My Take in Brief: Wonderful. Meg-worthy.
Hero and Heroine: French Prince Charles d’Harcourt, perfumer, disfigured as a child. He has a “blank bluish eye” with no pupil, a facial scar, and a bad leg which necessitates a cane. American heiress, 18 year old (and shows it), “mercilessly beautiful”, willful and intelligent, Louise Vandermeer.
Setting: Early twentieth century, first half or so on a transatlantic sailing from New York to France, the second half mainly in the south of France, where the hero lives.
Plot: Louise’s parents arrange a marriage to Charles, whom she has never met. Aboard the ship to France, she learns Charles is disfigured and much older, and decides to embark upon an affair with a dashing, but mysterious “sultan” she meets on board. Need I say more?
