The Beast's Heart: A Novel of Beauty and the Beast

A luxuriously magical retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in seventeenth-century France--and told from the point of view of the Beast himself.

I am neither monster nor man--yet I am both. I am the Beast.

He is a broken, wild thing, his heart's nature exposed by his beastly form. Long ago cursed with a wretched existence, the Beast prowls the dusty hallways of his ruined ch teau with only magical, unseen servants to keep him company--until a weary traveler disturbs his isolation.

Bewitched by the man's dreams of his beautiful daughter, the Beast devises a plan to lure her to the ch teau. There, Isabeau courageously exchanges her father's life for her own and agrees to remain with the Beast for a year. But even as their time together weaves its own spell, the Beast finds winning Isabeau's love is only the first impossible step in breaking free from the curse....


About the Author
Leife Shallcross lives at the foot of a mountain in Canberra, Australia, with her family and a small, scruffy creature that snores. She is the author of several short stories, including "Pretty Jennie Greenteeth," which won the 2016 Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Short Story. The Beast's Heart is her first novel.