The Beast's Heart

A Novel of Beauty and the Beast

By: Leife Shallcross

Narrated by: Jim Dale

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 château 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 château. 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....

Critic reviews

Praise for The Beast’s Heart

“A vividly written, emotional text.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Poetical, imaginative, and inventive.”—New York Journal of Books

“What a delight! This is a beautifully crafted, deeply romantic reworking of the fairy tale.”—Juliet Marillier, author of the Blackthorn & Grim series

“A lush retelling of my favorite fairytale classic. Beautiful, poignant, and enchanting...Leife Shallcross’s Beast shines.”—C. L. Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of The Sea King

“Glorious....retells Beauty and the Beast in a compelling and surprising novel filled with peril, darkness, romance and beauty.”—Kate Forsyth, author of Bitter Greens and The Wild Girl

“Utterly beautiful....Gorgeous writing, magical romance at its best.”—Sam Hawke, author of City of Lies

"Leife Shallcross weaves her words like a fairytale enchantment....like nothing you've read.”—Angela Slatter, World Fantasy Award-winning author of The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings

Shallcross speaks a word to bring some cultural balance

I loved this book.
I loved the vulnerable, moral, courageous, suffering beast.
He won my heart. I just wanted to be his mother-in-law!
Passionate moral courageous suffering manly guy.
Meets
Kind moral courageous virtuous creative intuitive girl.
Loved it.

Listen at 1.2 speed

I admit it was hard too keep my attention on the story, but changing the speed to 1.2 was a game changer. Loved it after that. Recommend trying that if story is too slow. It may be just the speed of the narration.

Wonderful retelling of Beauty and the Beast

I really enjoyed this version of Beauty and the Beast. It was wonderfully written and narrated.

A beautiful story narrated by the great Jim Dale

I absolutely loved this story. I've never seen any of the Beauty and the Beast movies, so I had no preconceived ideas about the characters or the plot. Jim Dale is magnificent, as always, and conveys the pathos and loneliness of the beast in such a poignant way. Some other reviewers felt the story was too long, but I liked how there was ample time to fill out each of the characters. I will listen to this story many more times, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it as much each time.

Not the type of romance I was hoping for 😑.

New author and narrator for me. This was more literary in its wording and probably safe for under 18 readers, but not too young. After outing myself as a deviant, I did enjoy this quite a bit with the story from the Beast's POV, his thought processes, perceptions and despair. A very lovely listen.