What happens when a fairytale doesn't end happily ever after? Join Midtown Reader for the launch of Melanie Rawls' After, Ever After to find out!
About the Book:
The fairytale “Beauty and the Beast” traditionally ends with the declaration “They lived happily ever after.” But what happens when Beauty, a mortal, dies and the Beast must go on? The story After, Ever After uses the fairytale format to address the challenges that accompany loss and grief. Beast and his family deal with the travail of Beauty’s death in their various ways, with Beast isolated within the deep forest of his sorrow while his family struggles to reconnect and carry on.
This story pays homage to the many tales that have sustained the author, Melanie A. Rawls, since childhood, with characters from more than 40 books, stories and songs making an appearance. This adult tale of sorrow and consolation is a large format book, lushly illustrated, with 24 half or full-page color paintings by Carol Lynne Knight, presented in a rich environment — similar to an illuminated manuscript.
About Melanie Rawls:
MELANIE A. RAWLS is a Renaissance woman, a poet, essayist, short story author, and freelance editor. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She holds a master’s degree in English with emphasis in rhetoric and composition from Florida State University. She taught composition at Florida A& M University for more than 20 years. She is published in Mythlore, the African-American Review, and Amazing Stories. Her poetry chapbook is called rain bone wings. Her fantasy and science fiction work can be found in star*line, including the Rhysling award nominee, “beauty’s beast.”
Born in Atlanta, she is the third of five daughters, mother of two sons, and grandmother of two grandsons. Rawls loves many kinds of music, is a Zydeco dancer, and has interests in birds, astronomy, haiku, fairy tales, Afrofuturism, and the heroine’s story.
