I picked up Brittany Fichter’s Before Beauty expecting a lovely, clean retelling of Beauty and the Beast. What I got instead was a story that reached straight into my chest and pointed me toward the heart of the gospel. At its core, Fichter’s book is about a prince named Everard who has forgotten his first love (the mysterious, gentle Maker who walked with him as a child) and an ancient, holy fortress that both protects and judges the kingdom. As a result, a curse is slowly transforming him into something monstrous—a process that can only be stopped by returning to trust and love.
As I read it, Before Beauty’s parallels to Scripture became impossible to miss.
As I read it, Before Beauty’s parallels to Scripture became impossible to miss.
Everard is every one of us who has known the Lord and walked with him in the beginning, only to let pride, hurt, and distraction pull us away until sin starts to disfigure our souls. The fortress is like God the Father: holy, unapproachable in power, the source of all life and law, yet terrifying when its holiness is ignored. The Maker is unmistakably Christ: the tender presence who speaks in visions, bears wounds for Everard’s sake, and keeps whispering, “Come back. I’ve already made a way.” Finally, the young woman Isabelle, who speaks truth into Everard’s life despite bearing injuries that he inflicted, and who tends dying ground back to life, feels like the Holy Spirit drawing a wandering heart home.
Revelation 2:4-5 suddenly seemed to be written on every page: “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”
The story’s turning point comes when Everard finally remembers the Maker, falls on his knees, and does his will, no matter the cost. In that moment of surrender, the fortress and the Maker move together to break the curse in a breathtaking picture of repentance, redemption, and the truth that God’s arms are open the instant we return to our first love.
I closed Before Beauty with tears in my eyes, not just because the romance is beautiful (though it is), but because I had just watched the “prodigal son” story play out in a forbidden castle. Brittany Fichter may not have set out to write an allegory, yet the gospel is woven so deeply into the fabric of this tale that it preached to me.
It’s weird—though not really—that God can be found everywhere. Even when you’re not looking, He’s right beside you. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us. We can find Him anywhere if we just look hard enough. He even says He’ll work all things together for the good of those who love Him. So, to the naysayers who say you can’t find God in anything, He just got right in my face through what I thought was merely a retelling of one of my favorite Disney movies. Of course we must have discernment because many things can be bad for us or lead us astray, but not all. And God sees your heart, so He knows.
This is the message that Before Beauty left burning in my heart: We must never forget our first love. God is not just one affection among many; He is worthy of first place, always. Life will bring grief, pain, and seasons that feel like curses. We will limp at times. We will wound others and be wounded. Trials will come, and some of them will be fierce. But we can trust the fortress that never fails and the Spirit who will never abandon us, just as we can trust the Maker who has already bled for us. He knows what is best for us far better than we know ourselves.
He will never fail us, never forsake us, never stop calling us home. No matter how far we’ve wandered, no matter how deformed our choices have left us, the moment we turn and say, “I want to go home,” the Father runs, the Son rejoices, and the Spirit carries us the rest of the way.
So keep God first. Love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Trust Him through every storm and every limp. Your first Love is still waiting, arms open, whispering your name. You are never too far gone to return home.