She has taught me so much, as all my characters do, and she will join Alexandrine, and Mattie, and Fiona, and Serafina in a very special place in my heart. She and I have become extremely close, and there’s a lot more to her than I ever realized or appreciated. It has also been exciting to really get to know these characters over the past few months as I wrote and edited the book - Belle in particular. The original story is like gravity: always there and unchangeable. It’s fascinating - but challenging, as you can imagine.

It was an amazing experience to write an original story that weaves around and through a classic fairytale beloved by millions (the 2017 film broke records for Disney at the box office - watch the gorgeous trailer here). I’ve written quite a few books in many genres and under various circumstances, but this one was different. So when Disney asked me to write an original story about what happens to Belle away from the arc of the classic fairytale, what goes on in her inner life, among her thoughts, hopes, fears, and fantasies, there was no way I could possibly say no. No question about it.ĭon’t get me wrong: I relate to Ariel’s love of the sea (can you say Waterfire Saga?), and I covet the perfect, life-changing outfit every bit as much as Cinderella.īut when Wikipedia adds an entry for “Nerdy Feminist Bookworm,” it will have two names: Jennifer Donnelly and Belle. If I was reborn a Disney princess, I’d be Belle. Be what about her friends in the castle? Can Belle trust her new companions inside the pages of Nevermore? Is Nevermore’s world even real? Belle must uncover the truth about the book before she loses herself in it forever. Here Belle can have everything she has ever wished for. The charming and mysterious characters Belle meets within the pages of Nevermore offer her sparkling conversation, a life of dazzling Parisian luxury, and even a reunion she never thought possible. The adventures Belle has always imagined, the dreams she was forced to give up when she was a prisoner, seem within reach again.

When she comes upon Nevermore, an enchanted book unlike anything else she has seen in the castle, Belle finds herself pulled into its pages and transported to a world of glamour and intrigue. Smart, bookish Belle, a captive in the Beast’s castle, has become accustomed to her new home and has befriended its inhabitants.

Beauty and the beast lost in the book