Starred Review ALA Booklist

Starred Review Among the many Cinderella adaptations, Teller's reimagined tale, told from the point of view of Cinderella's (here called Ella) stepmother, Agnes, stands out among the best. Since her peasant family can no longer afford to raise her, 10-year-old Agnes works as a servant at a great manor. Clever, compassionate, and ambitious, she spends decades gradually improving her position, progressing from laundry girl to alehouse owner to nurse until she becomes a lady herself. A wordsmith, debuting novelist Teller paints Agnes' everyday pain and hardship in enchanting, lyrical prose rich in whimsical, picturesque images about what would otherwise be harsh living conditions. Agnes' love for her two daughters is palpable, but her relationship with fussy, sensitive, quiet Ella is rife with complications. Agnes built a stable life for herself through hard work, so it's natural she'd try to teach Ella, who's sweet but spoiled, the same lesson. However, Agnes, whether she realizes it or not, also punishes Ella for being more rich and beautiful than her own daughters. Fairy-tale aficionados will adore Teller's complex, touching retelling of this classic story of womanhood, perseverance, and familial love, in which she strikes an ideal balance between familiar and fresh.

Kirkus Reviews

Cinderella's "evil" stepmother gets her say in Teller's (Sacred Cows: The Truth About Divorce and Marriage, 2014) historically grounded first novel.Agnes, who will become first the beautiful Ella's nurse and then her stepmother, grows up in a British peasant family. Because her widower father can't support three children, she's sent to work in the laundry of the nearby manor. After years of hard labor, she makes her way to the local abbey, where her duties are a little lighter and where she becomes pregnant out of wedlock. Thrown out of the abbey, she finds work as an alewife and soon begins brewing her own ale. When her common-law husband dies, she's no longer permitted to operate the alehouse because she's a woman, and so she makes her way back to the manor, where she's put to work minding young Ella, whose father, the perpetually drunken lord of the manor, becomes besotted with her. Teller's tale finds a realistic explanation for each of the elements of the Cinderella story: Ella's "fairy godmother," for example, is the powerful but not supernatural Mother of the abbey, who looks down at Agnes because she's a peasant. As for the "ugly stepsisters," one of the sweet-natured and hardworking girls is mocked because her skin, like her father's, is dark, while the other has scars left by a bout of smallpox. Ella is a decidedly minor figure in a story that only tangentially touches on hers. Teller anchors her novel in well-researched details of medieval life, and if her prose doesn't reach the level of poetry, it abounds in sensory details, from the "sticky swelter" of the busy manor kitchen to the "pink roses, yellowwort, purple foxglove, mauve centaury" in the abbey garden. The author's understanding of the severe challenges posed by gender and class in this society adds depth to the story.A provocative revision of this familiar fairy tale.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Teller-s charmed debut gives life to the brave and resourceful Agnes, better known as one of fairy tales- most reviled villains-Cinderella-s evil stepmother. Born a poor servant, Agnes works her way from laundress to running her own ale house while struggling to provide and care for her daughters as a single mom. When tragedy strikes her family, Agnes is forced to return to the manor where she was first a servant. No longer a scared, helpless girl, she becomes much more than a maid, caring for the moody, unstable lady of the house, Lady Alba, nurturing her neglected daughter, Ella, and turning the manor-s finances around with her head for business. Scandal ensues after Lady Alba dies and the lord marries Agnes to continue raising his daughter and managing the manor. When Ella falls in love with the prince, she can-t bear to leave her stepmother and -sisters behind and takes them to live with her at the castle. Although Ella is welcomed, stories at court swirl around Agnes and her daughters. Teller pulls off the spellbinding trick of turning an easy-to-hate character into a strong and conscientious female lead. Agent: Michael Carlisle, InkWell Management. (May)

School Library Journal

Teller's debut novel is a more realistic addition to the ever-growing genre of fairy-tale retellings. It's told from the point of view of Cinderella's stepmother, Agnes, beginning with her childhood. There is nothing romantic about this adaptation; Agnes's life is full of turmoil as she bounces around fulfilling different servant roles. Though she is granted a reprieve from servitude after the birth of her children, she quickly finds herself back in service as a wet nurse for Ella, who will eventually become her stepdaughter, Cinderella. There is much more warmth between Ella and Agnes than in the usual retellings. However, Agnes is still harsh; she despises Ella and lashes out at her because she feels that Ella is ungrateful. Ultimately, Agnes understands that she has projected much of cruelty she has endured onto Ella. The narrative makes up for its lack of magical whimsy by exploring the complexities of relationships. VERDICT A solid addition to any collection where fractured fairy tales are popular, but not an essential purchase. Melanie Leivers, Palm Beach Country Library System, FL