The Belles

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle in Orleans, a world where Belles control Beauty—a highly valued commodity. People in Orleans are born gray and require a Belle's talents to become beautiful. Camellia aspires to become the favorite Belle, chosen by the Queen to serve the royal family at court and earn recognition as the most talented in the land. When Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, she discovers that the position is not what she imagined. Dark secrets hide behind the palace walls, and she learns that her understanding of her own existence is false. Her powers are greater and more dangerous than she believed. When the Queen asks her to use Belle powers in unconventional ways to help the ailing princess, Camellia faces an impossible choice: protect herself, her sisters, and the Belle tradition, or risk her life to save the princess and transform her world forever. The novel explores questions about the commodification of women's bodies, gender equality, racial identity, and vanity within a detailed world of excess and privilege, where beauty functions as illusion rather than reality.