Contemporary versions of some of Hans Christian Andersen's best-loved stories retold in his bicentennial year for the teenage girl market.
2005 is the bicentenary of Hans Christian Andersen's birth. His stories have timeless themes - love, death, coming to terms with all that life offers.
'Tales Of Beauty And Cruelty' is a collection of ten stories, each one sharing an inkling to a classic Hans Christian Anderson tale but told with a fresh, contemporary twist that rekindles stories of prince and princesses, pompous emperors and tragic mermaids to allow teenage readers of today to re-experience these themes.
For example, In The King of Cool (The Emperor's New Clothes), Pete's obsession with branded clothing brings consequences he could never have imagined and in Princess (The Swineherd), Cassie fails to see Daniel for what he is until it's too late.
These variations still evoke the same themes of classic Hans Christian Anderson tales but in a new way that makes it more accessible to contemporary readers of today.
