Book Mail – All the Ever Afters by Danielle Teller

I feel like a broken record, but I’m a huge fan of retellings. Especially when it gives us a glimpse at the perceived villains in Disney favorites!

Thank you to William Morrow and TLC Book Tours for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

ALL THE EVER AFTERS – Danielle Teller (out now)

This one gives a look into the life of Agnes, the evil stepmother from Cinderella. What brought her to where she is? What is Cinderella truly like – is she the princess everyone in the kingdom loves?

Check back on June 8th to see my full review of this one (spoiler – I already finished it and gave it 5/5 stars!)

Here’s the synopsis:

In the vein of Wicked, The Woodcutter, and Boy, Snow, Bird, a luminous reimagining of a classic tale, told from the perspective of Agnes, Cinderella’s “evil” stepmother.

We all know the story of Cinderella. Or do we?

As rumors about the cruel upbringing of beautiful newlywed Princess Cinderella roil the kingdom, her stepmother, Agnes, who knows all too well about hardship, privately records the true story. . . .

A peasant born into serfdom, Agnes is separated from her family and forced into servitude as a laundress’s apprentice when she is only ten years old. Using her wits and ingenuity, she escapes her tyrannical matron and makes her way toward a hopeful future. When teenaged Agnes is seduced by an older man and becomes pregnant, she is transformed by love for her child. Once again left penniless, Agnes has no choice but to return to servitude at the manor she thought she had left behind. Her new position is nursemaid to Ella, an otherworldly infant. She struggles to love the child who in time becomes her stepdaughter and, eventually, the celebrated princess who embodies everyone’s unattainable fantasies. The story of their relationship reveals that nothing is what it seems, that beauty is not always desirable, and that love can take on many guises.

Lyrically told, emotionally evocative, and brilliantly perceptive, All the Ever Afters explores the hidden complexities that lie beneath classic tales of good and evil, all the while showing us that how we confront adversity reveals a more profound, and ultimately more important, truth than the ideal of “happily ever after.”

 

Am I the only one that had no idea her name was Agnes? I clearly missed it or just didn’t pay attention if it was mentioned in the movie, and it’s been years since I’ve read the original Cinderella.

–Jess