Saturday, March 9, 2013

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (Gregory Maguire)


This was a wonderful Value Village find that I thoroughly enjoyed.  Imagine my excitement just now, as I searched online for an image of the book cover, and discovered that there is a movie based on the book!  I'll be watching that soon...

Truthfully, the title is what caught my eye as I perused the shelves, earning the nasty cricked-neck-syndrome we complained about at last week's meeting. :)  A quick read of the story synopsis on the back cover indicated that this book approaches the ages-old Cinderella story from a completely different angle...that of one of the stepsisters. 

Has anyone ever read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs? If you haven't, I highly recommend it for your children.  It is told from the perspective of the poor, downtrodden, completely mis-interpreted wolf, who was nothing short of abused by these obnoxious and rude pigs.  A similar treatment of Cinderella is what I expected to find between the covers of this book, but I was completely mistaken.

I don't want to say too much, and give away the story, but suffice it to say that the sisters all get along quite well, the stepsisters are friendly girls, and even the stepmother is not too horrid.  It is a completely different take on the fairy tale, and ends with a lovely twist that took me completely by surprise...and trust me, it is not often that an author is able to surprise me with an unexpected ending. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would heartily recommend it to anyone.

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