REXBURG — “Cinderella,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast.” The only thing to rival these classic fairytales is their number of retellings. One author is adding her name to the lengthy list of “Beauty and the Beast” retellings.
Elizabeth Lowham is a fantasy author who writes to young adult audiences. Her latest novel, “Beauty Reborn,” is a retelling of the “Beauty and the Beast” fairytale. In an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio, Lowham said as long as she could remember, she has loved books her entire life. However, she grew up in Vernon, Utah, where they didn’t have a library.
“We had a book mobile,” Lowham said. “I would wait for it to come out and then I would just load my arms up with books and take them home and just read everything. That's where I was introduced to fantasy.”
When she was 15, Lowham went to a teen writing conference. It was at this conference that she met the woman who would eventually become her editor for “Beauty Reborn.”
While conducting research for her book, Lowham came across an article that gave her pause and had her rethinking her desire to write the retelling.
“I remember the first search I did, it came up with a Goodreads list that said something along the lines of ‘The top 400 best, Beauty and the Beast retellings,’” Lowham said. That wasn't all the retellings in existence. That was just what they thought were the top 400.”
With so many remakes and retellings, Lowham wanted to make sure that before authoring another book, Lowham wanted to make sure that she brought something new and unique to her retelling.
Lowham found that inspiration in her own life experiences. Lowham was the victim of sexual abuse, which was followed by PTSD. It was from that tragic and terrifying experience that Lowham found the unique spins she was looking for.
“I wanted to write a book that my teenage self would have found comforting when I needed it,” Lowham said.
Lowham said ultimately these types of books — fantasy — helped her to understand the world around her and how to handle different situations in life.
“To say that fantasy or fiction books are a waste of time because it's all just made up, completely misunderstands the power of storytelling,” Lowham said. “The reason that humans have been storytellers from the very beginning and the reason that we continue. Because the facts of a story don't have to be true for the story to have truth in it and for it to be valuable for you in your own life.”
In the end, Lowham hopes her books can do what others did for her those many years ago.
To find more about Lowham and her books, search for Elizabeth Lowham on Amazon.
If you, or someone is the victim of sexual abuse, help is available by calling the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. If you’re a BYU-Idaho student, you can also find help from the Title IX Office on campus.