TLC Book Tours Book Review: All The Ever Afters

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About All the Ever Afters

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (May 22, 2018)

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."

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Review: If you are a fan of Gregory Macguire's books, All The Ever Afters will be a book that you will enjoy. Its the tale of Cinderella's Step Mother.

I had mixed feelings going in, because I didn't like the portrayal of Cinderella. After 40 + years of seeing a character one way, it was hard to see her in another way.

I did very much enjoy getting to know Agnes, the stepmother who isn't really "wicked" Her life was definitely not pretty and she had a deep abiding love for her children.

This was really a beautifully written book, as we see Agnes grow from a young peasant girl into the stepmother we all think we know.

This is definitely a must read summer novel.

Rating: 5 flowers

About Danielle Teller

Danielle Teller received her medical training at McGill University, Brown University, and Yale University. She has held faculty positions at the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard University. In 2013, Danielle pursued her childhood dream of being a writer. She is the author of one book of nonfiction, Sacred Cows: The Truth About Divorce and Marriage, and has written numerous columns for Quartz. She lives with her husband, Astro Teller, and their four children in Palo Alto, California. All the Ever Afters is her first novel.