The Beast of Gévaudan

Robert Louis Stevenson treks through the French highlands hoping to heal his recently broken heart—prompted by the loss of one Mrs. Fanny Osbourne—and to gather notes for a new travelogue, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. Along with the fickle Modestine, his pack donkey, Stevenson journeys 120 miles through villages and valleys, encountering innkeepers and fellow travelers, a monk-filled monastery, a violent, angry mob, and more superstitious locals than one could adequately poke with a donkey goad. These things he’d expected, but not the mysterious figure trailing him, the murder, nor, above all, a confrontation with the notorious Beast of Gévaudan of 18th-century legend. Hunted, heart-sick, questioning his own sanity and senses, Stevenson forms unlikely alliances as he is forced to face an entire region of werewolves—and possibly worse—in order to reach his destination and desire, Alès and a longed-for letter from his estranged love.