"As a child, Prince Leopold Villeneuve unleashed his aristocratic cruelty on an old woman by the bank of the River Chaud. On his eighteenth birthday, the old crone returns to find the same ignorant boy in the body of a beautiful young man. In a night shrouded in mystery, his parents King Alaric and Queen Adele died and Leopold himself disappeared. For years, villagers are frozen in fear of a mysterious and terrifying creature that haunts the town at night.
Armand Babineaux, once the wealthiest merchant in the village of Fontainbleu, must secure his daughter Jolie to the unpleasant but enormously wealthy Quentin Garamonde, or condemn her to a life of servitude and poverty. His eldest daughter, Mireille, has already married well, but Jolie will be left all alone in the world if he does nothing to safeguard her future. Once the task is done, he must travel to Port Lucerne to recover his last ship or face the same fate in his old age. On his return trip, he is caught in a winter storm and finds himself far from the beaten path, at the foot of Villeneuve Castle.
Armand seeks shelter in the castle, and once inside, he is forced to confront the reality of what happened to the royal family so many years ago. The next morning, when he picks a beautiful rose for Jolie, he is brought face to face with the creature of local legend and must make a decision that will change all of their lives forever."
I love the nod to Villeneuve's version just in the naming of the royal family! The curse scene seems to be clearly influenced by Disney, but that is a really fascinating aspect of the story to explore more, and this seems to fill some of the holes the Disney version left (where are the Prince's parents? Why is a mere child punished, since it's years before his 21st birthday, in Disney's initial release? And what happened to their royal subjects, why don't they seem to notice their Prince is missing?) It seems this author has done her research (for example, the presence of another sister). I'm definitely going to keep my eye out for this one! Have any of you read it yet?
Thanks for this post, Kristin. I also borrow the name Villeneuve (also Beaumont)in my novel, Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, coming out from Candlewick next spring; mine also starts way before the traditional tale, but it ends sometime after "happily ever after." Disney's live-action remake of its own animated classic (starring Emma Watson) also comes out early next year, so it's going to be a Beastly spring!
ReplyDeleteOoh can't wait to hear more about your novel! In fact I would love to interview you about it at some point if you're willing! You can email me at currerbell26@yahoo.com if you're interested in doing some sort of collaborative post to feature it :)
DeleteA new BatB book! OMG wish Icould read it... but I don't know what to thik about the remake of Disney's version... I've seen some movie critics say that holds no interest to them cause it'll be kind of boring to see the clock and the chandelier do just the same only now in digital. I don't really know what to expect; with Cinderella the studio manage to give the story a new vibe and I really want to see some more of the backgronud in the story.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow I've also heard that Guillermo del Toro is planing to make his own version of BatB, and if that is true, definitely I'll be tripping for that one, cause he is my favorite director.
I know I also don't know how to feel about the new BATB remake. It's so recent, relative to their other live remakes, and the teaser trailer does seem exactly like the cartoon but with different voices. (Almost like the stage musical version, which I don't like as much). Of course I'm sure they'll add some sort of twist, which is what i'm nervous about...
DeleteWasn't del Toro originally involved with this Emma Watson project? Or did she move from that one to Disney? I was SO excited to see that happen and disappointed when it seemed like it wasn't. I'm not really sure what's happening there.
I was confused too, but I think it always has beig two separate projects.
ReplyDelete