book review about cinderella

A Summary and Analysis of the Cinderella Fairy Tale

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Cinderella’ is, of course, a classic fairy story, a ‘rags to riches’ tale about a kind-hearted girl who suffers various hardships only to marry the prince of the kingdom. Why is Cinderella called Cinderella? Since she is shunned by the rest of her family (especially the stepsisters), the poor girl sits among the ashes in the chimney corner – hence her cindery name.

The ‘rags to riches’ transformation comes about when Cinders, who wishes to attend the royal ball, has her wish granted and subsequently meets the prince. Although she has to flee the ball and return home – losing one of her slippers in the process – the prince searches for and finds her, thanks to what is perhaps the most romantic shoe-fitting in all of literature. So far, so familiar.

The earliest appearance of the Cinderella story in print was in 1634 in the  Pentamerone , a collection of oral folk tales compiled by Giambattista Basile, a Neapolitan soldier, poet, and courtier. Here Cinderella is called Cenerentola.

In 1697, French writer Charles Perrault published the story of Cendrillon, a variation on the story. Perrault added several details now intrinsically associated with the story – notably the pumpkin, the fairy godmother, and the glass slipper – to Basile’s version, which already featured the wicked stepmother and the evil stepsisters, as well as the prince figure (though in Basile’s he is a king rather than a prince) who hunts for the owner of a slipper (though it isn’t glass in Basile’s version). Perrault’s version would form the basis of the hit 1950 Disney film  Cinderella , which in turn inspired Kenneth Branagh’s 2015 live-action remake.

But in fact the story is even older than these seventeenth-century versions: ‘Ye Xian’ or ‘Yeh-Shen’ is a Chinese variant of the Cinderella story that dates from the ninth century. A detailed plot summary can be found here .

But even this isn’t the oldest version of the story: a tale dating back to the 1st century BC, more than a thousand years before even the Chinese ‘Ye Xian’, is perhaps the earliest of all Cinderella narratives. The story is about a Thracian courtesan, Rhodopis, who ends up marrying the King of Egypt . It even features a royal figure searching for the owner of a shoe, suggesting that it is the progenitor of all later Cinderella stories.

In the nineteenth century, the Brothers Grimm offered a slightly different version of the tale in Aschenputtel . The Grimms’ retelling of the fairy tale is somewhat … well, grimmer than the Basile or Perrault versions.

At the end of the Grimms’ version of the story, the stepsisters’ eyes are pecked out by birds to punish the sisters for their cruelty towards their sibling – a violent conclusion you won’t find in Disney. In order to try to dupe the prince into thinking they are the wearers of the missing slipper, each of the stepsisters cuts off part of her own foot to make it fit, but the blood that fills the slipper gives the game away. Indeed, the Chinese ‘Ye Xian’ telling of the Cinderella story ends with the stepmother and ugly sisters being crushed to death in their caves by stones. In the Disney film they get off lightly, to say the least.

What’s more, in the Brothers Grimm version of the Cinderella story, the slipper is not glass, but gold. There is disagreement among scholars and commentators as to whether the glass slippers that first appear in Perrault’s version (and, subsequently, in many famous retellings and adaptations of the tale) were the result of Perrault’s mishearing  vair  (French for ‘squirrel’s fur’) for  verre (French for ‘glass’).

The majority of experts reject such a theory. The website Snopes.com states that Perrault intended the slippers to be made of glass all along, and wasn’t acting on an error, while another site suggests that the glass slipper was perhaps ‘an ironic device since it is a fragile thing’, so might be seen as a form of artistic licence.

Interestingly, the ‘error’ theory – that Perrault was not inventing an iconic literary trope but simply mishearing one word for another – appears to have been put about by the French novelist Honoré de Balzac. So, although Perrault added the glass slippers, it was most likely not down to a mishearing (especially since the word  vair was not in common use when Perrault was writing) but to creative licence.

Roald Dahl updated the fairy tale of Cinderella in 1982 in his R evolting Rhymes. The most significant Dahlian detail in his verse retelling of the tale comes near the end, when one of the stepsisters replaces the glass slipper with her own shoe. But even though the shoe subsequently fits the sister’s foot perfectly (as you’d expect), the prince declines to marry her and instead – cuts her head off.

The tyrannical prince does the same to the other stepsister, and Cinderella’s head would have been done for too, had her fairy godmother not intervened and saved her – granting Cinderella’s wish to be married to an ordinary husband rather than a prince who would, let’s face it, make Prince Joffrey look like Oliver Twist.

So that’s a happy ending, just not the one you find in traditional fairy tales.

Before the Disney film of 1950, and long before the 2015 Kenneth Branagh remake, there were many film adaptations, the first of which (from 1899) can be seen here .

If you enjoyed this post, you might find something of literary interest in our summary of the curious history of ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ ,  25 great facts about children’s books and our surprising facts about Aladdin and the Arabian Nights .

20 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of the Cinderella Fairy Tale”

Reblogged this on Língua Inglesa .

I always enjoy your posts. Just the sort of facts I find fascinating. Thank you. Kris http://www.awritersden.wordpress.com

We just covered the Brothers Grimm and their grusome tales in the Romantic Period of our senior English lit section. Students are mesmerized by the cruelty and violence of the original fairy tales. One of my favorite versions is Ever After with Drew Barrymore. In the beginning of the film the glass slipper is shown and it is golden glass–which solves both theories of the famous shoe.

I love the Ever After version of this tale as well. The Brothers Grimm tend to be too grim for me. :)

Nice post! I love researching this sort of thing. One of my favorite Cinderella adaptions (shadow puppets) is from 1922 by Lotte Reiniger. You can find it on YouTube.

Interesting to see how far back the story goes. But I thought there was a version (though I can’t remember where) where the stepsisters are forced to dance on hot coals until they died?

This ending seems familiar – though I can’t remember which version it was exactly. Maybe I should reread my old fairytale books. By the way, why are so many suprised about the cruelty in the original fairytales? I’ ve grown up with them and especially the Disney version appeared always too nice in my opinion.

You might be thinking of a version of Snow White where the stepmother is forced to dance in red hot iron shoes until she died.

Reblogged this on Getting Lit Fit .

Huh. Interesting as always.

Reblogged this on your worst nightmare and commented: So gosh-darn cool.

Reblogged this on justthetraveller and commented: Well, that’s New to me.

Reblogged this on Wyldwood Books and commented: Yet another interesting and informative post from interestingliterature.com

I knew of Pentamerone from my time at university along with the Grimm version (which I thoroughly enjoyed), but knew little of the earlier versions. Great reading.

Reblogged this on Beyond The Beyond.. .

Such an intersting post. Loved it.

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A chance encounter in the dark leads eighteen-year-old Daniel and the girl who stumbles across him to profess their love for each other. But this love comes with conditions: they agree it will only last one hour and it will only be make-believe.

When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them only seemed perfect because they were pretending it was perfect. Moments like that with girls like her don’t happen outside of fairytales.

One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in insta-love is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Daniel soon realizes the way he pretended to feel about Cinderella and the way he really feels about Six may not be so different after all. Especially when the two loves of his life end up being one in the same.

Unfortunately for Daniel, finding Cinderella doesn’t guarantee their happily ever after…it only further threatens it.

BOOK REVIEW: Finding Cinderella

Colleen hoover.

Book Series:  Hopeless

“I’ve never believed in anything like I believe in the possibility of the two of us.”

Oh my God, can this woman write a bad book just for kicks? No, this is not just a novella, it is not just a little add-on story to an already stellar series, and this is definitely not a re-hash of anything we’ve already seen in Hopeless or Losing Hope – this is the story that fills all the little gaps we never even knew needed filling and it is the story that makes us fall in love with the two secondary characters as much as we loved Holder and Sky. It is also a testament to the fact that Colleen Hoover doesn’t need 400 pages to make you feel with every crevice of your heart and that when it comes to telling a story through witty but emotionally-charged dialogues or creating loveable, engaging characters, she is unrivalled. I knew this story would be great but I never even imagined a novella could be this spectacular.

“I don’t even know your phone number,” I say. “I don’t even know your birthday,” she says. “You’re the worst girlfriend I’ve ever had.”

We met Daniel and Six in previous instalments of the series as Holder and Sky’s best friends, two outspoken, sarcastic, but fiercely loyal individuals who supported their best friends through thick and thin, and now we get to see them in the limelight. By knowing all the other characters and the main storyline in such detail, no time is wasted on introductions or setups of scenes – we get to immediately zoom into their story and enjoy the ride.

“How do you make love to someone you aren’t in love with?” I lean forward until my mouth is next to her ear. “We pretend.”

I refuse to spoil any of their story for you, however, not because of its length, but because I knew very little going in and I am grateful for that as not knowing what to expect was half the fun in this case. I will only tell you that their tale starts with one fated encounter that forever changes who they are and what they hope to find in life. The rest of their story is a delightful account of a boy and a girl falling head over heels for one another, and learning what love is through that experience. Their captivating personalities and the amusing dialogues between them drive the story forward and keep us engrossed page after page.

“Are you a witch? … I have no idea who you even are and now you’re my damn girlfriend. What the hell have you done to me?”

This is a book that had me laughing out loud, constantly catching myself smiling like a fool, and even had me shed a few heart-clenching tears at times. My emotions were all over the place because every word meant something, every scene counted, and every sentence struck the right chord. If you’ve loved Hopeless and Losing Hope as desperately as I have, I have no doubt that you will adore Six and Daniel’s beautiful story. They say you can’t improve on perfection – I guess Ms Hoover just did.

While this story could be read as a standalone novella, I personally would not recommend doing so without first reading the other two books in the series as it follows a parallel timeline and some knowledge of events and other characters would enhance the overall reading experience.

“Stop! Stop saying things that make me grin like an idiot. My face has been hurting since the second I met you.”

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Great Review!! I love Colleen Hoover and her works, especially the Hopeless Series. Adding a short novella about Six and Daniel is just great. October 14th can’t get here fast enough!

Hi! Great Review, I still haven’t read books by Colleen Hoover, but they are in my wishlist!

PS: I’m italian and I don’t write English very well, so I’m sorry if there are grammatical errors. ^^

Your English is perfect! Complimenti! xxx

Thank you! ^^

Hey! I just read your review and honestly, I loved it. Well, I myself am a die-hard fan of Ms. Hoover’s writings and your review made me feel like “Oh! She is just writing my heart out” so thank you for doing that.

P.S: I was looking for your Ugly Love review. Couldn’t find it.

Thank you for reading. And the reason you couldn’t find my review of Ugly Love is because I never reviewed it. I did enjoy it very much though.

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• Book Review: Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

My thoughts about Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

The book synopsis for  Finding Cinderella   by Colleen Hoover

Discussing  Finding Cinderella   by Colleen Hoover

Quotes from  Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

“God, this sucks, man. The only good thing about this entire school since you moved is fifth period.” “What’s fifth period?” Holder asks. “Nothing. They forgot to assign me a class, so I hide out in this maintenance closet every day for an hour.”

Her breath tastes like Starburst and it makes me want to keep kissing her until I can identify every single flavor.

“I am so not a virgin,” she says. “That’s why it’s sad. I’m pretty skilled in the sex department, but looking back . . . I’ve never loved any of them. None of them have ever loved me, either. Sometimes I wonder if sex with someone who actually loves you is different. Better.”

My favorite part about you though is when I catch you staring at me. I love that you don’t look away and you stare unapologetically, like you aren’t ashamed that you can’t stop watching me. It’s all you want to do because you think I’m the most amazing thing you’ve ever laid eyes on. I love how much you love me.”

I’ve been waiting patiently for Six’s flaws to stand out, but so far I can’t find any. Granted, we’ve only interacted with each other for a collective three or four hours now, so hers may just be buried deeper than other people’s.

“Ignore it all. I want to kiss you and I want you to want me to kiss you and I don’t really feel like waiting until I walk you to your porch tonight because I’ve never really wanted to kiss someone this much before.”

“Don’t open your eyes,” I whisper, still staring at her. “Give me ten more seconds to stare, because you look absolutely beautiful right now.”

“We all have deal breakers, Daniel. Some of us just hope we can keep them hidden forever.”

She’s smiling when I look at her again. “Oh, there are definitely expectations,” she says teasingly. “I expect this to be the most mind-blowing thing I’ve ever experienced, so you better deliver.”

“I have no interest in faking disinterest,” I say. “If you want to call yourself my girlfriend half as much as I wish you would, then it would save me a whole lot of begging. Because I was literally about to drop to my knees and beg you.”

“Are you a witch?” I ask. Her laugh returns and I suddenly don’t care if she’s a witch. If this is some kind of spell she’s put on me, I hope it never breaks.

That’s exactly what this feels like. Like she’s a drug I’ve become immediately addicted to, but I have none in supply. The only thing that satiates the craving is her laugh. Or her smile or her kiss or the feel of her pressed against me.

“I thought your window was out of commission.” “Only to people with penises.” I laugh. “What if I told you I didn’t have a penis?” She glances at me. “I would probably rejoice. My experiences with people who have penises never end well.”

She shoves my chest. “Stop! Stop saying things that make me grin like an idiot. My face has been hurting since the second I met you.”

“For real,” I say. “You’re my best friend and I love you. I’m not ashamed to admit that I love a guy. I love you, Holder. Daniel Wesley loves Dean Holder. Always and forever.”

Whatever this is between us, neither one of us was searching for it. Neither one of us knew it even existed. Neither one of us is even remotely prepared for it, but I know we both want it. She wants this to work with me as much as I want it to work with her and seeing the look in her eyes right now makes me believe that it will. I’ve never believed in anything like I believe in the possibility of the two of us.

Where to find   Finding Cinderella   by Colleen Hoover  online:

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‘Cinderella’ Review: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Fairy Tale Redux Opens at Last

By David Benedict

David Benedict

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Where do you go after you’ve seen “Wicked”? That worldwide smash has built a vast young audience hungry for stories propelled by power ballads of female empowerment, and it’s clearly that crowd that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s much-delayed new musical version of “ Cinderella ” is eager to please. With actor/singer and internet sensation Carrie Hope Fletcher wholly energizing the new-wine-in-old-bottles story of a self-assured heroine defiantly refusing to fit in with the fairytale world that despises her, he’s halfway there. But the ride he’s written for her with Oscar-winning screenwriter  Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”) is seriously bumpy.

Our heroine, the black-lipsticked and goth-laced “Bad Cinderella” (as she’s called in the punchy, calling-card number that leads the overture and is reprised on umpteen occasions) lives in Belleville, which, according to lyricist David Zippel, is “a town so picturesque/ every other seems grotesque.” The rest of the population consists of under-dressed men who are buff and manly, and over-dressed women who are blonde and perfect. Not for nothing is the arch, opening scene-setter entitled “Buns’n’Roses.”

But things swiftly go awry when it’s revealed that Cinderella has defaced the new statue, which causes Belleville to lose its crown as “Most Attractive Town.” The waspish Queen – played by Rebecca Trehearn, whose deliciously withering grandeur would give Marie Antoinette pause — is not, to put it mildly, pleased. In part, that’s because the statue is of her dead son Prince Charming. To fill the coffers, she whips up  a royal wedding complete with a ball, at which a wife will be chosen for her hapless and, in her eyes, hopeless second son, Prince Sebastian (young Ivano Turco in his West End debut.)

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Unhappy about this, Sebastian confides in his best friend — who is, natch, Cinderella. And for most of the otherwise predictable first act, everything sticks fairly closely to the standard one-girl-against-the-world plot, peppered by Fennell with faintly dated nods to what used to be called “girl power.” The difference is that Cinderella realizes that she’s is in love with Sebastian. She must get to the ball to marry him before anyone else can.

At which point, after a mix of everything from comic one-liner put-downs to adult-pleasing double-entendres, there’s one of the show’s many tonal lurches when Cinderella finds herself in a cross between a bridal shop and an icy operating theater, presided over by a stalking, Grace Jones-like Godmother (Gloria Onitri, in perilous heels and a voice of doom) who promises her perfect beauty via temporary plastic surgery. For reasons never properly explained, after inveighing against superficiality, Cinderella goes along with it.

Released from the standard fairy-tale plot, the more involving second act goes up a dramatic notch at the ball where Cinderella and Sebastian have a row, after which events take several turns for the unpredictable. But with a vital key character introduced very late, just at the point at which you wish the show and the score would let rip for its climax, several chunks of exposition appear with Fennell’s book bogged down in perilously drawn-out false endings and resolutions.

On the plus side, the show is often fun, with a welcome comic bounce almost entirely absent from Lloyd Webber’s work after “ Starlight Express ” in 1984 until “ School of Rock ” in 2015. Costume designer Gabriela Tylesova has a serious budget and an absolute field day with the sisters (sneering Georgina Castle and Laura Baldwin), and with the succession of ravishingly preposterous costumes and millinery for the stepmother. Detonating every second of her stage time, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, her body viciously, comically skewed, leaves standard Cruella de Vil antics standing. Instead she kills the audience with constantly surprising line-readings like Zsa-Zsa Gabor crossed with Alan Rickman via Sean Connery’s consonants. Her tart, French-style duet with Trehearn, like a wonderfully mean-spirited revamp of Lerner and Loewe’s “I Remember It Well” from “Gigi,” is the score’s comedy highlight.

With no-holds-barred, on-the-money vocals, Fletcher has the lion’s share of the best numbers. She’s alive to the teen-queen power of the Phil Spector, wall-of-sound-like “I Know I Have A Heart” (because you broke it) and touchingly sincere in beguilingly gentle ballad “Far Too Late.” But director Laurence Connor has not managed to curb Lloyd Webber’s earnestness. Was it really necessary that, at the point of her dreams collapsing, Cinderella should reprise not one, not two, but three of her big numbers in what amounts to a shameless lovestruck megamix?

Connor’s four-square staging is also not helped by choreography that almost always feels symmetrical. The numbers have plenty of well-executed moves but only express a single intention, never building in excitement.

From the book’s adult nods to its wannabe young girl’s guide to feminism, the show entertains moment by moment but rarely adds up. If, for example, Sebastian is supposed to be a non-starter physically, how come he is revealed to be the best dancer?

Its mixed messages are exemplified by Tylesova’s sets. Ignoring lyrics that talk of everyone living in “in Plexiglass houses,” she presents Belleville in folding fairytale cut-outs which, charming in themselves, look peculiar against a permanent, metallic-looking backdrop that gives off the aura of a contemporary sculpture screensaver.

As with all good versions of the story, Tylsevova creates a defining transformation. Unfortunately, it’s not Cinderella who is transformed, it’s the seating. As famously happened with the original incarnation of the composer’s “Cats” at this venue, at the start of the ball scene, the front seating block begins to move round, turning a proscenium-style theatre into an in-the-round space. The effect, aided by lighting designer Bruno Poet’s multiple star-effect lights, is dazzling. But when that’s close to the evening’s most dramatic effect, questions need to be asked. Chief among them: Since this show is so knowing, what is it that it actually knows?

Gillian Lynne Theatre, London; 1,297 seats. £135 ($185) top. Opened, reviewed Aug 18, 2021. Running time: 2 HOURS, 45 MIN.

• Production: A Really Useful Group, No Guarantees and Len Blavatnik presentation of a musical in two acts, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, book by Emerald Fennell and lyrics by David Zippel.
• Crew: Directed by Laurence Connor. Musical direction, Ben van Tienen; musical supervision, John Rigby and David Wilson; choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter. Sets and costumes, Gabriela Tylesova; lighting, Bruno Poet; sound, Gareth Owen; orchestrations, Andrew Lloyd Webber; production stage managers, George Cook and Jo Hinton.
• Cast: Carrie Hope Fletcher, Ivano Turco, Rebecca Trehearn, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Laura Baldwin, Georgina Castle, Gloria Onitiri, Caleb Roberts, Michael Afemaré, Michelle Bishop, Lauren Byrne, Sophie Camble, Tobias Charles, Vinny Coyle, Nicole Deon, Jonathan David Dudley, Michael Hamway, James Lee Harris, Kate Ivory Jordan, Jessica Kirton, Kelsie-Rae Marshall, Sam Robinson, Giovanni Spano, Georgia Tapp, Matthieu Vinetot, Rodney Vubya, Alexandra Waite-Roberts.
• Music By: Andrew Lloyd Webber (score) and David Zippel (lyrics).

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Home / Find a book / Disney Cinderella

Disney Cinderella

272 reviews

Cinderella lives with her horrible stepmom and sisters but later falls in love and lives happily ever after.

Love the story itself and all adaptations.

Lovely story with a happy ending

I thought that there will be a prince and a princess

This book was very interesting, I enjoyed the part where the prince finds Cinderella and they live happily ever after m.

I love stories about princesses, and Cinderella is one of my favourite!

it is one of the best books ever made. The book is made from its movie and it is fiction. I recommend this to girls under 9

I loved Cinderella because she became the most beautiful girl in the ball. And I like blue, she loves blue too!

Another beautiful fictional story book, enjoyed by all

It is a fairy tale about a kindly girl who does all the work and her cruel sisters treat her badly. Her fairy godmother helps her find a prince. I liked the pictures and beautiful dresses.

I like books with princess, Cinderella is my favorite character. I recommend this book to everyone.

Liked this book

Loved this book

My favourite

It wasn’t really my thing but I still liked it and I read it to my little sister. It was also very easy to read

I liked the story about how the princess was treated and how everyone was taught a lesson. I would recommend this to my friends

I think this is a wonderful book!

Favourite Disney princess

I love her gown!

Beautiful story!

Losts of cute and funny animals

I like the pictures the best

I read this to my brother

This book was ok but I don't really like princess,s.

It is so romantic

when it comes to this story, Sonia always feels sad about how Cinderalla is being treated by her step family - therefore the 3 stars

This book was ny favourite out of all my Disney stories.My favourite character is the fairy godmother and I love the "bibbitty,bobbitty boo" song.

Timeless classic. Huge fans.

I liked it very much, people should read it a lot.

I think Cinderella sisters treat Cinderella very unkind and it is not fair to get Cinderella to do all the house work

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Heidi Dischler

Book review: finding cinderella by colleen hoover.

Today, I’m going to review Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover for you guys. I’m usually not a fan of novellas, but this one was just so  freaking  adorable. You won’t regret it if you’ve read  Hopeless and want a little more from the characters in that book. 

Book Information

In this novella from the world of  Hopeless , Daniel finds the girl of his dreams. There’s only one problem, though. He doesn’t know who she is. After a chance encounter in the janitor’s closet with no lights, Daniel thinks he would be able to recognize his Cinderella anywhere. However, when Six comes back from Italy and she and Daniel meet, Daniel thinks he’s found his girl, but it’s a lot more complicated than it seems. 

Review | Heidi Dischler

Let me start out with this: Daniel is an… interesting character. He is goofy, definitely there for comedic relief in  Hopeless,  and, to be completely honest, not a character who you could see falling in love. It was so adorable, though, seeing his personality in all its wonders as he found someone who fit well with him romantically. 

This is definitely one of those books that you pick up and finish in a few hours. It was a quick read for me and I found it so much more enjoyable than  Losing Hope (mainly because you get a whole new storyline instead of the exact thing you had read before). Daniel was definitely an interesting enough character to propel the book forward, and after all the reveals happened, this book became even more intriguing. 

Overall, this short novella by Colleen Hoover will give you all the feels (as CoHo normally does), and you won’t be left disappointed. You’ll be even more elated after reading  Finding Perfect , the next novella (and last) in this series. That one… that one stole my heart. 

Source: Personal Copy

“Because it feels like her air just became my air and I suddenly want to take in fewer breaths in order to ensure she never runs out.”

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Mr. Cinderella: From Rejection Notes to the Pulitzer

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By Motoko Rich

• April 18, 2010

IOWA CITY — Six years ago Paul Harding was just another graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop with a quiet little novel he hoped to publish. He sent copies of the manuscript, in which he had intertwined the deathbed memories of a New England clock repairer with episodes about the dying man’s father, to a handful of agents and editors in New York. Soon after, the rejection letters started to roll in.

“They would lecture me about the pace of life today,” Mr. Harding said last week over lunch at a diner in this college town, where he is now teaching at the workshop. “It was, ‘Where are the car chases?’ ” he said, recalling the gist of the letters. “ ‘Nobody wants to read a slow, contemplative, meditative, quiet book.’ ”

His manuscript languished in a desk drawer for nearly three years. But in perhaps the most dramatic literary Cinderella story of recent memory, Mr. Harding, 42, not only eventually found a publisher — the tiny Bellevue Literary Press — for the novel, “Tinkers,” he also went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction last week. Within an hour of the Pulitzer announcement, Random House sent out a news release boasting of the two-book deal it had signed with Mr. Harding late in 2009. A few days later the Guggenheim Foundation announced he had received one of its prestigious fellowships.

The early rejection “was funny at the time,” Mr. Harding said. “And even funnier now.” Mr. Harding, a onetime drummer for a rock band, is far too discreet to name any of the agents or editors who wouldn’t touch his work a few years ago.

But he is quick to praise those who helped “Tinkers” become a darling of the independent bookstore circuit, including Erika Goldman, the editorial director of Bellevue, whom Mr. Harding described as a “deeply empathetic reader”; Lise Solomon, a sales representative in Northern California for Consortium, the book’s distributor, who passionately advocated for the novel with booksellers; and the booksellers and critics who embraced the book early on.

Although “Tinkers” sunk under the radar in some quarters (including The New York Times, which did not review it), it made several year-end best lists, including NPR’s best debut fiction and The New Yorker magazine’s list of reviewers’ favorites. According to Nielsen Bookscan, which tracks about 70 percent of retail sales, “Tinkers” sold 7,000 copies before the Pulitzer announcement.

Now many independent booksellers are claiming Mr. Harding’s victory as their own. “This shows how indie bookstores truly are the ones that can be movers and shakers when it comes to a book,” said Michele Filgate, the events manager at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, N.H., who raved about the book on Bookslut, a literary blog. As it turns out, it was Ms. Filgate who first told Rebecca Pepper Sinkler, a former editor of The New York Times Book Review and chairwoman of this year’s Pulitzer fiction jury, about “Tinkers” at a book-reviewing workshop Ms. Sinkler led in Manchester, N.H., last April.

In classes at Iowa Mr. Harding has become an instant celebrity, of course, but also, a reassurance. Marilynne Robinson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Gilead,” Mr. Harding’s former teacher and now a friend, said last week in her workshop office that she had already repeated Mr. Harding’s story several times.

“One of the problems I have is making my students believe that they can write something that satisfies their definition of good, and they don’t have to calculate the market,” Ms. Robinson said. “Now that I have the Paul anecdote, they will believe me more.”

Mr. Harding is an avid reader of 19th-century novels, theological works (Karl Barth is his current favorite) and physics, making it hard to believe his claims that he was a poor student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he majored in English. The university does confirm that he took six years to complete his degree.

Wearing wire-framed glasses and a white button-down shirt tucked into Levi’s, he talked effusively, the antithesis of the taciturn father and son portrayed in “Tinkers,” a novel with sparse dialogue and large portions set inside the characters’ heads.

Framed partly as a deathbed vigil for George Washington Crosby, a clock repairer, the book wanders through time and consciousness, describing in fine-grain detail its rural Maine setting and the epileptic fits of George’s father, Howard, an old-time tinker who traveled the countryside by wagon.

The story’s genesis came from Mr. Harding’s own grandfather, who grew up in rural Maine and whose epileptic father abandoned the family when he learned that his wife, Mr. Harding’s great-grandmother, planned to send him to an asylum.

Mr. Harding spent his childhood in Wenham, Mass., a town not far from where he lives with his wife and two sons, and he went fly-fishing in northern Maine during the summers. He apprenticed with his grandfather in clock repair, and after graduating from college he recorded two albums and toured Europe with Cold Water Flat, the band he helped form at UMass.

The band fell apart (the usual: creative differences), and Mr. Harding decided to scratch another itch. He enrolled in a summer writing course at Skidmore College, where he took classes with Ms. Robinson.

With his application for the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he submitted two stories, one of which was his first stab at “Tinkers.”

But for most of his time in Iowa Mr. Harding worked on a novel about a 12-year-old girl who disguised herself as a boy in order to work in a Mexican silver mine during the 16th century. As he graduated, he realized the novel didn’t work.

Once again the story of his grandfather beckoned. Turning back to it, he said, “was just such a sense of relief to not have to go looking in history books.”

After his first son was born and he was teaching expository writing to undergraduates at Harvard and creative writing to night-school students, the novel became an extracurricular project. “It got so it was guerilla writing,” Mr. Harding said. “I could flip open the laptop and start writing anywhere.” He wrote on bookmarks and the backs of receipts, transcribing the scraps into the computer later.

Finally, one Saturday night, he printed out his mishmashed computer file and laid it out on the living-room floor. Nursing a few fingers of whiskey, he cut up the document, stapling and taping sections into the structure that ultimately made it to publication.

Shortly after Ms. Goldman finally agreed to buy the book — paying a $1,000 advance — things began to go right. Ms. Robinson, who rarely gives blurbs, gave “Tinkers” a stellar one, calling it “truly remarkable.” Independent booksellers started to push it.

Meanwhile Ms. Sinkler began to champion “Tinkers” among her fellow Pulitzer jury members, Charles Johnson, the author of the National Book Award-winning “Middle Passage,” and Laura Miller, a senior writer at Salon.com. “I think that sentence for sentence, it was the most beautifully written and most gorgeous use of language of any of the books we looked at,” Ms. Sinkler said in a telephone interview.

Mr. Harding is working on his next novel, set in Enon, the fictional town where George dies, focusing on one of George’s grandsons, Charlie, and Charlie’s daughter, Kate.

The Pulitzer may change some worldly things, he said, but not how he works.

“I sort of feel like I know how I got here, every step of the way,” Mr. Harding said. “Something like this can befall me, and it won’t be catastrophic success.”

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Book Review: Cinderella Ate My Daughter

Peggy Orenstein’s Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches From The Front Lines of the Girlie-Girl Culture (Harper, 2011) addresses the conflict that arises when culture begins to define little girls. A mother and writer, Orenstein grapples on a personal level with the values she wants to instill in her daughter and how Disney princesses and the messages of identity that they send our daughters encroach upon those values. Resisting the princess culture is a hard-won battle, but as Orenstein shows us in the end of her book, and her daughter’s fifth year of Disney consumption, it is possible.

Every mother and father today is forced to contend with the Disney princess culture that appropriates in very subtle ways the way our girls see themselves. The princess war is quite controversial, even among mommy bloggers, for there are a great many sites dedicated to redefining girls so that Barbies and princesses do not have a louder and more detrimental influence upon girls than their actual parents.

A billion dollar industry, girls cannot go anywhere without being exposed to the pinkified, girlified, and Disneyfied mentality that represents the princess existence. As Orenstein points out in very frustrated yet profound ways, navigating our daughters safely through this treacherous and unempowering girlie-girl culture of tiaras and makeup is like being in the “front lines” of war. The kind of war we cannot win simply by attacking head-on. We have to be smarter, wiser, and more patient.

The enemy does not only consist of Disney marketers and Andy Mooney, the Nike executive who saw a need and fed the need for princesses all over the world, but also a culture that doesn’t see anything wrong with dressing little girls like dolls, with princess gowns, tiaras, and shiny, glittery glass slippers with heels. While the staunch and empowered feminists from the Victorian era up to the seventies fought to give us an identity complete with voice, power, and choices, it seems that our choice as a culture insists on finding power through our looks. And many women fall for it.

Orenstein quotes Susan Douglas’ Enlightened Sexism, wherein Douglas posits that in today’s culture,

We can excel in school, play sports, go to college, aspire to—and get jobs—previously reserved for men, be working mothers, and so forth. But in exchange we must obsess about our faces, weight, breast size, clothing brands, decorating, perfectly calibrated child-rearing, about pleasing men and being envied by other women. (p. 18)

Douglas accurately depicts here what is going on in our society and why mothers are so insistent on glorifying and proliferating the princess culture. Subconsciously, we are apologizing to men for appropriating masculine power once we embark on their public spheres of businesses and making profit. We have to remind them that we are still women, soft, pliable, and ready-for-bed. We may make as much money as they do, but we are still women—their women. And we can be subdued.

But as much as this subtle and unvoiced acquiescence exists between men and women, our girls suffer because of it. As toddlers they are princess-ed, but by the time they reach pre-pubescence, they are all raunched out. They learn about sex and being sexy long before they should even know the terms, let alone act on them.

Our little princesses learn the art of pleasing others by looking pretty and cute, twirling in circles, their glittery dresses sporting Ariel, the princess who gave up her voice to get a man; Cinderella, the abused princess who lived in tatters until her Prince came and gave her riches; Belle, an avid reader who yearned for adventure but settled for only one—the love of a gruff and undeserving beast; Snow White, the sweet and domesticated princess who took care of and cleaned up after men; and Sleeping Beauty, who slept away her life until a man came into it and awoke her with a kiss.

Our pre-pubescent girls on the other hand, learn the power their sex appeal—via their dress and makeup and jewelry—has on the members of the opposite sex. By the time they are twelve, they know how to wield power over boys through sex—and not for their own pleasure, but for popularity and the approval of the boys in their school.

And because of this, the princess and raunch culture that persists in defining our girls’ identities and potential, our girls are suffering. Orenstein addresses this issue through research conducted by the American Psychological Association. According to them,

the girlie-girl culture’s emphasis on beauty and play-sexiness can increase girls’ vulnerability to the pitfalls that most concern parents: depression, eating disorders, distorted body image, risky sexual behavior. (6)

When some people ask, what’s the harm, here is the answer. This is the harm. The men and women who market all these toys targeted for girls—all pink and purple and glittery—strollers, babies, princesses, Bratz, and Barbies—these men and women don’t care about our kids—our girls. They care about the money. Short and simple.

When we purchase these products, we enable these businesses, and we enable what is happening to our girls—we enable the eating disorders, the early sexual behaviors, the negative body images, the nastiness that occurs between girls, and even the entitlement that boys have over girls.

We represent the culture that we live in—we help define it—and we enable it to progress as it does. This Princess culture—the Barbie and Bratz cultures—they all thrive because we think there is no harm in them. Perhaps because we come from childhoods that didn’t have them. But the harm is ever-present. It exists. These products are detrimental to our girls and our culture. We are raising over-sexualized children. We are raising unempowered and objectified girls who objectify themselves for the approval of others. And we are raising boys who benefit from it.

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REVIEW: ‘Cinderella is Dead’ by Kalynn Bayron struggles to keep up the momentum

‘Cinderella is Dead’ delivers another interesting premise to the retelling genre, but lacks enough spark to retain reader interest

While having an incredibly diverse cast and an initially interesting premise, this fairytale retelling struggled to find its spark.

From the Blurb:

It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again. Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee, and finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all – and in the process, they learn that there’s more to Cinderella’s story than they ever knew . . .

It always hurts to walk away from a book feeling disappointed. And then, there’s walking away disappointed from a book with as gorgeous a cover as the one Cinderella is Dead is blessed with.

When it comes to dark, gloomy retellings, I’m a big fan. I adore books like Dorothy Must Die and Cinder , which took the stories of age-old tales and turned them into wholly transformed narratives fit for modern audiences — admittedly, usually with a hefty addition of romance and teenage-angst. So, when I first picked up Cinderella is Dead , I was hoping to encounter a similar experience. I mean, if the idea of Cinderella ‘s original tale being used as a weapon for a tyrannical, dystopian patriarchy to excuse its oppressive behavior isn’t an interesting one, then I don’t know what is. Unfortunately, it seems the idea behind Cinderalla is Dead is where the interest starts…and stops.

From the get-go, it’s clear this story isn’t a light one. As soon as the first chapter began, I was plunged head-first into a world of strife, misery, and a good dose of widespread misogyny. While you might expect this book to take place in modern-day society based on that description alone, it very clearly states itself as a retelling early-on — and a twisted one at that. In fact, Cinderella is Dead is special in that it isn’t exactly a retelling you’d expect, with the same plot points and characters as the original. Instead, Bayron creates an entirely new world set 200 years after the original events of Cinderella .

As you might expect, Sophia is your typical girl forced to live a life she doesn’t want by an ever-powerful governing force. To make matters worse, her society is completely run by malicious, repulsive men who have far too much power in their hands (sound familiar?). While Cinderella is Dead succeeds in reflecting some of our current real-world struggles, what it fails to do is apply these themes into a story compelling enough to merit their inclusion.

It didn’t take long for me to realize why I was struggling to connect with the plot: there wasn’t exactly much of one . While the first half of the book sets Sophia on a journey filled with the potential for greatness, the story never really extends past a relatively safe and uninteresting cycle of events. After openly defying her oppressors, most of what Sophia does while on the run is ultimately uneventful, and does nothing to push the story forward. From overly-long knife training scenes to short adventurous excursions that don’t result in anything meaningful, I found the better half of Cinderella is Dead to be dragged down by filler.

That’s not to say there aren’t times when I saw some spark. However, these usually fizzled out quickly, leaving me even more desperate to see the novel’s potential realized. One of these moments resided in the diversity, which absolutely knocked it out of the park with four queer characters and racial representation, (I mean, look at that cover!). As happy as I was to see this inclusion, diverse identity was as far as these characters went when it came to holding my interest.

From characters vanishing after being introduced in the first few chapters, to a villain who was so melodramatically evil it was hard to take anything he did seriously, I struggled to connect with any of Cinderella is Dead ‘s characters. Sophia doesn’t go far beyond the typical headfast and rebellious teen fighting against a dystopian world. While there’s nothing wrong with that character type, hers wasn’t fleshed out enough to set her apart from any of those other typical, one-dimensional heroines. In particular, the romance she forms with Constance lacks any true chemistry, which proves that — as much as I hate to admit it — even gay romances aren’t immune to the bane that is insta-love.

Ultimately, the main drive behind Cinderella is Dead ‘s story all comes down to its themes. Any reader will connect to the oppressive patriarchal regime presented throughout the novel, and the struggles that its women characters face in fighting to break down these constructs. In fact, one of the closest fictional parallels Cinderella draws is with The Handmaid’s Tale . But while these themes are timely — and important! — Cinderella is Dead struggles to warrant interest past these ideas.

Essentially, I felt as if the book was a neverending cycle warning about the dangers of oppression and misogyny…with a plot on the side. At some point, it became far too much and left no room for the proper story or character development. Where feminist YA novels like The Grace Year and Girls With Sharp Sticks took the same thematical elements and incorporated them into exciting storylines fit with compelling characters, Cinderella is Dead was too bogged-down by an overemphasis on such messages.

All in all, I can tell Cinderella is Dead was a story written with true passion behind it. For a debut author, Bayron’s writing remained consistently good throughout the novel, and I think I’ll be sticking around to see what she comes up with next. Still, despite being backed by an exciting idea, valuable themes, and filled with much-appreciated diversity, I’m afraid Cinderella is Dead is another novel drenched with potential that simply failed in execution.

Unfulfilled potential

Cinderella is Dead  had all the elements that should’ve made for a great retelling, but became too distracted by its own themes to offer anything truly compelling. Seasoned readers will likely be turned off by its mostly one-dimensional characters and overly-long plot, but newer readers to the genre may appreciate its simplicity.

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Yes! I’m so happy someone finally said this! Cinderella is dead is a book I really wanted to like, because of the diverse cast, the queer representation, and because the idea seemed really cool! But you were never actually able to connect with the characters, and I agree that Sophia and Constance didn’t really have any spark. Even though it wasn’t much that happened, it somehow felt rushed and disingenuous.

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CINDERELLA AND A MOUSE CALLED FRED

by Deborah Hopkinson ; illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 15, 2023

Everything old is new again—and keeps getting better; a charming Ella for a new generation.

What you didn’t know about “Cinderella” could fill a book.

Fred is a small, gray, itchy-eared mouse befriended and named by Cinderella, referred to here as Ella. One night, a crotchety fairy godmother transforms Fred into a horse, a pumpkin into a coach, and Ella into someone “fancy”—though she dislikes her glass heels. The fairy godmother issues her stroke-of-midnight warning, and the gang heads to the ball, which is a fail: Sore-footed Ella, having lost a slipper at the ball, leaves with the other one—which she smashes—and complains about the snooty prince. Just before midnight, she and her “horse” race home, and all revert to their former selves, including the coach, but Ella saves seeds from it. Next morning, the prince seeks the slipper’s owner; when it doesn’t fit Ella’s stepsisters, he leaves. Life begins anew for Ella: She plants her seeds, wins first prize for the pumpkin that grows, and meets and falls in love with the female farmer who takes second prize. Readers will love this wonderfully written, comically snappy take on the beloved tale: Ella gets her happily-ever-after by marrying a woman and succeeding at farming. Zelinsky’s witty, colorful, dynamic illustrations, rendered in ink and assembled digitally, are masterful and depict racially diverse background characters dressed in Renaissance-era garb. Cinderella, her wife, her stepfamily, and the royal family are pale-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2023

ISBN: 9780593480038

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Anne Schwartz/Random

Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.

Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.

The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.

Pub Date: June 25, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

More by Sarah Mlynowski

by Sarah Mlynowski & Christina Soontornvat ; illustrated by Maxine Vee

by Christina Soontornvat ; illustrated by Kevin Hong

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

IndieBound Bestseller

THE WONKY DONKEY

by Craig Smith ; illustrated by Katz Cowley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2010

The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.

In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.

Pub Date: May 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1

Page Count: 26

Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

More by Craig Smith

by Craig Smith ; illustrated by Katz Cowley

by Doug MacLeod ; illustrated by Craig Smith

by Adam Osterweil and illustrated by Craig Smith

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Book Review

Reviewed by Rosie Malezer for Readers' Favorite

Cinderella: Not Quite the Fairy Tale is a novella written by May Sage. The Kingdom of Alenia, which is one of the many kingdoms of Gaia, has a slight problem. Although they have a ruler in King Daniel, the king has no heir. In order to rectify this problem, he has to marry. An email is sent to the women of Alenia, inviting its most eligible spinsters to a ball, so that the king might find a suitable mate. As his interests have nothing to do with love and everything to do with reproduction, the pictures requested from the ladies of Alenia are of a rather questionable nature. With an intense loathing of the king, Ella Tremaine responds in fine form, attaching a photograph of her cat, along with a note, telling him exactly what she thinks of his lewd request. To the horror and disgust of those dressed in ballroom attire, Ella shows up to the ball wearing jeans and her favorite camisole. King Daniel likes Ella’s tenacity and puts her through certain tests to ensure she is not interested in anything more than just being a baby-maker for the ruler. What King Daniel learns about Ella, however, piques his interest to volcanic proportions, creating a shocking turn of events which will leave you begging for more. May Sage’s unique adult twist on the story of Cinderella most certainly packed quite a punch. Not only does it sizzle in all of the right places, but it carries a great deal of humor, bringing the old story into a modern day setting. Some profanity is used throughout the book, but it is done in such a way that it enhances the story, rather than bringing it down. This particular version of Cinderella carries with it certain Pagan elements, such as the elemental guardian (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit) ancestors and their strengths and weaknesses. I also found the story line to be akin to Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, which was such a delight. Stereotyping, profiling and judging a book by its cover (as well as what is under its sheets) is the main persona of both characters in Cinderella: Not Quite the Fairy Tale, all of which acted as a magnetic lure, keeping my interest from start to finish. I recommend May Sage’s book to readers over the age of 16 who are interested in a variety of themes within a steamy, adult fairy tale with a twist.

Rainbow Round Table Book and Media Reviews

Book and media reviews from the american library association’s rainbow round table, book review: cinderella is dead.

Baryon, Kaylynn. Cinderella is Dead . Bloomsbury YA. 2020. 416 pg. $8.11. PB. 9781547606641

Adaptations of fairy tales are fascinating for what they tell us about a culture at the time of their writing. While this isn’t the first retelling of Cinderella to imagine the heroine having a better relationship with her family, the interracial lesbian relationships (Sophia is described in ways that indicate she’s Black and shown as such on the book’s cover, while Constance and Erin are white) are a rarer update, providing refreshing representation. It’s also the first adaptation I’ve read that sets the plot after the events of Cinderella’s story have taken place, and not just the immediate aftermath–centuries after her death.

The timeline change allows for an almost dystopian portrayal of a society that idolizes a person, and one aspect of the story, to the extent that it becomes toxic. Bayron doesn’t spare us from the misogyny and abuse that’s become inherent in Lille’s culture, or the damage done to young girls and women by requiring them to emulate Cinderella. She also doesn’t hesitate to turn other fairy tale archetypes on their head as well; fairy godmothers have their own motivations, and heroes aren’t always as heroic as they seem.

The end result is a girl-power story that encourages reflection on and questioning of stories, whether fiction or not. Combined with a villain that’s so vile you’re cheering when they’re defeated, and you have an enjoyable story that’s even better on reread when the foreshadowing becomes even more clear. It’s targeted towards young adults, and I would have loved it when I was in that age range, but the young-at-heart can enjoy it as well.

Katie Spires

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