Search - Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

I postponed reading this book for two years because I kept hearing, "It's not as good as Wicked.

I'm so sorry I waited. Those who judged it on the basis of Wicked must have loved Wicked for different reasons than I. Perhaps they only like fantasy or gothic genres.

This book is a delicious historical novel set in Holland during the Reformation. It's the sort of brooding story to read on a rainy day, wrapped in a comforter in your favorite chair with a pot of tea nearby.

Rather than compare it to Wicked, I'd say that those who loved Girl with a Pearl Earring would enjoy this book.

I love the idea of rewriting classic fairytales from the betrodden's point of view. Maguire, when at his best, has an amazing ability of turning what seems like a cut-and-dry-happily-ever-after tale into a labrynthe of intrigue, passion, and depth. He proved this to me in Wicked. I must say, I was sorely disappointed in Mirror Mirror. But after reading Confessions (and Son of Witch), I'm a believer again. I recommend this book but gave it only three stars simply because Wicked is still ten times better in my opinion.

For me, Gregory Maguire is a hit or miss. Wicked took me a while to get into, but i did like it eventually. Son of a Witch? No thanks. Mirror Mirror - just okay. I really did enjoy this one, right from the start, though. While the tale of Cinderella goes way back before the one which most of us are familiar with, the most popular version sure does leave a lot explained! He did a fantastic job giving motivation and alternate explanations of the tale, without actually contradicting the version we are familiar with. It definitely was an enjoyable read, and I felt for the ugly stepsisters.

If you think you really know the story of Cinderella--think again. Gregory Maguire is brilliant in his effort to intertwine a cornerstone fairy tale with the timeless debate of what constitutes "beauty." To what extent will one go to sustain it and what can one do to survive without it?

Excellent. No abuse, no wickedness, just peoples foibles dragging them toward the conclusion

I could barely get through the first chapters when I had to put it down. I'm normally a faithful fantasy reader but I don't know...this just seemed silly to me.

Highly original and most creative version of Cinderella...really enjoyed reading this, on par with Wicked.

Set in 17th century Holland, an unlikely heroin (Iris)finds herself swept into a Cinderella story of wealth and ambition. She becomes involved in the world of Clara, the mysterious and unnaturally beautiful girl who is destined to become her stepsister. This makes Iris the Ugly Stepsister. A novel of beauty and betrayal, illusion and uderstanding, reminding one that deception can be unearthed - and love unvelied - in the most unexpected placed. Iris' mother and sister are major players in this unexpected ending.

Excellant book!!! All his are really worth reading, and re-reading, etc....

So far this is my favorite of Maguire's books, followed closely by "Wicked". Set in Holland with the Tulip Mania this book is from the point of view of a plain girl with a half-wit sister who ends up with a beautiful stepsister. I found the information about painting, how art is a commercial product and art's significant impact in the merchant systems to be very interesting and well woven into the story. The last chapter had an excellent twist/spin . . . that trumped this book over Wicked.

I just couldn't get into this book. It was boring. Yes it tells a different story of Cinderella but i didn't find it very exciting to read. In fact, i considered not finishing it when i got to the middle and the story didn't seem to pick up; nonetheless i trudged through and the only satisfaction i got out of it was that i had made it to the end.
and for the record, i loved wicked and son of a witch but i didn't compare this to them. its merely boring in itself.

Liked this better than Wicked, but...umm. If you read this rather scientifically, for lack of better word, then this was a great book that takes the question, "would you rather be beautiful but morally corrupt, or ugly but honest?" and wraps it around the all-familiar tale of Cinderella. Great. HOWEVER, Maguire loses me when he diverges into the whole imps, ghosties, ghoulies, blah blah blah crap. IT's like he feels obligated to add in the fantastic creatures because he's (re)writing fantasy. Doesn't work.

Beautifully retelling of a classic fairy tale, with an unexpected twist at the end. Maguire does a good job of not labeling all the characters either hero or villian; everyone, from Cinderella to the wicked stepmother is an excellent blend of darkness and light, faults and virtues. At the beginning, I thought the writing seemed a little overwrought and flowery, like poetry that is off-meter. But as you get farther into the tale and begin to see all the references to painting, it fits the tale -- and is perfect when you realize at the end who is actually narrating the story.

I had a hard time getting into this book and almost put it down once or twice. This is the first book I've read of Gregory Maguire's. I ordered Wicked also and this one happened to arrive faster, so I read it first. After seeing the musical "Wicked" and hearing all about the book, I felt like I was let down when I read this book. I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. I felt like it was hard to follow. You do start feeling sorry for the stepsisters, but I really started getting mad at "Cinderella".

I really did not enjoy this book. I like the concept but I found the story tedious and the language awkward.

We all know Cinderella's side of the story, but what about her stepsisters? Living with a beautiful, wealthy girl isn't easy, and some details may have been "accidentally omitted" in the original telling of the story. This book provides "another perspective" to the classic tale. It is a much easier read than "Wicked" (also by Maguire), in my opinion.

I really enjoyed this story, even more than 'Wicked'. It was easier to read, less unexplained lingo. Quite a different viewpoint on the whole Cinderella story!

i thought this was really good, tho not as good as wicked. i enjoyed the different take on the cinderella story, and the little twists at the end. this was an enjoyable read, it sucked me in early and held my attention to the last line.

Great book. Enjoyed the way he interpreted Cinderella.

Gregory Maguire's chilling, wonderful retelling of Cinderella is a study in contrasts. Love and hate, beauty and ugliness, cruelty and charity--each idea is stripped of its ethical trappings, smashed up against its opposite number, and laid bare for our examination. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister begins in 17th-century Holland, where the two Fisher sisters and their mother have fled to escape a hostile England. Maguire's characters are at once more human and more fanciful than their fairy-tale originals. Plain but smart Iris and her sister, Ruth, a hulking simpleton, are dazed and terrified as their mother, Margarethe, urges them into the strange Dutch streets. Within days, purposeful Margarethe has secured the family a place in the home of an aspiring painter, where for a short time, they find happiness.

But this is Cinderella, after all, and tragedy is inevitable. When a wealthy tulip speculator commissions the painter to capture his blindingly lovely daughter, Clara, on canvas, Margarethe jumps at the chance to better their lot. "Give me room to cast my eel spear, and let follow what may," she crows, and the Fisher family abandons the artist for the upper-crust Van den Meers.

When Van den Meer's wife dies during childbirth, the stage is set for Margarethe to take over the household and for Clara to adopt the role of "Cinderling" in order to survive. What follows is a changeling adventure, and of course a ball, a handsome prince, a lost slipper, and what might even be a fairy godmother. In a single magic night, the exquisite and the ugly swirl around in a heated mix:

Everything about this moment hovers, trembles, all their sweet, unreasonable hopes on view before anything has had the chance to go wrong. A stepsister spins on black and white tiles, in glass slippers and a gold gown, and two stepsisters watch with unrelieved admiration. The light pours in, strengthening in its golden hue as the sun sinks and the evening approaches. Clara is as otherworldly as the Donkeywoman, the Girl-Boy. Extreme beauty is an affliction...

But beyond these familiar elements, Maguire's second novel becomes something else altogether--a morality play, a psychological study, a feminist manifesto, or perhaps a plain explanation of what it is to be human. Villains turn out to be heroes, and heroes disappoint. The story's narrator wryly observes, "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." --Therese Littleton --Amazon.com.

The inspired concept of Maguire's praised debut, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, was not a fluke. Here he presents an equally beguiling reconstruction of the Cinderella story, set in the 17th century, in which the protagonist is not the beautiful princess-to-be but her plain stepsister. Iris Fisher is an intelligent young woman struggling with poverty and plain looks. She, her mother, Margarethe, and her retarded sister, Ruth, flee their English country village in the wake of her father's violent death, hoping to find welcome in Margarethe's native Holland. But the practical Dutch are fighting the plague and have no sympathy for the needy family. Finally, a portrait painter agrees to hire them as servants, specifying that Iris will be his model. Iris is heartbroken the first time she sees her likeness on canvas, but she begins to understand the function of art. She gains a wider vision of the world when a wealthy merchant named van den Meer becomes the artist's patron, and employs the Fishers to deal with his demanding wife and beautiful but difficult daughter, Clara. Margarethe eventually marries van den Meer, making Clara Iris's stepsister. As her family's hardships ease, Iris begins to long for things inappropriate for a homely girl of her station, like love and beautiful objects. She finds solace and identity as she begins to study painting. Maguire's sophisticated storytelling refreshingly reimagines age-old themes and folklore-familiar characters. Shrewd, pushy, desperate Margarethe is one of his best creations, while his prose is an inventive blend of historically accurate but zesty dialogue and lyrical passages about saving power of art. The narrative is both "magical," as in fairy tales, and anchored in the reality of the 17th century, an astute balance of the ideal and sordid sides of human nature in a vision that fantasy lovers will find hard to resist. --Publishers Weekly