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15th out of 588 books
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Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
We have all heard the story of Cinderella, the beautiful child cast out to slave among the ashes. But what of her stepsisters, the homely pair exiled into ignominy by the fame of their lovely sibling? What fate befell those untouched by beauty ... and what curses accompanied Cinderella's looks?
Set against the backdrop of seventeenth-century Holland, Confessions...more
Set against the backdrop of seventeenth-century Holland, Confessions...more
Paperback, 372 pages
Published
October 1st 2000
by ReganBooks
(first published November 1st 1999)
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I love books based on fairy tales, but it's taken me forever to really read any of Maguire's stuff. I still haven't read "Wicked." Years ago, I tried reading this book and just couldn't get into it. But with so many people telling me how great this guy is, I decided to give it another shot.
This book follows the story of Iris and Ruth, two little girls who, with their mother, flee from England after their father is murdered. Poor and begging, they have no choice but to firs...more
This book follows the story of Iris and Ruth, two little girls who, with their mother, flee from England after their father is murdered. Poor and begging, they have no choice but to firs...more
I love fairy tale retellings...especially the ones that try to be the "True" version.
Set in 17th century Holland during the Tulip craze this version of Cinderella is by far my favorite. The central character is not Cinderella (who is a spoiled brat) but Iris, the youngest of the two step-sisters.
Margarethe returns to her homeland, Holland,with her two daughters - plain Iris and simple Ruth, afer her husband is murdered in England. She becomes the housekeeper for a pai...more
Set in 17th century Holland during the Tulip craze this version of Cinderella is by far my favorite. The central character is not Cinderella (who is a spoiled brat) but Iris, the youngest of the two step-sisters.
Margarethe returns to her homeland, Holland,with her two daughters - plain Iris and simple Ruth, afer her husband is murdered in England. She becomes the housekeeper for a pai...more
I remember when I read this book for the first time. I bought it the day after it came out, because I was already obsessed with Gregory Maguire despite the fact that he had only written one other adult book at that point.
I started the novel in the morning, the day I had to take my parents to the airport in Kalamazoo. We left that evening because their flight was an early morning one. I read and read in the car, getting fairly far. When we got to the hotel and had to go to bed, ...more
I started the novel in the morning, the day I had to take my parents to the airport in Kalamazoo. We left that evening because their flight was an early morning one. I read and read in the car, getting fairly far. When we got to the hotel and had to go to bed, ...more
This was an easy read and an interesting take on the "Cinderella" story, but it wasn't amazing. It felt like it gave a very long build-up to a climax that was vague and unexciting and a denouement that was pretty disappointing. Only as an epilogue do we discover what happened to Iris, the main character of the book, and even then, it is brief and without many details.
Many of the ideas introduced into the storyline also felt as though they were left hanging at the end of t...more
Many of the ideas introduced into the storyline also felt as though they were left hanging at the end of t...more
view all 5 comments
In the lives of children, pumpkins can turn into coaches, mice and rats into human beings. When we grow up, we learn that it’s far more common for human beings to turn into rats.
If magic was present, it moved under the skin of the world, beneath the ability of human eyes to catch sight of it.
Immortality is a chancy thing; it cannot be promised or earned. Perhaps it cannot even be identified for what it is.
It’s the place of the story, beginning here, in the mea...more
If magic was present, it moved under the skin of the world, beneath the ability of human eyes to catch sight of it.
Immortality is a chancy thing; it cannot be promised or earned. Perhaps it cannot even be identified for what it is.
It’s the place of the story, beginning here, in the mea...more
Maguire's ability to come up with an interesting story is far better than his ability to tell the story. His writing is often a bit too labored, his symbolism too transparent, and his literary devices a bit clunky.
Like 'Wicked', 'Confessions' offers the reader a variation on a well-known story. Also like 'Wicked', 'Confessions' is not really all that much to write home about. A somewhat creative variation, but one in which many of the characters are incredibly hard to like, and th...more
Like 'Wicked', 'Confessions' offers the reader a variation on a well-known story. Also like 'Wicked', 'Confessions' is not really all that much to write home about. A somewhat creative variation, but one in which many of the characters are incredibly hard to like, and th...more
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is way better than Wicked, not least because the characters have consistent personalities and the plot is coherent. I appreciated the sensory details and descriptions, and the various characters are original. There's a nice twist near the end which gave me a little brain jolt, and I always like that.
A Cinderella retelling in the perspective of an ugly stepsister, from the author of Wicked. Hmm. Okay, this book is just "not quite." Which I need to put in the proper scale -- the set-up is brilliant, as Maguire's generally are, and the follow-through is good, and the denouement is fine. But I didn't want fine. I wanted this book to walk up to me and knock me on my ass with a right hook to the gut. Instead it came up, dazzled me with some fancy footwork, and then asked me for a sedate...more
*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 '...more
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 '...more
The story is alright but I wish Maguire elaborated Iris and Caspar's/Clara and Prince's happy ending more. It lacks the romantic feeling at the ending.
But the prologue shocked me. It contains all of the 'confessions' of this ugly stepsister. Some of my questions are answered but there are some that are left hanging.
Update: Complete review HERE
But the prologue shocked me. It contains all of the 'confessions' of this ugly stepsister. Some of my questions are answered but there are some that are left hanging.
Update: Complete review HERE
There's absolutely nothing wrong with the idea of taking a fairy tale and adding a modern spin to it. Most authors who've done this have emphasised the fantastic and erotic elements, or the mythic character of the tale, or they've taken a political/feminist approach. Angela Carter, Tanith Lee, Neil Gaiman and China Miéville have used such approaches with great success. Gregory Maguire, however, has adopted a very different approach. He's taken the story of Cinderella and removed all the fan...more
I really, really enjoyed this book. If you allow yourself to forget that it's a take on Cinderella, it is still a fabulous book. Once you get to the parts where you sort of snap to remembering, "Oh, right...wicked stepmother...", you're already entrapped in the world of Iris.
This is a truly wonderful take on the story. Margarethe, the wicked stepmother, is an evil evil cow. I was more than a little horrified when she told the clothier that she could offer him something in ...more
This is a truly wonderful take on the story. Margarethe, the wicked stepmother, is an evil evil cow. I was more than a little horrified when she told the clothier that she could offer him something in ...more
This book gives a whole new view on the Cinderella, one that is completely believable. It offers a real setting(not just a land far, far away or a long time ago) and speaks of real people. It makes you think. Is beauty a gift or a curse? It offers a brave, out-of-the-ordinary heroine, one of the ugly stepsisters herself. The narrator shows you a new perspective on the Cinderella story. Perhaps the wicked stepsisters were not so wicked. Perhaps they had lives too. Perhaps their lives were actuall...more
I expected this to be more of a twisted version of Cinderella. Using the same facts but putting a spin on them to a different viewpoint. So I was disappointed when I first started to read. I was also did not like how it switched to another person for the final chapter of the book. When you are invested in a character it becomes very discombobulating.
Having said that, once I let go of my preconceived notions I did enjoy the book and I enjoyed the realism. It also left me pondering dif...more
Having said that, once I let go of my preconceived notions I did enjoy the book and I enjoyed the realism. It also left me pondering dif...more
The retelling of Cinderella during the Dutch tulip boom.
Nearly all the action in this book is precipitated by Margarethe; the other characters react to her, but they rarely make choices on their own. And Margarethe was almost too villainous to be believed.
My bad opinion didn't really harden, though, until the epilogue, with which I had two problems:
1. It wasn't so much a twist as a cheat, rather like finishing a mystery and learning that the gunman was a year...more
Nearly all the action in this book is precipitated by Margarethe; the other characters react to her, but they rarely make choices on their own. And Margarethe was almost too villainous to be believed.
My bad opinion didn't really harden, though, until the epilogue, with which I had two problems:
1. It wasn't so much a twist as a cheat, rather like finishing a mystery and learning that the gunman was a year...more
I love this prequel to the age old story, Cinderella. IMO this was WAY better that the popular book, Wicked, by this author. I should also add that there's an interesting interview with the author on the final disc. It's always fascinating, to me, to get inside an author's brain.
Christine
added it
After the relative disappointments of Lost and Mirror, Mirror, I thought I'd give Gregory Maguire another chance, and pick up the earlier Confessions.
I must say I'm glad I did. First I was intrigued, then gripped and finally deeply moved. Part of the thrill of these revisionist fairy tales is of course to see how the author embroiders on the original story, and alters our perception without deviating too much from the familiar plot. Usually, this is done by having the traditional villain present...more
I must say I'm glad I did. First I was intrigued, then gripped and finally deeply moved. Part of the thrill of these revisionist fairy tales is of course to see how the author embroiders on the original story, and alters our perception without deviating too much from the familiar plot. Usually, this is done by having the traditional villain present...more
Maguire creatively reinvents another popular children s story in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Maguire s technique is somewhat different than in Wicked. He doesn t simply build on the story; he demythologizes it, showing how true stories become legends. Iris, her mute sister Ruth, and Clara exist in our world, not in fantasy-land, and whatever magic they encounter is the magic of this world. I enjoyed his clever retelling of a well-known story.[return][return]The novel is not an unqualif...more
I like this version of the Cinderella story much better than the one we all know.
synopsis:
"Confessions" is set in Holland of the 17th century, and begins with Margarethe Fisher & her daughters Iris who is plain and Ruth who has been referred to her mother as an ox who can't speak well arriving in Haarlem seeking the home of Margarethe's father. Margarethe's husband has died back in England, and the three have to flee to Holland. They are poorer than poor; no one wil...more
synopsis:
"Confessions" is set in Holland of the 17th century, and begins with Margarethe Fisher & her daughters Iris who is plain and Ruth who has been referred to her mother as an ox who can't speak well arriving in Haarlem seeking the home of Margarethe's father. Margarethe's husband has died back in England, and the three have to flee to Holland. They are poorer than poor; no one wil...more
First, I liked this WAY better than Wicked! It was so much easier to read, to follow, to keep reading and not put down ... Of course it had some darkness to it, like Wicked, but nothing on that scale! Talk about your fractured fairy tale, huh? One of the previous people who read this book said they still weren't sure if they liked it, which is kind of how I feel too. But I think I liked it!
I loved Caspar and the Master. I wanted them both to be happier, but I guess that wasn't ...more
I loved Caspar and the Master. I wanted them both to be happier, but I guess that wasn't ...more
Wow! I really liked his style of writing in this one, compared to Wicked. Just finished a few hours ago, actually.
First of all, I liked how he used imps and the fairytale/Western folklore? in the same way that Fr. Bulatao and my mom use Philippine mythology in psychology - they need not necessarily be physically real. But it feels real, tastes real, smells real, looks real. To the person experiencing it, it IS real. And this sort of symbolic representation was also so much more subtle,...more
First of all, I liked how he used imps and the fairytale/Western folklore? in the same way that Fr. Bulatao and my mom use Philippine mythology in psychology - they need not necessarily be physically real. But it feels real, tastes real, smells real, looks real. To the person experiencing it, it IS real. And this sort of symbolic representation was also so much more subtle,...more
COAUS totally blew me away. You'll start off a bit confused but expecting the same tale of Cinderella: the girl, orphaned by her parents, abused by her stepmother then escapes to the ball with the help of her fairygodmother. She dances with the prince and falls in love and then disappears. The prince shows up and they live happily ever after and the step-family get their just desserts.
So, if you've ever read WICKED, you'll know that Maguire has a way with redeeming the villains. I've ...more
So, if you've ever read WICKED, you'll know that Maguire has a way with redeeming the villains. I've ...more
Having fallen in love with Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, I was desperate to read whatever else I could get my hands on that he had written. An Amazon gift certificate windfall resulted in ordering Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Maguire's retelling of the classic tale of Cinderella.
::: They're Not Your Average Family :::
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister retells the story of Cinderella with a change in focus from Cinderella to...more
::: They're Not Your Average Family :::
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister retells the story of Cinderella with a change in focus from Cinderella to...more
Overall the book is good, but I didn't enjoy it. It's a book that I would have been fine if I had never read. I'm not going to give a description of the book but the first half of the book is incredibly slow. With the reviews I read I thought there must be something big coming. But, no. The ending, for me, is just 'oh, okay, I get it.' Right after I finished reading it, I thought, "okay, I guess that was good". But the more time I spend thinking about the book, the more I disli...more
RE: _Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister_
Below are the comments I made about this book at my GR group:
I read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire back in 2003, but have forgotten to add it to my shelves here. I will do that today.
I must have liked the book because I just found 15 pages of handwritten quotes which I had scribbled from it as I read! Even I can't believe it! LOL (These days I don't copy as many quotes because it's too time-consuming. I ha...more
Below are the comments I made about this book at my GR group:
I read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire back in 2003, but have forgotten to add it to my shelves here. I will do that today.
I must have liked the book because I just found 15 pages of handwritten quotes which I had scribbled from it as I read! Even I can't believe it! LOL (These days I don't copy as many quotes because it's too time-consuming. I ha...more
I've read almost all of Gregory Maguire's books, and didn't like any of them. Except for this one. This one was wonderfully done and while it showed some of his tendencies towards crudeness, the writing and characters were much better developed.
Margarethe and her two daughters have escaped from England, where the locals were wanting to kill them. Originally of Dutch descendants they thought they could find a home with relatives still in the city. However, upon arriving they learn that ...more
Margarethe and her two daughters have escaped from England, where the locals were wanting to kill them. Originally of Dutch descendants they thought they could find a home with relatives still in the city. However, upon arriving they learn that ...more
I've had this book, and several others in McGuire's group of fairy tale re-tellings, lying around for a while now. Finally I decided I might as well dive in and give them a read, so I chose Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister first, since there have been several books by other authors that retold the tale of Cinderella that I liked quite a bit.
Unfortunately, at the end, I'm not able to add this one to that group. Though McGuire seems to have a way with a clever turn of phrase and some ...more
Unfortunately, at the end, I'm not able to add this one to that group. Though McGuire seems to have a way with a clever turn of phrase and some ...more
If I hadn't read this for a book club, I probably wouldn't have finished reading it. It was well written with interesting, complicated characters. But after putting it down, I wasn't compelled to pick it up again because I didn't care deeply about these people. Set in 17th Century Holland, it's the CINDERELLA story, told from Iris's point of view, the plain daughter of a conniving mother who manages to get a job--and a home for herself and her two daughters--with a local artist, then with a weal...more
This is a great book, especially if you like those "things-aren't-always-as-they-seem" versions of fairy tales. Like Elphaba in "Wicked", those who we have always thought of as the "bad guy" are not always as evil as they seem while the "good guys" have their negative qualities about them. Lots of twists and turns in developing the characters of the stepsisters, the stepmother (who reallly is kind of wicked in my opinion...), Clara (Cinderella), the Princ...more
This was my first Gregory Maguire novel, and I definitely plan to read Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. In this re-telling of the Cinderella story, I loved how Maguire turns everything upside down that we think and assume about Cinderella’s history, her adopted family, and Cinderella herself. I also really enjoyed the setting in Haarlem and the inclusion of seventeenth century Dutch painting as such an integral part of the story. Iris (the ugly stepsister) was such ...more
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Gregory Maguire is an American author, whose novels are revisionist retellings of children's stories (such as L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into Wicked). He received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children'...more
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“In the lives of children, pumpkins turn into coaches, mice and rats turn into men. When we grow up, we realize it is far more common for men to turn into rats.”
—
152 people liked it
“If magic was present, it moved under the skin of the world, beneath the ability of human eyes to catch sight of it.”
—
36 people liked it
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