Beauty

A Gothic Romance

By: Stacei Fox

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

A stolen rose. A cursed prince. A bargain that will change everything. 🌹

Long before the familiar fairy tale was softened for children, the story of Beauty and the Beast was darker, stranger, and far more magical.

In its earliest telling, the Beast’s castle was not merely enchanted — it was a crossroads of fairy law and ancient vengeance. Beauty was not simply a merchant’s daughter, but a child hidden from a sentence written before her birth. And the curse binding the Beast was only one strand in a web of rivalries, forbidden love, and powers older than kingdoms.

Drawing from Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve’s 1740 novel, this retelling restores the lost half of the legend: the secret politics of the fairy courts, the hidden princess raised among mortals, and the intricate enchantments that shaped one of literature’s most enduring romances. Here, love is not a simple moral lesson but a force capable of rewriting fate itself — fragile, dangerous, and miraculous.

This is the Beauty and the Beast that existed before simplification: lush with court intrigue, bound by supernatural law, and alive with the unsettling magic of a world where appearances lie and mercy is rarer than power.

A retelling of the 1740 version of Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.
This sweeping retelling returns to the original 18th-century version of Beauty and the Beast, restoring the lost fairy mythology, political intrigue, and hidden royal origins that inspired the legend.

Perfect for readers who love dark fairy tales, gothic romance, and mythic fantasy.