The Lady and the Lionheart

Title: The Lady and the Lionheart

Author: Joanne Bischof

Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Romance, Retelling

Publisher: Mason Jars Publishing

Source: Own

Challenge: Twenty-Three in 2023

My review:

The Lady and the Lionheart is my first book by Joanne Bischof, but it will not be my last.

I had heard this was a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I wasn't seeing it until I did. As I was reading, I kept expecting the story to go one way, and it didn't. This book was surprising (in a good way!), and I struggle with what to share.

The Lady and the Lionheart is not a book to rush through. Once I finished reading it I felt like I should reread it just to process it. The writing is beautiful, the imagery fantastic, and the characters and their growth, wonderful. It is soul-stirring, awe-inspiring, heart-achingly beautiful. Charlie Lionheart, I don't even know what to say.

I highly recommend reading this book. I am not going to try and review it further, I lack the words, and it is a story that MUST be experienced. It is definitely one for the keeper shelf.

★★★★★/5

Challenge:

Synopsis (Goodreads): 

Two worlds collide when the circus comes to Victorian-era Virginia.

Raised amid the fame and mystique of the Big Top, Charlie Lionheart holds the audience in the palm of his hand. But while his act captivates thousands, it’s away from the spotlight where his true heart lies. Here he humbly cares for his pride of lions as if they were his brothers, a skill of bravery and strength that has prepared him for his most challenging feat yet—freeing an orphaned infant from the dark bondage of a sideshow. A trade so costly, it requires his life in exchange for hers, leaving him tarnished by the price of that choice.

As the circus tents are raised on the outskirts of Roanoke, nurse Ella Beckley arrives to tend to this Gypsy girl. All under the watchful eye of a guardian who not only bears a striking resemblance to the child, but who protects the baby with a love that wraps around Ella’s own tragic past, awakening a hope that goodness may yet reign. When their forbidden friendship deepens, Charlie dares to ask for her heart, bringing her behind the curtain of his secret world to reveal the sacrifice that gave hope to one little girl—boldly showing Ella that while her tattered faith is deeply scarred, the only marks that need be permanent are his own.

Just then a child in the row behind Ella cried out, “Look, Mama!”

Charlie, dressed in his center ring finery, strode into the arena, as strong and strapping as ever. Face powdered and painted with two jagged teardrops under his eyes, he walked with stoic authority, tall boots forging a fresh trail straight toward his audience. Ella didn’t know a single man could hush a packed house with no words, but…then there was Charlie Lionheart.