The novel is divided into five sections, not including the prologue and epilogue, and each section is divided into several chapters. Other central characters are Margarethe (their mother), the Master (Luykas Schoonmaker – the painter), Casper (the Master’s apprentice), Henrika & Cornelius van den Meer (Clara’s parents), van Stolk (a greedy business associate of van den Meer), the Dowager Queen of France (in Holland to have her “final” portrait painted), and the Prince of Marsillac (in Holland to have the Queen Mother find him a bride.) There are other figures, imps and changelings, gypsies and dwarfs – it is a fairytale after all, is it not? Set in 17th century Holland, the novel revolves around two sisters, Iris & Ruth, and their eventual step-sister, Clara. I wonder if Disney managed to fully capture the dark & ugly.
Disney made it a TV movie a few years later, but I’ve never seen it. Published in 1999, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is Maguire’s second adult novel, the first being Wicked. Lost (where Maguire takes on Dickens with a bit of a serial killer just for fun) and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister now belong on my shelf next to the Wicked books. (Okay, so I didn’t really shudder, but such language makes for a more dramatic reading.) Enter used bookstore and used bookstore credit. What would happen when he tackled A Christmas Carol? And such beloved fairy tales as Snow White and Cinderella? I shuddered at the thought. He successfully tackled The Wizard of Oz, but I never much cared for the original.
I loved Wicked and Son of a Witch, and I trust I may have equal affection for A Lion Among Men, but what of these non-Wicked tales. Maybe my fascination with him was really with his Oz. But I must admit to being a little wary to venture outside of the Wicked series. My love for Gregory Maguire has not gone unnoticed my little bookslut affection for his work is well documented.
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