In the vein of Wicked, The Woodcutter, and Boy, Snow, Bird, a luminous reimagining of a classic tale, told from the perspective of Agnes, Cinderella’s ""evil"" stepmother.
We all know the story of Cinderella. Or do we?
As rumors about the cruel upbringing of beautiful newlywed Princess Cinderella roil the kingdom, her stepmother, Agnes, who knows all too well about hardship, privately records the true story. . . .
A peasant born into serfdom, Agnes is separated from her family and forced into servitude as a laundress’s apprentice when she is only ten years old. Using her wits and ingenuity, she escapes her tyrannical matron and makes her way toward a hopeful future. When teenaged Agnes is seduced by an older man and becomes pregnant, she is transformed by love for her child. Once again left penniless, Agnes has no choice but to return to servitude at the manor she thought she had left behind. Her new position is nursemaid to Ella, an otherworldly infant. She struggles to love the child who in time becomes her stepdaughter and, eventually, the celebrated princess who embodies everyone’s unattainable fantasies. The story of their relationship reveals that nothing is what it seems, that beauty is not always desirable, and that love can take on many guises.
Lyrically told, emotionally evocative, and brilliantly perceptive, All the Ever Afters explores the hidden complexities that lie beneath classic tales of good and evil, all the while showing us that how we confront adversity reveals a more profound, and ultimately more important, truth than the ideal of ""happily ever after.""
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“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.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Teller pulls off the spellbinding trick of turning an easy-to-hate character into a strong and conscientious female lead.”
— Publishers WeeklyBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Danielle Teller received her medical training at McGill University, Brown University, and Yale University. She has held faculty positions at the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard University. In 2013 Danielle pursued her childhood dream of being a writer. She is the author of Sacred Cows: The Truth About Divorce and Marriage and has written numerous columns for Quartz. She lives with her husband and their children in Palo Alto, California.
Jane Copland has over twenty-five years’ experience in broadcasting and voice-overs. Working mainly in television, she has been a BBC newsreader, presenter, and continuity announcer. She has narrated many documentaries for BBC 2, Channel 4, and the History Channel. For her first audiobook, The Palace of Curiosities by Rosie Garland, she played both female and male roles and a host of accents from posh to cockney, Dutch to Italian.