filter, because they object to the friends’ staying at the apartment to their faces despite the fact that the father is obviously going to overrule them, these being very close longtime friends of the family. It’s now almost dawn and Ava is exhausted, but she is Kind and Patient, unlike her Unhappy Older Sister, so makes sure to sing her developmentally disabled niece to sleep before going to bed herself. Well, thank goodness for Saint Ava.

All of that happens in the first 17 pages.

You may be wondering why I read another 50, and the answer is that Kate Forsyth also wrote Bitter Greens, which I loved (a Rapunzel retelling, combined with a retelling of the life of the French noblewoman who first wrote that tale down), and which also had a less-than-auspicious opening, to my mind. So, I hoped for improvement.

However, 70 pages in, the characters haven’t developed beyond what they were in the first couple of chapters, and research gets dumped into the text (a mini-lecture on Frederick the Great, for instance) but there’s no sense that the characters are truly from this time and place. Details are weirdly inconsistent: on one page we’re told Ava has chosen to take the long way home on a winter evening, on the next that it’s so cold she can barely move her feet (seems like she would’ve noticed the temperature and taken the short way, then?). The language and dialogue often feel clunky and obvious. And so on.

Not recommended except to very uncritical lovers of WWII fiction.

[Sydney Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met this author this summer at the US Historical Novel Society 2017 semi-annual conference in Oregon. Everyone was oohing and ahing over her, and then she got up at the final Dinner and told an old Irish Tale that was handed down in her family. She was amazing so I bought this book. It's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast (actually, the Grimm Brother's version) set in Nazi Germany. It was wonderful and so much more than I thought I'd get based on the cover. Also, I loved the Narrator. Forsyth is Not just a story-teller, but a writer. She is also a heck of a researcher. (This book includes many many historical figures, including some glances at Dietrich Bonhoeffer.) I am officially a fan. Don't miss this.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Historical Fiction set during WWII. I liked the way the author stuck to the main outline of the fairytale of Beauty and Beast. I thought that was creatively thought out as this unfolded in a brutal war. I liked this one....okay-ish, but I didn't love it.

It felt a little orchestrated for me and the characters were either all good or all bad. So 3 stars for now.

[Jessica Lewenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog


I'm a huge fan of Kate Forsyth, so I was eagerly awaiting this release.

At first I was a bit weary about this, thinking it would romanticise Nazism, but thankfully--and this is not a spoiler, it's on the back of the book--the nazi soldier is a spy working to assassinate Hitler.

As always, her writing is gorgeous, though this time I noticed that she used colours to describe noises, and noises to describe colours, which I found artistic and appealing, since the main character, Ava, is a singer.

But unfortunately, the story failed to grip me. It felt like a traditional romance from the 80's: I love him, but he's a monster, but he's actually just a good guy after all. (The amount of bodice rippers I read with that sort of plot structure is ridiculous).

Despite my qualms with it, it was a good book. With her gorgeous prose, and her main characters (the rest of the characters got lost in a jumble of German sounds in my head, unfortunately), this book really was a beauty. It's just not something I'd expected after Bitter Greens or Wild Girl. It showed the war within Germany, showing how Germans treated each other during the war: the betrayal, the loss, the unknowing terror. I was mesmerised by how much pain this book showed in both the camps--where most WW2 books are set--and within the very world it all started.

As for the Beauty and the Beast retelling, you'll find none of that here. He was never a beast, it was always love at first sight, blah blah blah.

The end was rushed, a swift storm of telling instead of showing which gave me vertigo after Ava's impossible and intense show of bravery.

I'm confused as to how I feel about it. On the one hand, it's a Kate Forsyth book; on the other, it just didn't make me feel much.