Lady Tremaine

Lady Tremaine ~ Rachel Hochhauser

Lady Tremaine is in the unenviable position of being twice widowed, once wealthy but now takes her hawk Lucy hunting for meat. She is unable to pay her servants, and is meanwhile trying to keep up appearances in order to secure decent marriages for her daughters in order to pull the family out of poverty. She has two daughters from her first marriage, Rosamund and Mathilde, and a stepdaughter from her second, Elin. Her daughters are helpful and do their best to lighten her load, while her stepdaughter mostly walks about spouting insipid platitudes from a book on etiquette, waiting for a husband to sweep her off of her feet. Her second husband left her the house and land (which needs a new roof) but along with that came his debts. He did leave some money, but not for maintaining the house, it all goes to Elin’s dowry, and cannot be touched for anything else.

I’m not the biggest fan of fairy tales in general. I don’t think I’ve read any version of Cinderella other than one based on the Disney film. The Disney film is…fine…but the whole princess culture is exhausting and stupid and part of the reason we banned Disney when Maya was little (Results – a child obsessed with Disney – do not recommend). When Nicole, Jenny and Engie all reviewed this book (with varied results), I decided to give it a try. I’m really glad I did, because it was not at all what I expected (which was a rehashing of the Disney version casting all blame on Cinderella). Instead what we have is a fairly nuanced look at Lady Tremaine’s predicament, as well of those of all three of her daughters. Yes, there is a ball. There is a Prince. There are white horses and a golden carriage. But this story is much richer, darker, and ultimately more satisfying than the fairy tale. Highly recommended.