I am not the sort of person about whom stories are told. And with this, Elise Dalriss begins her tale. As her great-grand-daughter excitedly recounts a minstrel's song about a beautiful princess asleep in a tower waiting to be awakened by a handsome prince, aged Elise pushes open the door to her past, ready to confront the history that inspired a legend. Elise, the onetime companion to the real girl who slumbered, is the only one left who knows what actually happened so many years ago. As the memories start to unfold, Elise is plunged back into the magnificent, opulent world behind the palace walls she left behind more than half a century earlier, a labyrinth where the secrets of her real father and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil. While the help may be invisible to their masters, the masters are not invisible to the servants. Elise saw it all--the beautiful queen who awoke each morning with tears on her pillow, the elderly spinster who in heartache shut herself away, the brother of the king, second in line to the throne yet first in line for revenge, the princess who yearns to be free, and the ambitious and frightening sister who cannot accept the fact that she will never rule. As Elise succumbs to the palace's charms and riches, she may pay the ultimate price for abandoning her heart. Elise has guarded these secrets for a lifetime. While Beauty Slept is her story. In this rich and compelling novel of love and terror, friendship and fate, we are introduced to a heroine of extraordinary determination--the true heart of a legend--who reveals what it really takes to reach happily ever after. "Elizabeth Blackwell is a story-telling genius. Her mesmerizing writing weaves a spell that will enchant you.While Beauty Sleptbreathes new life into the fairytale genre with a historical twist that will take your breath away." -Meg Cabot, #1New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Princess Diariesand Heather Wells mystery series I am not the sort of person about whom stories are told. Those of humble birth suffer their heartbreaks and celebrate their triumphs unnoticed by the bards, leaving no trace in the fables of their time... And so begins Elise Dalriss's story. When she hears her great-granddaughter recount a minstrel's tale about a beautiful princess asleep in a tower, it pushes open a door to the past, a door Elise has long kept locked. For Elise was the companion to the real princess who slumbered-and she is the only one left who knows what actually happened so many years ago. As the memories start to unfold, Elise is plunged back into the magnificent world behind the palace walls she left behind more than a half century ago, a labyrinth where the secrets of her real father and the mysterious fate of her mother connect to an inconceivable evil. Elise has guarded these secrets for a lifetime. As only Elise understands all too well, the truth is no fairy tale.