THE BEAUTIFUL / AUTHOR: RENEE AHDIEH / PUBLISHER: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS / RELEASE DATE: 8TH OCTOBER
In 1872, New Orleans is a city fuelled by ideals and intrigue. It offers hope to the lost and adventure to those willing to chance it all. It is also a city of shadows, plagued by a series of brutal murders. For seventeen year old Celine Rousseau, it is a chance to begin again, to forget her past and forge a new path. And then she meets Sébastien.
Influences, either intentional or otherwise, are to the fore in Renée Ahdieh’s new novel The Beautiful. There are gothic, romantic elements not unlike moments and imagery from Interview with the Vampire. It’s easy to find thematic similarities to Pride & Prejudice, and there is even a twinkling or two from The Twilight Saga. But The Beautiful is also very different. Ahdieh has skilfully woven these influences into a story wholly original and engaging. The characters leap from the page fully-formed, their desires and motivations clear. The city of New Orleans pulses with exuberant excess and fearful fervour as Celine explores the shadowy streets and the glitziest of balls. At the centre of everything is La Cour des Lions, a mysterious, secretive society that operates by its own rules.
It would be easy to dismiss Ahdieh’s novel as formulaic genre writing but The Beautiful is much more than that. It is a bewitching, exciting novel filled with extreme, imaginative characters and enough violence and horror to satisfy hardcore fans. But at its core is a story of genuine feeling and heart, which draws in the reader from the outset and keeps you engaged right through to the finale.
