The Beasts of Paris
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The Beasts of Paris
Narrated by:
Jessica Alade
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Narrated by:
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Jessica Alade
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By:
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Stef Penney
About this listen
In Paris 1870, three wandering souls find themselves in a city set to descend into war.
Anne is a former patient from a women's asylum trying to carve out a new life for herself in a world that doesn't understand her. Newcomer Lawrence is desperate to develop his talent as a photographer and escape the restrictions of his puritanical upbringing. Ellis, an army surgeon, has lived through the trauma of one civil war and will do anything to avoid another bloodbath.
Each keeps company with the restless beasts of Paris' Menagerie, where they meet, fight their demons, lose their hearts, and rebel in a city under siege.
A dazzling historical epic of love and survival, Stef Penney captivates listeners in war-torn Paris.
©2023 Stef Penney (P)2023 Quercus Editions LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
Excellent and engrossing
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It is ambitious and well told fiction with some excellent characters and an engrossing plot.
I would loved to have given it five stars but the writer alas did succumb to wokery. It was as though the HR department of the BBC had reviewed the plot summary and ordered the inclusion of every woke cause imaginable (with the exception of “global warming”).
In addition, some readers may find the inclusion of detailed gay intimacy a little too much. The writer should hear in mind that only a very small percent of the public read the Guardian newspaper and share its prejudices.
Naturally, the writer is sympathetic to the cause of the Paris Commune and not to the government which brutally suppressed it. The fact is that the Commune was as ghastly as the government which it sought to overthrow.
France does not come out well with its political extremes causing havoc, just as they did in the previous century during the Revolution and in the next with the Vichy regime.
The portrait of the city of Paris in the period is excellent as is the moving description of the zoo and its superbly described animals.
This is on the cusp of being a great novel but the writer should drop her 2023 causes which have little or no place in a tale of late nineteenth century France. Straight white men can be heroes but, on the whole, not in this work. To be fair, the Head Veterinarian and his deputy are quite heroic but are outclassed by the gay men and, of course, the women.
In any case, that being said, it was an entertaining novel.
An entertaining tale despite a tendency to give it a woke spin
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I won’t spoil the story but you are definitely left wondering who the beasts are! I would like to read it when I get a chance and see how it makes me feel in a different format.
Great Historical Novel
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Very engaging
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