YA Fantasy and Sci-Fi: A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY by Libba Bray

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Bray, Libba. 2003. A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 9780385732314.

Gemma Doyle has been raised in India, but longs to return to her native England to cool, lush landscape and the delights of the season. She gets her wish when the tragedy of her mother’s murder causes her to be sent to the Spence Academy, a prim and proper finishing school to prepared girls to be married women of society. Gemma is haunted by the guilt she feels about her mother’s death, as well as the frightening visions she has experienced since that day. At first an outcast, she soon finds acceptance and friendship with a group of girls when they form the secret Order, based on myths and legends goddesses and a diary that chronicles the experiences of two friends who discover magical power beyond imagination. Gemma knows she has this same power, eventually sharing it with her friends, who use it to escape their faulted circumstances. However, danger, scandalous behavior, darkness and lust for power threaten not only their friendship, but their very lives. 

Gemma is a strong protagonist who is very much a flawed and self-doubting heroine, her imperfections making her a believable and relatable character. She demonstrates courage and a willingness to stand up for others, while also falling to persuasion and temptation. The reader sees her grow from a childish girl, to a more refined yet willful leader as she struggles with the fear, then delight, then obsession of her powers. The depth of her emotions and thoughts are experienced as she deals with her own challenges, as well as those of her classmates and family.  The antagonists in the story change, some in and out of even being antagonists, while the overarching nemesis of Circe is ever-present, unbeknownst to Gemma.  

The plot can be a bit slow and somewhat meandering at rare times, but readers are kept in suspense throughout as to how Gemma will be affected by the magical powers and world. “Mysterious continued visions, dark family secrets, and a long-lost diary thrust Gemma and her classmates back into the horrors that followed her from India. A Gothic touched by modern conceptions of adolescence, shivery with both passion and terror” (Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2003).Though there is not a clearly defined quest, there are problems to be solved, perilous situations, and evil to fight, with the somewhat revealed quest at the end. Though there is a conclusion, it clearly leads on to continuing future adventures. The main setting at the Spence Academy is described in detail and plays a significant role in the story, while the alternate magical world is just as important, but not as well sensed. The use of the door of light as the passage between the two worlds makes sense, but how it is accessed is rather vague. The time period of the late 1800’s in England lends another level of interest and complexity to the story. 

Major themes of this story include forgiveness, dealing with loss, the station of women in the time period, the need for power, and adolescent friendship. The teen girls at the focus of the story are becoming more aware of themselves as they become aware of the reality of the world(s) around them. They discover their ability to solve some problems, but not others, with the recurring idea that all have both light and dark, good and evil, but the light and good can be victorious. “But forgiveness…I’ll hold on to that fragile slice of hope and keep it close, remembering that in each of us lie good and bad, light and dark, art and pain, choice and regret, cruelty and sacrifice…We’ve got to forgive ourselves that” (Bray 402). The author uses rich imagery to enhance the suspense, ghostliness, and drama, as well as the day to day events. “A well written page turner, with strong characterization and dialogue, this Victorian-era gothic novel will find many readers unable to put it down until the very last page” (Valerie O. Patterson, Children's Literature).

Classroom Connections

-        Conduct a background knowledge museum walk project about the Victorian era, with special attention to British society and education

-        Have a discussion or writing assignment comparing the classes at Spnce Academy to modern public education

-        Have students work in groups to create an alternate ending to the story using a Web 2.0 tool

Best Books:

Core Collection: Social Class in Youth Fiction, 2007 ; Booklist; United States
Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, December 8, 2003 ; Cahners; United States
Senior High Core Collection, Seventeenth Edition, 2007 ; The H. W. Wilson Co.; United States
Senior High School Library Catalog, Sixteenth Edition, 2004 Supplement, 2004 ; H.W. Wilson; United States
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2004 ; American Library Association; United States
YALSA Teens' Top Ten, 2004 ; American Library Association; United States

Awards, Honors, Prizes:

Borders Original Voices Award, 2004 Winner Intermediate/Young Adult United States
Cuffies: Children's Booksellers Choose Their Favorite (and not-so-favorite) Books of the Year, 2003 Winner Best Novel for Older Teens United States
Iowa High School Book Award, 2006-2007 Winner Iowa
NAIBA Book of the Year Awards, 2005 Winner Young Adult United States