I felt the whole story was dragging and slow paced. The concepts in the story are nothing new. The writing is mediocre.

Having read Gregory Maguire's 'Wicked' and 'Son of a Witch', I was curious to see what else Maguire had out there, and picked up Confessions. I'm surprised to say how much I enjoyed Confessions, but perhaps its a result of the fact that it's such a different book than the two formerly mentioned. The challenge with Maguire is he writes in a very highbrow, tongue-in-cheek manner that can turn off a lot of readers that are expecting a frothy tale, especially after checking out the musical version of 'Wicked'. In comparison, Confessions is a fair bit easier to read, partially because it isn't so deeply steeped in the Oz-verse that Maguire meticulously creates. Instead of having to explain away every little detail, Confessions focuses more on character development and moral complexities that make for an enchanting yet deep novel.

The story is this - Iris, her older 'ox-like' sister Ruth, and her shrewd mother Margarethe are in Renaissance-era Holland begging for the basics that will keep them safe, warm, and fed. After a stint working in a local artist's studio, the gang ends up working for tulip merchant Cornelius van den Meer and his wealthy wife Henrika, with Iris keeping their petulant yet pretty child Clara company. When Henrika dies in childbirth, Margarethe is poised to lead the family - although strife is rampant in the town they're living in. Margarethe sees a saving grace for everyone when a Queen of France comes to town with her godson looking for a wife - and the rest as they say, is history (of sorts).

What's great about this story is the Cinderella story, no matter what retelling you're most familiar with (I've read/watched about 25 of them), is flexible enough that Maguire can really play with it and stretch the details to fit the moral questions he wants the reader to ask. Is beauty more desirable than cleverness and charm? At what price does happiness come? Can you be comfortable without a touch of maliciousness? How strong are the bonds of family over love? Despite the context of the story, Maguire refuses to wrap things up Happily Ever After, leaving you to question the resolutions for each character and how fitting they are.

Overall I'd say this is a good book. If you've tried to pick up a Maguire book before and found it too dense, Confessions is a lot lighter, although by no means a piece of fluff - it's just easier to read. The characters and the situations they find themselves in are interesting and developed, and the story itself is reframed in a very 21st-century way, despite the era its from.

His wonderful novels have yet to disappoint. He is so descriptive and clear, I find myself drawn into his worlds completely. I have read 4 or 5 of his novels now and every time I have thoroughly enjoyed his twisted take on a familiar back story. Keep 'em coming!

*Two and a Half Stars*

Having already read Gregory Maguire's 'Wicked' I was something less than thrilled when I got roped into reading 'Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister' for a decidedly informal book discussion group. It wasn't that I found 'Wicked' a bad read, I actually rather enjoyed it, but the blurb on the back of 'Confessions' lead me to think that Mr. Maguire had essentially repeated the same formula with a different fairy tale. (Actually, 'Wicked' was written after 'Confessions' but I read 'Wicked first...) Deconstructing a fairy tale and retelling it from the point of view of what is traditionally an unsympathetic character looses its novelty quickly.

Anybody who has read 'Wicked' will instantly feel right at home. Mr. Maguire provides interesting characters and plots that keep a reader interested. That said, I found the writing itself in 'Wicked' to be better than the writing in 'Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.' The retelling of Cinderella felt less developed and 'Confessions' world, 17th Century Holland, seems less vivid than Maguires reimagining of Oz.

With the novelty of retooled fairy tales gone, 'Confessions' ended up being a bit underwhelming. While the opening scenes were engrossing, the middle of the book was merely ok and the climactic scene, Cinderella at the ball, ended up feeling slow and flat. The post script seems like an afterthought.

Mr. Maguire has turned his shtick into a cottage industry, which is fine. It's a decent shtick. But unless you're interested in going through a post-modern reinvention of every single one of Grimm's Fairy Tales, read 'Wicked.' The concept is the same and the writing and the plot are better.

This book is fantastic. I loved it, and the inside look on the stepsisters. We all know that everyone has feelings, and their own side of things, and this story demonstraits perfectly how even the ugly stepsister dosen't have to be evil, even the beautiful daughter can be a brat, and how things never turn out how you expect. Even the ugly step sister deserves her happy ending.

This is an excellent read. The story is very well told. Part fairy tale, part mystery, part romance, it has a little bit for everyone. The twist in the the epilogue through me for a loop and was completely unexpected.

There is little constructive information I can add to the abundance of reviews, other than this: I gave the book only four stars because of a personal bias. What can I say, you can't mess with the classic Cinderella tale. I don't know what I was thinking when I picked up this book! :) The characters in "Confessions" are presented very realistically, with a lot of grey areas in which the reader can decide if they are "good" or "bad". In other words, the book makes you look at what makes people tick. That's good, right? And yet my corny sentimentality leaves me wishing for the fairy tale ending. I'm doing no justice to the author...sorry, Mr. Maguire!

I'm about 1/4 through the book. It's engaging and witty, as are the other Gregory Maguire books I've read, and I look forward to finishing it.

This is one of my favorite books! I read Wicked about a year ago and enjoyed it, but found it hard to follow at times (unfortunately, I had to start and stop quite a bit while reading it and after awhile it was hard to remember everything). When I picked up this book, I made sure that I would be able to get through it within a reasonable amount of time. Like Wicked, I expected it to be a prequel and to end right as the traditional Cinderella story picks up. I was gladly mistaken though. If you haven't read Wicked, it is simply a prequel to Galina and the Wicked Witch's younger days. On the contrary, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is more of a twisted re-write of the traditional Cinderella. It paints Cinderella as a stuck up, self centered, young girl who grow up to shed her holier than thou persona and recreates herself as a common maid. As for the ugly stepsisters, it portrays them in a giving, 'charitable' (a theme that comes up more than once in the story), light and you really grow to love them. Margarethe, stepmother, maintains her traditional character in the sense of being ugly both inside and out, however unlike the traditional story she doesn't dote on her daughters and instead casts them as an 'ox' and women of poor features.

It is definitely a book that I would recommend, especially to anyone who wasn't that into Wicked. The characters are much easier to follow and although there is some reference to magical creatures and such I didn't find it as difficult to wade through the innuendo to understand the parallels Maguire was trying to draw.

Definitely a 5 star book!

The book was in good condition upon arrival and I might have an unfair bais because I love Gregory Maguire's writing but I thought it was better than Wicked!

The book came in very good condition before the date promised. I'm very satisfied with my purchase.

This is a worthy successor to Wicked, in many ways superior. Maguire has again twisted a well known tale on its head. He has much to say about beauty. All of the characters (save one, who is veiled in mystery, and turns out to be key to the story at its climax) are richly painted, and we see their strengths and weaknesses. None is entirely good; none is entirely evil; none is entirely as they seem. The character who portrays the mother of the two "ugly stepsisters," Marguerethe, is particularly well-developed. The story leaves you wondering at many key points: what REALLY happened to the character whom we relate to as Cinderella to make her the way she is? Maguire's prose at times is a bit over-dense, over full of itself. And the ending, as some have observed, seemed to me rushed, and not quite what I had hoped for. But all in all, a very good read. 4.5 stars.

This was a fun read. I enjoyed how the story incorporated some real characters and history to weave an enjoyable tale.

The book was good. It's exactly what I had anticipated and if you've read his other books than you will be satisfied.

i cannot recommend this book highly enough. a great adult fairy tale, it leaves you wanting more the whole way through-and the twists!

you have got to read it for yourself.

i cannot wait for him to write my next favorite book!

I got this book on CD and listen to it while driving.Was OK for driving ...I guess.But oh my God! this Clara is a disater of a "good, kind " Cinderella that we all know.The thing is I felt the dark and cold days of Holland , the boring long winter that droves people inward...
Unfortunately the most important branch of the story was not developed - the paintings, colors, their efect on people's lifes and why we love them so much.Too bad.
I found ending the most interesting part.
The book should not be read but listen to it when driving long distances Ha Ha Ha

Gregory Maguire has made "backstory" big business -- you know the history of an old beloved tale told with new information, usually providing a new view of the characters, or a view from a new perspective as childhood -- as he did in "Wicked." I read "Confessions..." several years after I read "Wicked" and was misdirected because I did not realize that he suited the tone of the book (also highly experimental) to the tone of the environment. After reading another of his books, I realized the cold tone and sparse dialogue, were indicative of the coldness of the story as well a the climatic surroundings in a northern European country. Having used this technique myself in one of my favorite ever writing classes, I also have a greater appreciation of what Maguire does so very well. He recycles literature -- old favorite tales in such a contemporary and clever way that it is difficult to put down. His writing is rich, colorful and very satisfying.

I confess I loved Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Harper Fiction). So, my expectations were high for this one. Where Wicked had interesting political re-interpretations, this one does not.

It's not bad. It's still a unique re-interpretation of an old classic, with the focus on Maguire's truth of how the two ugly stepsisters in the classic Cinderalla story came to be these mythical, reviled women.

Maguire's always had a long-winded style - in Wicked, I felt the story more than justified bearing with it. In this one, it's just barely bearable.

Gregory Mcguire is an excellent author and he brings his stories to life in a way no other fantasy author can.

"Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" is Gregory Maguire's twisted take on the classic Cinderella fairytale. The novel is set in seventeenth-century Holland, where two homely-looking sisters, Iris and Ruth, have fled from England with their mother, Margarethe. Told from the younger sister's perspective, the story focuses on the Fisher women's struggle to survive. Margarethe eventually marries a wealthy man who has a beautiful daughter, Clara, a self-proclaimed changeling who is extremely difficult and refuses to leave her home. When the family ends up on the verge of bankruptcy, Margarethe devises a plan to introduce her daughters to the Prince of Marsillac at a ball being held in his honor. By this time, Clara has willingly transformed herself into the familiar Cinderella character, and at first she has no plans to attend the ball. Eventually Clara and her sisters devise a secret plan, and the fairy tale (complete with a pumpkin carriage) finally comes to life.

This is a very interesting novel. Although it does follow the basic Cinderella outline, it is so much more than a fairytale. Iris is by far the most interesting character in the book, and her constant observations about women's roles and beauty are the best parts of the book. "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" forces readers to reconsider the traditional roles of heroes and villains, good vs. evil, beauty and art, and the power of the family dynamic. If you're in the mood for a very untraditional novel, this is the one for you.

Cinderella is re-told from the point of view of Iris, one of the ugly step-sisters who are not as mean and wicked as we were originally told. She is still suffering from bad memories of her family's escape from England. Her mother Margarethe, (who is greedy and ambitious to the point of being nearly evil) takes up residency as a maid to a wealthy Dutch family. When the lady of the house dies she swoops in and quickly marries the widower. The old man's beautiful daughter is Cora, a gorgeous young woman who was severely damaged psychologically from some kind of early childhood trauma.

The moral of the Cinderella fairy tale was that through perseverance (and a little magic) the handsome prince will solve all your problems. In Gregory Maguire's gritty remaining, it is that there is always more than meets the eye. While Cora is beautiful, she is also damaged, broken beyond repair. And while Iris is plain (though never described as ugly) she is much more intoned into what is going on, and has caught the attention of a local artist (his assistant especially notices Iris). The third sister, Ruth, is barely mentioned. Margarethe is not exactly evil (though her methods of achieving her goals lack any kind of moral constraints) are justified (in her mind) by her need to care for her daughters.

There is very little violence, but a lot of the fighting is done as a psychological war inside the family. This is an interesting re-telling of the popular fairy tale. Just do not be expecting the Disney treatment. It is a little more kid friendly than Maguire's "Wicked", without all the graphic sex and violence, though children may not understand a lot of the subtext. Adults should enjoy it though.

Great well-written book!
Suitable for all ages, from children to adults!
Very high reccomended.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is far and away the best book I have read in a long time, and it's a more-than-worthy successor to Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Gregory Maguire established himself as an inventive reshaper of fairy tales and fantasy stories when he wrote Wicked in 1995; however, L. Frank Baum had already shaped the world of Oz, so Maguire had to maintain many aspects of it to keep Wicked credible and authentic. He definitely accomplished this with creativity to spare, but certain aspects of the world were just hard to reimagine, so ingrained were they into pop culture.

That's where Confessions surpassed Wicked for me: the seamless aplomb with which Maguire sculpts the Fisher family's world through our plucky and clever Iris, who I very much admired as the unlikely heroine. The added wiggle room allowed Maguire's imagination to do the heavy lifting instead of having to rely on so many conventions of a particular story, and the result is a mysterious, plausible, heart-rending world built on intriguing, blurred dichotomies (good/evil, beautiful/ugly, desire/obligation, childhood/adulthood, reality/fantasy) that are compellingly intertwined. If you like vivid, imaginative prose and fairy tales that are all grown up, definitely pick this one up.

This book was Good but not great as I was expecting it to be. I read this for my bookclub selection and was a little disappointed. It was written well, a little choppy at times but reletively easy to follow. It was the language that I found boring, and also the storyline was a little drab. Okay the storyline concept was brilliant but it was not executed properly.

Maguire does a nice job of painting the sisters as woeful humans and Cinderella as this spoiled little girl, but the book runs too long. It was imaginative of him to design such a twist to the original piece, though. Props for creativity.

I guess this book was just not my style. I liked the fact that the ugly stepsisters were made to seem kind, and human, which we all no was not the original story line. But this book was very slow moving, and in the end not all that satisfying. I did read the whole book, as some parts held my interest. Other parts of the book I found myself daydreaming.

Ugly Stepsister was the reading choice of my book club and it was roundly disliked. The choice was based on the much better received Wicked, which I have not read.

The book was extremely slow to start. Although the characters were interesting, the writing itself was flat and uninspiring. It took me four weeks just to get through the first 100+ pages. By the date of the book club, seven weeks after I started the book, I still hadn't finished. In fact, the only reason I finished it was that I'd promised my fellow club members I would.

Our next book club read is Middle Sex (or Middlesex), which I hope is a better read. I can't imagine it will be much less entertaining. Thank goodness Harry Potter is being delivered next week so I can get the memory of Ugly Stepsister out of my head!

This was a different take on the cinderella story. It was a little too gloomy and different from the original for me. Still it was an intriguing work.

When I read Wicked, I changed my mind about the classic good guy bad buy image in books/movies. This was no different. It was delightful to discover the 'evil step sisters' were not that bad at all... that Cinderella was not as she appears in the classic Disney movie is refreshing. I enjoyed this book from page one.

I did love "Confessions of an Ugly Step-Sister". The story was told well, and there was more closure to this story than there was to "Wicked" (not as many unanswered questions).
However, I have noticed a trend with ALL Maguire books and that is the painfully slow beginings. It took me several days to get through the first 80 pages, and I nearly put the book down and gave up. HOwever, around page 80 or so, I was unable to put the book down and read it in 2 days. I also felt "Wicked" was slow to start for the first 50 pages or so, and then -the same thing the story took off and I read it in a day or 2.
The beginings of Maguire's books are necessary because he gives you so much background information right off the bat. It is just hard to read. But I assure you - get yourself through the begining and you will be happy you did!
Also, if you're expecting the Disney Fairytale stay away from this book. It is Pleasantly unlike any Cinderella tale I have ever read!

This was a great book. That said, I absolutely hated it. It's strange, being able to recognize that something is very good but still to hate it. I feel the same way about Steinbeck and the movie 21 Grams.

The characters were vivid and deep and interesting, which is greatly important to me. The story was very dark, and I guess I may need to consider the possibility that such a dark story is simply not to my taste. I found this book to be one of the most draining I've ever read, with Wicked still up there as number one. I still have Mirror Mirror on my shelf waiting to be read, because I keep thinking that as talented as this author is, maybe I'll like other pieces of his work, but isn't the definition of insanity to do the same thing repeatedly and expect a different result? Maybe I'll give that other book to a friend.

I didn't like this book as much as Wicked, and it was painfully slow at the start, but it wound up being a very enjoyable read.

Confessions is another in the series of books that Gregory Maguire writes where he takes a well known story and twists it around. This time, he takes on the story of Cindarella. We all know about the ugly stepsisters, the evil mother-in-law, the glass slipper and all the magical mice of Disney fame. What the author does here is add more to the story and twist it around in terms of its viewpoints and explains "what really happened".

I liked this story much more than I liked "Wicked" (His rendition of The Wizard of Oz) because he twists the storyline into a believable context. For one, he takes out all the magical elements - so, if you are looking for the Fairy Godmother, the mice, the pumpkin, and so on, you will not find them. Instead, he places the story in the context the Netherlands at the time of Rembrandt and the Tulip Bulb Bubble. The stepsisters and the mother in law are real people - they are a dutch family that had emigrated to England but come back home when the English husband dies. They are poor and destitute and searching for any assistance. The mother works as a housekeeper for a painter who tries to rival Rembrandt in his efforts. For one particular commission, the painter decides to paint one of the ugly sisters as a counterpoint to the beautiful tulips that are all the rage at that time.

The story is told from the viewpoint of this sister. She tells the story of the family as it escaped from England and settles in the Dutch town. She tells how her mother begs for work and how they get ensconced in the painter's household.

The painting is a success and actually leads to the family moving from the painter's house to the house of the wealthy merchant who commissioned it. This family has the wealthy wife who runs the household who gets pregnant and needs help as well as a mysterious teenaged daughter who is beautiful beyond belief but who refuses to set foot outside of the house. The three young girls get to know each other and play with each other including some trips outside the walls of the house during which we find out that there is some terrible reason why Clara (the beautiful one) does not leave the house.

Then, one day, something goes terribly wrong with the matron's pregnancy and both she and the baby die. This is not unusual in those days, nor is it unusual that soon thereafter the merchant marries the mother of the two sisters. So, now the family situation we now is set up. So, what makes the father disappear?

Mr. Maguire's answer is to have the merchant speculating on Tulip bulbs at exactly the wrong time and end up losing all of his fortune - throwing the merchant into a deep depression which has him locking himself up in a bedroom, mostly comatose.

As the house is slowly denuded of all of its possessions to pay off the creditors, the dowager Queen of France comes to town and announces that she would like a ball to introduce the local young women to a young male relative of hers. Of course the whole town is thrown into a tizzy and everyone who has eligible young women in their households are competing to go. This household, with three eligible women, is definitely invited and they all make plans to go - although Clara is very reluctant. Ultimately, the sister who is telling the story manages to convince her beautiful step-sister to come to the ball by setting up an elaborate scheme that will make sure no one recognizes her involving a separate coach ride, and an outfit that is borrowed but including white slippers made from silk so that, in the right light, they look like they are made of glass (another element explained).

The night of the ball comes, all the young women are paraded in front of the young man, and the sister telling the story manages to hold his attention for a few minutes due to her smarts and ability to converse in English as well as Dutch. Then, in comes Cindarella - I mean Clara and takes over. She is the most beautiful of the young women there by a large margin and immediately captivates the prince. She and the prince repair to a private room and are not seen again while the ball continues. One thing leads to another and a fire breaks out which has everyone scurrying out of the mansion and into the countryside. The girls reconvene at their home in the morning after having walked back from the mansion to discover that one of Clara's slippers is missing.

The prince comes looking for the young woman who lost the slipper and discovers Cindarella, takes her off to marry, and they live happily ever after. Right?

Well, almost. There is a final chapter in the book which is written by the other sister. The one who was considered dumb throughout the whole book. This chapter ties all the loose ends together and tells the end of the story. It talks about all three sister's lives and early deaths and their family situations. It clears up any remaining mysteries and puts a final twist into the story in the way in which this silent sister saw the things that went on.

By telling the story in this way, and tying it so carefully to plausible events, this book is a great read. The reader can clearly see how the fairy tale elements could come together from a story that is really the lives of some common people. The magic is in the way it is perceived rather than the way people really behaved. That is another aspect of what makes this book such a great read - it is a plausible story that is believable. There is only one element that I was unhappy with - the mother's role as an evil person is unduly enlarged when she reveals some of her misdeeds to her daughter. There was really no point in adding this plot device as without it we simply have a very determined woman trying to make her way in the world while supporting her daughters. Adding criminal elements to the mother's actions makes them more bizarre than is warranted.

So, I recommend you read this book and enjoy it as I did. It is a fun retelling of the story of Cindarella that twists it into a view of what life might have been like in 17th century Holland!

I really enjoyed this book. Although, I also liked Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, the first of Gregory Maguire's books, this was my favourite.
Confessions is set in 17th century Holland, the premise is that this is the true version, as told by an "Ugly Stepsister" before the story was retold and retold and eventually turning into the Fairy tale it is today.
An interesting take on Cinderella, with good value as a historcal fiction also.

This is by far the best of Maguire's books. The dry delivery, I thought, was a positive not a negative, and allowed you to see characters in a simpler way. It turned Cindrella literally upside down, and I was so thrilled by the happy(ish) ending(such a novelty in GM's books!). I found myself literally sympathizing with all of the characters, including Margarethe, whom was somewhat shady. Even as a child I found the Cinderella story to be a bit cut-and-dry and one deminsional, and the characters unrealistic(I was a bright child). I adored the perspective, and I hope he writes the rest of his books in this manner.
As a history major, I was also tickled by the reference to Catherine de Medicini.

Very good book. We get to see the other point of view. The historical aspect is very interesting.

This book is well-written. It is a thoughtful re-telling of the old fairy tale, against a real historical background of Holland during the 17th Century Tulip Madness time. The historical details are right.
What I was expecting was light, enchanting reading. What I got was a very dark, serious novel. I much liked Rosalind Laker's Golden Tulip as a great novel of this same time period, but I know Laker's Style and was not expecting a "fairy tale".

I had not previously read any of Maguire's books, so didn't realize his style was so dark. I had read Mercedes Lackey's Fairy Godmother was expecting something in the same vein. Maguire is more realistic and that was not what I needed to read at this time.

So - great book - but not to my taste.

The title was the best part of this book. Not worth purchasing - if you MUST read it check it out from the library or borrow it. Don't ask me for it - mine is headed for Goodwill because I can not stand to burn or trash a book. It was awful and vulgar. Very disappointed. I hope someone else writes the book to fit the title. Unfortunately I bought two books by the author and was disappointed with BOTH!

This book is a very quick read. Although it get predictable towards the end, you can not help but enjoy this page turner. Not only is Maguire brilliant at his fresh spin on a classic fairy tale but he stays true to the landscape of his setting (in this case Holland) and brings up topics that you rarely find in pre-20th centry novel settings such as homosexuality and a girl's first period. All in all this was an enjoyable read.

I loved Wicked, but I loved this one even more. Every new book from Gregory Maguire just gets more fun. Maybe I'm alone in this, but I really didn't see the end coming.

I got this book by Bookcrossing, it was fab and I loved the twist ending. My first name is Ruth by the way.

this book was fantastic. I was expecting there to be a lot of magic use, and an obvious relation to cinderella, but its way better. The book shows that there are always more than two sides to a story, since everyone has a different out look.

I've read Wicked first and perhaps that was where the mistake lies. Wicked was so well written that after reading such a great novel, Confessions was somewhat of a disappointment. It's not a bad novel but the character development was just par and the storyline seemed a bit forced. I would love to recommend Wicked though for those who might be interested. I even bought the soundtrack from the Broadway show!

I'm glad I chose to read this book during my flight yesterday. It's one of those books that once you get into the first few chapters, you can't really put it down for a long period of time.

Highlights: It's engaging, funny, and you really get attached to the main character. There's even a cute little love story in there (only marred by my anxiety that "cinderella" would steal the guy away with her looks.)

Downsides: The ending was disappointing. It isn't told by Iris, who we get to know really well and have invested so much time in. I don't want a quick summary on what happened to Iris! The other main characters in the book aren't fleshed out very well, such as the father.

Overall: Good read with likeable characters, you won't regret spending a day on this book.

I read "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" shortly after finishing "Wicked." I was originally hoping for another cleverly constructed fairy world, and was at first disappointed when I read on the back of the book that it is set in 17th-century Holland. Luckily, my fears were not justified. The characters and setting of "Confessions" are just as amazingly complex, multi-faceted, easy to relate to, and believable as "Wicked." What most strikes me about Maguire's works is that he begins with an opening setting that has nothing whatsoever to do with the story he is reinterpreting and develops that world into a rich, detailed setting for the story with parallels that the reader never saw coming. I was awed by "Wicked," and equally so by "Confessions." The characters in "Confessions" are equally wonderful. When taken at face value, they are just as stereotypical as their Cinderella counterparts, but when considered with regard to what else is revealed about them throughout the novel, they are as realistic as any friend or aquaintance. I remain impressed by Maguire.

Here is Gregory Maguire's spin on Cinderella. It is told from the perspective of the ugly stepsister in Cinderella. In this novel you feel a connection with Iris. We see her life and how she must take care of her older sister Ruth, who is mentally retarded and how she envies Clara at times who later adopts the name of Cinderella. The story focuses on Iris and how she learns the art of painting and loves it. She even starts to fall in love with the painter's assitant. Of course there's the ball that she is forced to attend and Clara goes against her stepmothers wishes. For she became Cinderella of her own choice. She never liked her stepmother at all and soon just became the cinder girl on her own. At the ball Clara comes close to actually winning the prince's heart but then Clara enters and the prince falls in love with her at first sight and Iris doesnt mind. She loves her painter. Of course the ending is happy, Clara marries the prince, but the stepsisters are not tortured like in the Brothers Grimm or ignored like in Disney. Iris is with her painter and we learn at the very end that the story is being told from the perspective of Ruth and not Iris like you are led to beleive. Great read!

There were so many things i liked about this book, but I can't give it an entirely positive review. Maguire is extremely gifted in imagery and characterization. At times the presentation of contrasts beauty/ugliness, kindess/cruely, love/hate- were all way too obvious- themes are best discoveded subtlely not shoved down our throats.

The plot was not lacking, and the characters were well-rounded and complex--even thoughs we think to be simple change our minds. BUT the difficulty I have is that he only touched on the relationships between these wonderful characters, which is what would have kept me engaged. For instance...there is nothing much said of how van der Meer feels as his household is changed...how does he feel about iris? he isn't just a rock without feelings.. and couldn't more have been done to show the complexities in the relationship of Iris and Caspar? of Iris and Clara? of Iris and Ruth? of Iris and her mother? Where he shoved the themes down our throats he did little in the way of interactions. that is often the most rewarding part of novels, and it is what makes us feel.

This book certainly has its merits but I was left much discontented at the closing.

AFTER SEEING "WICKED" I WAS ANXIOUS TO READ THESE BOOKS. GREAT WRITING, GOOD IMAGINATION. I AM EAGER TO NOW READ "WICKED". HARD TO BELIEVE THIS CAME FROM OUR CINDERELLA!

I bought this book last year from Amazon, and I just finished reading it. It's great, I love the illustrations, and the storyline is great. It's not just about Cinderella but it is also about her parents, step=mother,two ugly step-sisters, and the painter. I'm glad that Mr. Maguire told their side of the story as well, and not just Cinderella. I really enjoyed this book, and it kept me enthralled. It's a great all-around fairy tale from an adults point of view. This book rocks. I can't wait to read Lost, Wicked, and Mirror Mirror. I can't wait until I receive Son of a Witch. I just couldn't put this one down.

If you stand "Confessions" next to "Wicked" you're going to be disappointed, at first. However, on it's own merits, the book starts a bit slow but is amazing as the end draws near. This book still has the amazing composition that made McQuire famous in the first sense. This book is good escapism with a gental tie into popular contemory culture.