The Beautiful Ones - Silvia Moreno-Garcia Page 0,135
he said.
One of her hands was resting on the windowsill and she was looking outside, her head tilted in the direction of the musicians who were still playing their merry tunes.
He knew that in the years to come, even when they were old and gray and their spines were bent by the weight of time, he would remember her as she was in that moment, with a couple of stray yellow flowers in her hair, her lips parted.
He stood still, holding the moment against his heart.
Then she turned her head and smiled at him.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my agent, Eddie Schneider, to Quressa Robinson who first acquired this book, and to Kelly Lonesome and her team who arranged for this new edition. Thanks also to Orrin Grey, who read an early version of the manuscript and offered corrections. And finally, thanks to my husband. It’s all for you, babe.
Discussion Questions
When we first meet Hector, he feels completely out of place at the De Villiers’ party, but he is determined to see the woman who captured his heart years ago. What first impressions of Valérie did you create, as seen through Hector’s eyes? How does Valérie compare to his memories of her?
As she watches Hector perform in Part One, Chapter 6, how does Nina change her understanding of her own special powers? What social distinctions become clear in Part Two, Chapter 7 when Nina is criticized for doing levitation tricks? What would you try to achieve if you had Hector and Nina’s supernatural ability?
In Part One, Chapter 2, we learn that Nina’s sister, Madelena, had married a “respectable physician” she’d known since they were children. The marriage pleases the family but appears devoid of romance. How is Nina able to believe so strongly in romantic love, despite society’s emphasis on practical matters and status?
The gathering at Oldhouse includes Camille, Nina’s mother; elder sister Madelena, visibly pregnant; and Nina’s twin great aunts, Lise and Linette. What does Nina learn about womanhood as she grows up, and who does she learn these lessons from?
Would Valérie and Hector’s marriage have been a happy one? What is the root of her cruelty: Regret? Materialism? Or is it simply part of her true temperament?
Discuss the customs of the novel’s time period—including the clothing styles—and the architectural features that make Loisail unique. What would you enjoy the most about living in this time and place? Which aspects would be the most difficult for you?
How is wealth gained and lost in the novel? What does it take for a woman to be deemed valuable in Loisail’s social circles? Would you ever be tempted to marry for money, or out of impatience?
Four men are particularly central to the plot: Hector, Luc, Gaetan, and Étienne. What traits do they value in women? What does it take for them to gain the admiration of their peers? How does gender affect privilege in Loisail?
What is meaningful about Hector’s beetles? What do they say about the way he and Nina see the world?
Gossipy Agnes has a beautiful wardrobe but lacks Valérie’s younger complexion, while those with generations of wealth look down on the New People, described in the opening scene as “the barons of barely minted empires of telegraph wires and fresh steel.” Who are the Beautiful Ones, and how is that beauty defined? In the end, what is revealed about true beauty?
How were you predicting that the duel would end?
Though Nina and Hector can propel inanimate objects into motion, what does it take to reverse the dynamics of unrequited love? What does the novel say about the limitations of human power when it comes to matters of the heart?
How does The Beautiful Ones enhance your experience of other novels by Silvia Moreno-Garcia? What is unique about her approach to the magic of love?
Guide written by Amy Root Clements
ALSO BY SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA
Certain Dark Things
Mexican Gothic
Gods of Jade and Shadow
Untamed Shore
Signal to Noise
Praise for The Beautiful Ones
“I seriously loved everything about this from the gorgeous, lush prose to the tiny, intimate moments of heartbreak.”
—Mary Robinette Kowal, Hugo Award–winning author
“Straddling several genres with elegant intelligence, The Beautiful Ones is both an easy read and a fulfilling one.”
—Locus
“It’s a slow-burn, stately novel about the magic of what it means to love, and love truly.”
—Tor.com
“Truly one of the most beautiful books I’ve read in a long time. This sweeping tale of love lost and found is told with old-world elegance and grace with just the right touch of magic.”
—M. J. Rose, New York Times bestselling author
“Moreno-Garcia fills her fantastic novel of manners with sumptuous language and plausible romantic complications in a setting that appears to be based on nineteenth-century France and is lightly garnished with minor magic.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This elegant tale of hidden desires and misplaced amour will appeal to fans of historical fantasy.”
—Booklist
“The talented author of Certain Dark Things and Signal to Noise returns with a novel that is light on fantasy but overflowing with delicious melodrama.”
—Library Journal
“This novel of manners presents carefully crafted characters with nuanced motivations to rival any Thomas Hardy classic.”
—School Library Journal (starred review)
“The Beautiful Ones is an elegantly paced novel that moves its characters into place with ease, with careful attention paid to ways a word or a moment can change an entire life.”
—BookPage
About the Author
SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow, Untamed Shore, Certain Dark Things, and Signal to Noise. She has also edited several anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award–winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu’s Daughters). She lives in Canada. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Part One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Part Two
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Acknowledgments
Discussion Questions
Also by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Praise for The Beautiful Ones
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE BEAUTIFUL ONES
Copyright © 2017 by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Reading Group Guide copyright © 2021 by Tom Doherty Associates
All rights reserved.
Originally published in 2017 by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
Cover art by Emma Leonard
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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New York, NY 10271
Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia, author.
The beautiful ones / Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
p. cm.
“Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, 2017.”
ISBN 978-1-250-09906-8 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-09907-5 (ebook)
1. Psychic ability—Fiction. 2. Socialites—Fiction.
3. Paranormal romance stories—Fiction. 4. Fantasy fiction—Fiction.
5. Love stories—Fiction. I. Title.
PR9199.4.M656174 B43 2017
813'.6—dc23
2017021477
ISBN 978-1-250-78556-5 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-1-250-78557-2 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250785572
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First Tor Trade Paperback Edition: 2021