Synopses & Reviews
Who was Beast,before Beauty found him?
Orasmyn is a young Persian prince with all the privileges and responsibilities his royal position holds. But when he falters and makes a single wrong decision, his pride angers a pari -- a fairy -- who sets an ancient curse into motion, crucially changing his life on the worst day possible, and forcing him to leave his beloved Persia and his precious family in order to escape death at his father's unwitting hands. With all the cunning he can muster from his human memories and his new beastly instincts, Orasmyn makes his way to India and back, across Europe to France, in search of redemption and forgiveness. Beast is his story. A French beauty named Belle is his redeemer. And then you know the rest. But this is before the rest. This is the story of Beast.
Here is Beauty and the Beast as only Donna Jo Napoli can tell it. Like a mosaic-tile artisan, she juxtaposes the unexpected -- the exotic Middle East and the sensuous France, a courtly prince and a hulking lion, a ferocious beast and an undaunted young woman -- and weaves their flavors into her story of Orasmyn's plight, creating a new classic from the old, an epic that lingers like the scent of a rose.
Synopsis
Napoli elaborates on the tale of "Beauty and the Beast", told from the point of view of the beast and set in Persia and France. Like a mosaic tile artisan, the author juxtaposes the unexpected and weaves her story to create a new classic from an old one.
Synopsis
Who was Beast,
before Beauty found him? Orasmyn is a young Persian prince with all the privileges and responsibilities his royal position holds. But when he falters and makes a single wrong decision, his pride angers a pari -- a fairy -- who sets an ancient curse into motion, crucially changing his life on the worst day possible, and forcing him to leave his beloved Persia and his precious family in order to escape death at his father's unwitting hands. With all the cunning he can muster from his human memories and his new beastly instincts, Orasmyn makes his way to India and back, across Europe to France, in search of redemption and forgiveness. Beast is his story. A French beauty named Belle is his redeemer. And then you know the rest. But this is before the rest. This is the story of Beast.
Here is Beauty and the Beast as only Donna Jo Napoli can tell it. Like a mosaic-tile artisan, she juxtaposes the unexpected -- the exotic Middle East and the sensuous France, a courtly prince and a hulking lion, a ferocious beast and an undaunted young woman -- and weaves their flavors into her story of Orasmyn's plight, creating a new classic from the old, an epic that lingers like the scent of a rose.
About the Author
Donna Jo Napoli is the acclaimed author of many notable novels, including
Zel, Stones in the Water, and most recently,
Crazy Jack, in the addition to the Angelwings series. She lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, where she is the head of the linguistics department at Swarthmore College.
Table of Contents
ContentsMap
PART I
The Curse
The CamelThe Pari
Kooma
The Plan
PART II
Strange Life
BloodBirds
Death
PART III
Lion
AloneIndia
My Pride
Traveling Again
Two Years
PART IV
New World
A ManGule Sourkh
Larder
Candles
My Child
Belle
Deer
Dido
Letters
At Last
Author's Note
Glossary
Author's Note on Language