After my post on the Men of Maiden of Gevaudan, I wanted to come back and really let you dig into the woman power that is the crux of the novel. Their lives and motivations are why I even wanted to write it in the first place.
See, the reality is that the legend of The Beast of Gevaudan is steeped in masculine lore. The rampage of the murderous beast and its final defeat by men hunting the devil in the name of France is sacred. I didn’t want to take anything away from the stories of France and its glory.
However, I found myself needing to retell this story from a feminine perspective.
Not to mention, the 1760’s were such a remarkable period in the history of the world. It often goes overlooked as in the lead up to the American and French revolutions. Taking a Moldavian aristocrat torn apart by the execution of her family by Russians and placing her in the midst of a haunted French barony with the brash, stoic gamekeeper Ana Saut gave me a perfect segue into that perspective.
A Peek Into the Story of Maiden of Gevaudan
Accompanied by femme de chambre Pem Gray and her sisters, Kat discovers a sliver of France severed from the rest of the world. Death is the only way out.
If you’ve been following this project (and my writing in general), you know I love to cast characters for the novel as if casting a film.
The cast
Romanian-born actress Ana Caterina Moraiu embodies Kat in so many ways. Matched up with Australian actress Elizabeth Debecki as Ana, they are a study in contrasts but mesh so well together.
Finally, the gentle, freckled face of Russian actress Sveltlana Ivonova rounds out the trio as Pem Gray. The youngest Gray, her soft eyes and warm spirit embody the devotion she showers on the women of the Gevaudan
I should do a fantastical creatures post now. Will get cracking on that, because the Gevaudan’s monsters are what bring it alive.