Marvelous

 

Marvelous

Molly Greeley

Publication date: February 28, 2023 by William Morrow

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 5 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

Summary: 1547: Pedro Gonzales, a young boy living on the island of Tenerife, understands that he is different from the other children in his village. He is mercilessly ridiculed for the hair covering his body from head to toe. When he is kidnapped off the beach near his home, he finds himself delivered by a slave broker into the dangerous and glamorous world of France’s royal court. There “Monsieur Sauvage,” as he is known, learns French, literature, and sword fighting, becoming an attendant to the French King Henri II and a particular favorite of his queen, the formidable Catherine de’ Medici. Queen Catherine considers herself a collector of unusual people and is fascinated by Pedro… and determined to find him a bride.

Catherine Raffelin is a beautiful seventeen-year-old girl whose merchant father has fallen on hard times and offers up his daughter to Queen Catherine. The queen will pay his debts, and his daughter will marry Monsieur Sauvage.

Catherine meets Pedro for the first time on their wedding day. Barely recovered from the shock of her father’s betrayal, she soon finds herself christened “Madame Sauvage” by the royal courtiers, and must learn to navigate this strange new world, and the unusual man who is now her husband.

A mesmerizing novel set in the French royal court of Catherine de’ Medici during the Renaissance, which recreates the touching and surprising true story behind the Beauty and the Beast legend, from the acclaimed author of The Clergyman’s Wife and The Heiress. Gorgeously written, heartbreaking and hopeful, Marvelous is the portrait of a marriage, the story of a remarkable, resilient family, and an unforgettable reimagining of one of the world’s most beloved fairy tales.

My thoughts: I initially thought I was getting a retelling of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast. What I got was a historical fiction wonder. Most often people who have an abnormal medical condition have their stories told within the context of a circus story. Molly Greeley literally brings Pedro's story to life. His abnormality set people on a course of believing he was not human. Pedro was forced to endure things that we cannot even comprehend as being acceptable. He was abandoned as a child, kidnapped, sold, kept in a cage, and presented as a gift. Although he ultimately had a roof over his head, food in his belly, an education, and the protection of the king, he was at the mercy of the royal family. Even his marriage was prompted by the desire of the queen to see if he would father children that looked like him. 

Readers not only get to experience what Pedro endured, but also what possible indignities his wife Catherine had to navigate through. To go from being a well loved and cared for daughter to a pawn in a queen's play. Greeley wrote a story filled with complicated situations and emotions. This was truly a fascinating tale. 

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.