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Book Review By L. Watson
Beast by Judith Ivory

Louise Vandermeer is a young, beautiful heiress but she wants to be more than admired for her looks. Her parents arrange for her to marry Charles d'Harcourt, a wealthy, successful and sophisticated French nobleman. She agrees to marry Charles, sight unseen, because she wants the freedom marriage will bring.

Louise sets sail across the ocean to Charles' home in France. For fun, Charles decides to board the ocean liner but disguises himself as an Arab pasha to observe Louise without her knowledge. He does not want her to see that he is blind in one eye, has a facial scar and limps when the weather is bad. Louise is intrigued by the mysterious Arab and they secretly meet in a totally darkened room. Charles seduces Louise and Louise falls in love. As Charles gets to know that Louise is more than her looks, he, too, begins to fall in love.

Louise marries Charles, but she is guilty about her shipboard affair. Charles cannot bring himself to confess his deception and cannot believe Louise could love him now that she has seen what he looks like. As a result, the marriage goes unconsummated. But Charles begins to appreciate his wife's intelligence and finds work for her in his business. Louise begins to fall in love with Charles as he admires her for more than her looks. But each of them has a confession to make before they can hope for a happy marriage.


Plot & Themes
Time/era of story
Difficult/unusual lover? Yes
How difficult?
If one lover chases another... - he chases after her

Main Male Character
Profession/status:
Age/status: - 20's-30's

Main Female Character - a teen
Unusual characteristics:

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - France
Ice Caps/Sea? Yes
Where? - Ocean
Misc setting - Fancy Mansion

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
What % of story is romance related? - 80%
Focus of story - equally on him and her
How much dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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