Ugly Girl

 

CONDEMNED TO A CAGE, SHE MUST LEARN TO FLY

Crissa has been locked away all her life. First by her parents, who hid her unusual face from strangers, and then by the violent Tal-Bern who stole her for his traveling circus. Six years later, crowds assemble to stare at her strange face and whisper terrible things about her. How odd she looks. How bizarrely she behaves. And worst of all, how much she resembles the brutish Humans who died out long before. But mostly they come to hear her do what no other can.

Sing!

In a what-if world where prehistoric Humans fell extinct and Neanderthals inherited the earth, Crissa stands apart. Every night she faces hostile crowds who marvel at her disturbing strangeness. And every night she stuns them with passionate singing before returning to a dank cage. Her dismal situation grows darker when she is sold by Tal-Bern for sacrifice during the fast-approaching and brutal Rite of Long Moon.

Though all seems lost, her future blossoms when she spies a young man in shadows beyond the crowd – with a face like hers! The incident opens an avenue of escape that leads her toward the mystery of her Human face and the wonderment of love and belonging. If only Tal-Bern doesn’t kill her first!

Ugly Girl on Amazon.com

David’s Note: This novel is very hard to classify. Is it Romance? Sci-Fi? Fantasy? Alternate History? Perhaps that explains why it remains mostly undiscovered. However, this novel continues to accrue the highest average ratings and most affirmative fan feedback of any novel I’ve written. The cover is original artwork by Mark Bulahao. I love the melancholy intimacy of what he depicted.

Comments are closed.