In this interesting retelling of Cinderella, Danielle
Teller's ALL THE EVER AFTERS gives readers
the backstory of Cinderella's evil stepmother. But was she
really evil?
Or did circumstance simply frame her that way?
Beginning in her youth, Agnes is sent to Aviceford Manor,
owned by Sir
Emont, as a laundry girl. There she is exposed to the ways
of the world
and is forced to grow up quickly to make sure she survives
day to day.
When she is seduced by a charismatic and worldly older man,
Agnes
finds herself pregnant and unmarried and has to leave her
position at
the Manor. With a "husband" constantly on the road for his
job, Agnes
is left to fend for herself and her young daughters.
But Agnes' life works in funny ways, and after some years of
independence and security, she finds herself back at
Aviceford Manor
as the nursemaid to the ethereal daughter of Sir Emont,
Ella. Eventually,
Agnes and Emont marry, and she becomes the lady of the
manor. Once
again she is in a place of security, and she feels she is
beneficial in her
place and can provide for her daughters, but as Ella grows
and her
beauty becomes the talk of court, Agnes finds herself up
against
something unexpected: a young, pretty woman who may or may not
know how to wield this power.
ALL THE EVER AFTERS by Danielle
Teller is a really captivating fairytale retelling. I loved
that there were
plausible reasons why things happened the way they did and
could be
construed into the outlandish parts of the fairy tale: why
Agnes'
daughters were considered ugly, who was Ella's fairy
godmother and
how she made things happen for Ella so easily, and how Agnes
gained a
reputation of being evil. The complicated relationships
women have
with significant others, the people they work for, other
women, and
between mothers and daughters (and stepdaughters) were the
highlight of this book. Agnes' inner grappling to do what
she thinks is
right is really intriguing, and something readers will
easily be able to
relate. My only quibble lies in the character of Ella, or
Cinderella; I
didn't love how every character was immediately in love
with Ella,
Agnes and her daughters included. Ella was too beautiful,
too poised,
and too good, but I was glad that Agnes saw through that
perfect
veneer, which did bring some brevity to that character.
Aside from that,
this was a beguiling, historically-set novel.
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."
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