Beloved

by Beth Winegarner

What is home? What is loyalty? What is family? This book will make you question them all. "Beloved" is a unique memoir of war and triumph in the fictional city of Damas. Kirin is a young girl nearly orphaned and left in the care of her older brother, Emlyn. After a charismatic, tyrannical king takes control of Damas, capitalism and slavery are forced on its people. Kirin watches as her peers are sold into forced labor. Emlyn, fearing the same fate for his sister, enrolls her in the city's university for historians -- and begins to teach her to fight like a soldier, a path that ultimately leads them both into exile and war. As Kirin grows from a child of seven to a young woman of seventeen, her tale unfolds with shades of trauma, love, honor, and betrayal. She learns the value of family -- and just how crucial it is for historians to document the truth.

Genres: Fantasy

202 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2007

About the author

Beth Winegarner is a journalist and author who has written for the New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian, Wired, Mother Jones, and many others. Her most recent book is Francisco's Forgotten Cemeteries: A Buried History."

Reviews

[Jaishree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly,I received this book through Goodreads First Reads. I must thank Beth for shipping it to me all the way to India! Much appreciated!

Beloved is a book about history and dares to question it's accuracy. While it is fiction, it did make me wonder if the version of history that we are getting today is true and complete. After all, we do live in an age where textbooks are rewritten when governments change.

I loved that the author took something that is so seldom written about and turned it into an exciting adventure story. It is refreshing and will have hooked you till the very last page.

Highly recommend it!

[Joy Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beloved is a coming of age story set in the fictional city of Damas. Kirin the main character struggles to understand her history and her place in Damas. Kirin soon realizes she must question what is truth and what is deception with regard to her and the cities personal history. This deception Kirin discovers makes this story take a really interesting twist when she realizes how easily it is to manipulate history. I found this to be a nice enjoyable read and loved how the author highlighted how history can be used to manipulate groups of people so easily. Fast paced adventure in an unusual beautiful land. I received Beloved the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[Sue Skerl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really into this book right up to the end. After all the training, after all the learning. The main character doesn't use any of it to help rule the kingdom. The story has us understand that she will become this historian once the current historian is ready to retire.. which wouldn't be anytime soon. So.... What was the point??