"In this subversive retelling of the magical tale of 'Sleeping Beauty,' Rebecca Solnit shifts the focus from the girl who slept for a hundred years to her sister who stayed awake--and to a poor boy whose story stumbled into theirs. Waking beauty tells of each child's adventures and obstacles: of Maya, the inspiring, extraordinary artist and changemaker who 'found [beauty] everywhere and gave it to everyone' ; of Atlas, who guarded golden apples and was definitely not a prince; and of Ida, who dreamed for a century and work up in a very different world"--Back cover.

A haunting and emotionally satisfying novel from a much-loved and critically acclaimed author, which weaves fairy tale and gritty realism together to dazzlingly effect. 'The Story Sisters' charts the lives of three sisters - Elv, Claire and Meg. Each has a fate she must meet alone: one on a country road, one in the streets of Paris, and one in the corridors of her own imagination. Inhabiting their world are a charismatic man who cannot tell the truth, a neighbor who is not who he appears to be, a clumsy boy in Paris who falls in love and stays there, a detective who finds his heart's desire, and a demon who will not let go. What does a mother do when one of her children goes astray? How does she save one daughter without sacrificing the others? How deep can love go, and how far can it take you? At once a coming-of-age tale, a family saga, and a love story of erotic longing, 'The Story Sisters' sifts through the miraculous and the mundane as the girls become women and their choices haunt them, change them and, finally, redeem them.