Bibliography

Plot Summary:  You just think you know the real Cinderella story.  What if the fairy chosen to be Cinderella’s godmother was not old but young?  What if she had sneaked into the palace and fallen for the prince herself?  What if Cinderella didn’t want to go to the ball?

Critical Analysis:  Dual narratives, both by Lil, the titular godmother, show different pictures, different worlds, different people.  In the present, Lil is a broken old woman forced to hide her fairy wings from the public.  She works in a rare book store by day and spends her nights trying to fill her emptiness with diner food and television shows.  Contrasted with her past self, a young bright fairy with beautiful fairy sisters and friends, excited to be chosen for the honor of being Cinderella’s godmother but young enough, reckless enough to show herself to the prince and fall for him.

Turgeon’s writing is lyrical, lilting, she makes Lil’s longings real.  This is not a happy story, even when Lil decides the only way back is to right the wrong she put into motion so long before and plays fairy godmother to her boss and a beautiful young woman who comes into the bookstore one morning.  This story manages to combine sadness and futility with abundant hope and a painful twisty ambiguous ending that will stay with the reader long after the final page.

Readalikes: Not so much a readalike, but more like a read with, Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George reimagines the Cinderella story as a romance with a much more sinister fairy godmother.

Ash by Malinda Lo is another retelling, this one with a fairy godfather and a broken hearted Cinderella who will do anything to escape her stepmother and return to the woods she considers home.

Review Excerpts: “[R]eaders expecting magical carriages and glass slippers will be surprised by the novel’s morose tone, and though the surprise conclusion doesn’t quite work, Turgeon’s takes on nostalgia and regret are surprisingly clear-eyed given her narrator’s unbalance.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“[A] decidedly different take on Cinderella….Lil is complex and appealing, and vivid imagery and lyrical writing give shape to a charmer with a very satisfying, enigmatic ending.”–Booklist

“[T]houghtfully peels away the layers of fairy-tale convention and delves deeper into the notion of true love-its cost, its power, its rarity, and its beauty. Romantics and fans of fairy stories of all kinds will be enthralled by this latest take on the Cinderella story.”–Library Journal

Reviewed from public library copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  Having lost first her mother and and then her father to a mysterious illness, broken-hearted Ash is forced to do her stepmother’s bidding, but longs to return to the woods near her family home and dreams of being captured by and riding with the fairies.  When she meets Kaisa, things start to change, but is it too late to break her pact with the fairy Sidhean?

Critical Analysis:  This lush and dark retelling of the Cinderella story is unique because while it has some of the bones of the original tale, it is not a literal retelling of the story.  Lo has added depth and layers to Ash and her world, and the story becomes something else altogether:  first a tale of grief and bereavement where Ash wonders if she has the strength to continue on.  She feels like she doesn’t , which is where the hope of being captured by fairies comes in–if she is going to be miserable, why not at least be in a place and with beings that she longs for.

But when she meets someone, her world changes.  She has something and someone to stay for, to live for,  a life outside of her stepmother’s reach and love she thought was lost. It is to Lo’s credit that she shows that not just romance, but love can take many shapes and sizes, that everyone is worthy and deserving.  I like that in Ash’s world this isn’t such an odd idea, it just is.

I really enjoyed the fey parts of this story.  The volume of fairy tales that Ash clung to, the village woman who knows the old ways but is pushed aside by doctors, the tales told around the table, and most of all, Sidhean.  I liked that Lo made him multi-dimensional, with just a few scenes and actions, the reader realizes that he must have had a past with Ash’s mother, and while he wants Ash for himself, he keeps sending her back to her world.

The style and tone of the writing add to lushness and often darkness of the story, and I can see and feel the forest, the chill, the cold.  I can also see the hunt, the huntress, the festival and the ball in detail in my mind’s eye.  A fully dimensional world that I can only hope Lo plans to revisit.

Connections: This would be a great addition to a unit or study on the many variations of the Cinderella story in picture books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, and even a few adult novels.  There is a partial list on wikipedia but there are many more out there.

Review Excerpts:  “This debut, a retelling of Cinderella in which the heroine falls in love with a beautiful huntress rather than a prince, should establish Lo as a gifted storyteller…Lo offers an important twist on a classic story that will appeal to a wide readership, especially those looking for a girl romance.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“An unexpected reimagining of the Cinderella tale, exquisite and pristine, unfolding deliberately…Beautiful language magically wrought; beautiful storytelling magically told.”–Kirkus Reviews