Reading folklore and fairy tales
In Elizabeth Lim’s newest YA novel, “The Dragon’s Promise,” a young princess attempts to return a cursed pearl to its rightful owner. What could go wrong? Everything, as it turns out. The best-selling author attended Harvard College and then studied music at The Juilliard School. The San Francisco native lives in New York City with her husband and two young daughters. She’ll speak at the Boston Book Festival Saturday, Oct. 29, at 3:15 p.m. at Church of the Covenant, 67 Newbury St.
BOOKS: What are you reading currently?
LIM: I’ve been reading Kassia St. Clair’s “The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History.” It’s been really interesting so far. I read nonfiction when I’m working on a book because my brain needs to settle somewhere different during my downtime. Sometimes I find tidbits in these nonfiction books that might magically make it into my own book, which is so cool.
BOOKS: What are some of your favorite nonfiction books?
LIM: I don’t know if I have favorites because I read random things. I read Patrick Radden Keefe’s “Empire of Pain.” I wouldn’t call it a favorite because I didn’t read all of it but it was really interesting. I had no idea about what the Sackler family had done.
BOOKS: When you are not writing what would you read?
LIM: I love reading what my friends have been writing in YA, so I try to keep up with them but that’s not easy. I love romance, historical fiction, and fantasy. The only books I avoid are horror and thrillers.
BOOKS: Whom do you read for historical fiction?
LIM: I still gravitate toward authors I
‘I love reading what my friends have been writing in YA.’
loved as a kid. One of my favorites was Juliet Marillier, who has this beautiful blend of fantasy and historical fiction. She wrote “Daughter of the Forest,” which is a retelling of the fairy tale “The Six Swans.” It is heavily infused by Celtic folklore. I also love Stacey Lee, who does a lot of Asian-based YA historical fiction. She’s done a wonderful job of exploring different eras in American history through an Asian American lens.
BOOKS: What were your favorite fairy tales as a kid?
LIM: My parents tried to go to Asia every year to visit family. While they were there they would buy collections of Chinese and Japanese folk tales and picture books that were not readily available in the US. I loved “The Cow Herder and the Weaver Girl.” It’s about a cow herder who falls in love with a celestial maiden, and when they are caught they are separated by the Milky Way. I thought that was very romantic. I had a picture book of the Chinese Cinderella, Ye Xian. It was interesting to compare her to the western Cinderella. There isn’t a fairy godmother. A goldfish keeps her company. And there’s not a happy ending.
BOOKS: How do Chinese fairy tales differ from Western ones?
LIM: The stories emphasize different values. A lot of the Chinese fairy tales place more on respecting your parents. In the Western ones the goal of the princess is to marry the prince. That’s not what Chinese fairy tales are about.
BOOKS: Do you read classics?
LIM: When I was a kid I spent a summer trying to go through a list of classics. I don’t think I read them very well but enough to give a summary of the books. In high school I skipped the war sections in “War and Peace.” I haven’t really read any classics recently but I like retelling of classics or of Greek mythology. I love Madeline Miller’s retellings of the myths of Achilles and Circe. As a musician, I find her sentences very rhythmically constructed and lyrical. She adds a lot of nuance to these stories that people already know, and she makes these myths very accessible.
BOOKS: What are you reading next?
LIM: So my next read will be Alexandra Bracken’s new YA novel, “Silver in the Bone,” which comes out in the spring. Now that my kids started school, I think I will have more time to myself. I’m using that for writing now but eventually I can get back to reading more. I’m excited for that.
Interview was edited and condensed. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter @GlobeBiblio. Amy Sutherland is the author, most recently, of “Rescuing Penny Jane” and she can be reached at amysutherland@mac.com.