Synopsis:Cyrano de Bergerac is a flamboyant character and a skilled swordsman, not in the least afraid of drawing attention to himself in public - for he can be highly amusing, even at his own expense, with jokes about his enormous nose. But he has a weakness: he has fallen in love with his beautiful cousin Roxane, and because of his own appearance is too ashamed to declare his love. Meanwhile Roxane is besotted with a handsome, but foolish young man, Christian, in the same company of guards as Cyrano. Cyrano is devastated by this, and horrified by her request that he should protect the young man and encourage him to write her love letters. Writing letters is something Christian can't do-but Cyrano generously offers to help, even if it means breaking his own heart. Soon Cyrano pours out his feelings in the most romantic letters ever. The question is will Roxane ever discover the truth? And if she does will it be too late for Cyrano?

Review: Cyrano is both magnificent and hopeless. Both revered by all his men, for his amazing swordsmanship and quick wit and ridiculed about his nose, none know of his secret longing for his cousin, the beautiful Roxane. To make matters worse, Roxane confides in Cyrano about her own interest for one of his company of guards, the foolish and young Christian. Unable to reveal his true feelings, Cyrano agrees to protect the young man, and unintentionally ends up writing love letters for him, to help him woo Roxane – who begins to fall in love with the Christian’s letters, more than Christian himself. Caught in this conundrum, Cyrano’s heart slowly starts to break. Will he ever be able to reveal his true feelings?

Geraldine McCaughrean’s story is about true and enduring love, told through lyrical prose, full of the ‘panache’ her eponymous hero bestows. It is a simple story, easy to engage with, and – above all – very moving.

This novel, which will appeal to all mature readers who enjoy a romantic tale, would also serve as a useful text to explore not only the theme of love, but also the transposition of a play into novel (with film versions for comparison too). The language of this novel is complex, brimming with imagery, and would provide an excellent starting point to explore sentence structure, figurative and emotive language – as, like its hero, Cyrano, it is so effective in portraying the feeling and being of love.

2007-01-01