confessions of an ugly stepsister by gregory maguire

Imps and fairy godmotbers trying to undo each other's work. God and Satan snarling at each other like dogs. While Clara retreats to the cinders of the family hearth, burning all memories of her past, Iris seeks out the shadowy secrets of her new household-and the treacherous truth of her former life. Iris's path quickly becomes intertwined with that of Clara, the mysterious and unnaturally beautiful girl destined to become her sister.Ĭlara was the prettiest child, but was her life the prettiest tale? Set against the rich backdrop of seventeenth-century Holland, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister tells the story of Iris, an unlikely heroine who finds herself swept from the lowly streets of Haarlem to a strange world of wealth, artifice, and ambition. and what curses accompanied Cinderella's exquisite looks? But what of her stepsisters, the homely pair exiled into ignominy by the fame of their lovely sibling? What fate befell those untouched by beauty.

We all have heard the story of Cinderella, the beautiful child cast out to slave among the ashes. When we grow up, we learn that it's far more common for human beings to turn into rats. In the lives of children, pumpkins can turn into coaches, mice and rats into human beings. Is this new land a place where magics really happen?įrom Gregory Maguire, the acclaimed author of Wicked, comes his much-anticipated second novel, a brilliant and provocative retelling of the timeless Cinderella tale.

Confessions of an ugly stepsister by gregory maguire