Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Scarlet Moon by Debbie Viguie

Viguie, Debbie. Scarlet Moon. New York: Simon Pulse, 2004.

A wolf attacked Ruth as a child. Scared, she remains fearfully of the woods whenever she visits her grandmother Giselle. Necessity demands that Ruth take up her father’s trade of blacksmithing. The lady blacksmith meets and falls in love with William, the Duke. William’s family was cursed long ago. Every full moon, he must assume the shape of a wolf. Ruth must reconcile her fear of wolves and her love of William to save him.

What I thought: I liked this story because it redeems the wolf. I’ve always felt that he gets a bad rap in so many fairy tales. This retelling explores other options. He is not a remorseless killer. He is a man cursed who cannot overcome his animal instincts. I also liked the time period—the Crusades.

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