I was given this book to read by a friend ages ago when she heard how much I had enjoyed Juliet Marillier's "Daughter of the Forest" and some of its sequels, but I have only just read it.
Based on the classic fairy-tale "Beauty and the Beast" the book follows the story of a young female scribe called Caitrin who runs away from a cruel husband. She ends up in the household of Lord Anluan. A lord who has been deformed. A lord who lives in a castle no-one will go near. A lord who does not, or cannot, do his duty by the people of the greater area he is responsible for, yet at the same time has the ultimate loyalty of the few members of his household. A lord with a secret. A lord who lives in a castle in a wood filled with whispers and shadows and voices and eyes.
Caitrin is hired to help Anluan uncover a secret so that he can find the way out of the curse that has been on his family for generations and as the story progresses she slowly begins to unravel the mystery and comes to realise the enormity of the horror she has come across.
This was a great book!! It took me a few chapters to get into it, which I find is usual for me with this type of book. It also took me probably longer then it should have for me to get all the characters sorted out in my head. They all have old Irish names, which adds to the feel of the story, but I always find it just makes it that little more complex to follow. As a random side point, I was particularly excited with the reference the old Irish law as I spent a semester studying it a few years ago (Probably not of interest to most people! I do realise this!). I am looking forward to re-reading it at some point as I think there were some aspects I missed. Definitely recommending this one.
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