In seventeenth-century France, long-nosed Cyrano de Bergerac, poet and master swordsman, secretly loves his beautiful cousin Roxane. Cyrano writes passionate love letters to her but, knowing that he is too ugly to win her, he gives them to Christian, a handsome rival, so that he may woo her. Mc Caughrean’s retelling of Edmond Rostand’s play is superb. The setting of the story and the major players, Cyrano, Roxane, Christian, and the Comte de Guice, are clearly delineated. This is a classic love story that will appeal to today’s young adults because it is so beautifully crafted . ca

Originally published as Cyrano: From the Play by Edmond Rostand: For Anyone Who’s Ever Been Hopelessly in Love by Oxford University Press Great Britain, in 2006.