From the author of “Ella Enchanted” comes “Fairest,” the story of a girl who was left at an inn as a small baby. The innkeepers took her in and loved her, despite the fact that as she grew, she was considered ugly by all those around her. In her kingdom, beauty was considered the most important quality, followed closely by the ability to sing. In fact, in their culture, much of their conversation was sung, rather than spoken, and if you could not sing well, you were an outcast, socially. Aza, our heroine, could sing beautifully, which more than made up for the fact that she was not beautiful, but most people would not give her a chance to be heard because of her physical appearance.
A duchess stopped off at the family inn on her way to the royal wedding of the King to his child bride, and her companion fell ill and was unable to go further. The duchess invited Aza to take the companion’s place, and of course Aza jumped at the chance. The only drawback was the fact that she would have to wear the companion’s clothes, having none of her own, and the companion had very eclectic tastes. Purples, reds, and oranges were combined with hideous bows, which Aza didn’t mind too terribly, as this was her ticket to court, but the clothes did make her seem even larger and more ugly to those around her.
At the wedding, Aza is amazed at the beauty of Ivi, the new queen, who is close to Aza’s own age. Ivi doesn’t seem to be able to sing well, a strange lack in a queen of this particular kingdom, and Aza’s singing ability comes into play. Aza can throw her voice, much like a ventriloquist, and make other objects appear to be singing. Ivi discovers this and asks Aza to stay at court and sing for her, helping her to secure the hearts of the people.
Aza doesn’t like the deception, but Ivi says she’ll see to it that Aza’s parents lose their inn if Aza doesn’t help her. Trapped, Aza does as she’s asked, making Queen Ivi appear to have a lovely voice. In the meanwhile, Prince Ijori, the king’s nephew, makes friends with Aza, and she finds herself falling in love with him, even when she knows she isn’t worthy of his love in return.
When the king is rendered ill and Ivi takes over rule of the kingdom, only Aza knows what she truly is. How can she help protect the kingdom from the whims of the spoiled queen without endangering her family further?
This is a fun read and I enjoyed the twists and turns throughout, making this a highly recommended book.
(This book was published in 2006 by HarperCollins.)
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