Gregory Maguire's second novel is a reworking of the
Cinderella tale. Set in seventeenth century
Holland the novel focuses on Ruth and Iris, the two daughters of a dutch woman returned to her home country after her English husband is killed in East Anglia. Lacking any
fortune or
luck, they start their new life working with a
genre painter before moving to the household of a business man and
tulip dealer.
The Cinderella figure, Clara, the beautiful daughter of this rich
merchant, is a
neurotic loner who believes she is a
changeling. Ruth, the eldest, the "
ungainly ox" is mentally retarded. Iris, the narrator, is far from
lovely but has wit and talent as a
storyteller and
painter.
Whilst the story follows some of the familiar patterns of the well known
fairy tale (the
wicked stepmother, the ball, the
prince charming with the
slipper) it opens up the variations that deviate from the standard.
Cinderella has chosen her life in the ashes as an escape, Iris has little
patience with her mother's scheming and
social climbing. And the story has enough depth to transcend the limited
formula of a traditional
fairy tale.
Setting the tale amid the
tulip fever and the
dutch art world seems a little heavy handed at times, but it's an appropriate background setting. It's not as magical and fluid as his previous novel, '
Wicked', but it's a more interesting reworking than, say, '
Ever After'. Worth reading, if you enjoy new takes on old tales.