Before Midnight: a Retelling of "Cinderella" by Cameron Dokey
This was an interesting retelling of the classic tale Cinderella by a good storyteller. I thoroughly enjoyed some of the new concepts presented like the magic that was so prevalent that it was commonplace. I liked the way the author started the book, with the knowledge that we are all made up of multiple stories with multiple beginnings narrowing down into one perfect end of a person. The author had a way of writing about her characters that was both detached and loving - a bedtime story for her children to fall asleep to.
There are some main differences from the other major written works of Cinderella and a ton of differences from the Disney Cinderella many children have grown up with. In this book Cinderella is Cendrillon (the French version of the name) but her real name is Constanze after her mother who died at her birth. Her father is a nobleman but is alive for the duration of the book and cuts himself off emotionally from his daughter blaming her for the death of his beloved wife. As he leaves his infant daughter with Old Mathilde who delivered her he also leaves a baby boy. Mathilde gets to name both children and raises them as equals. She names the young boy Raoul.
This was an interesting retelling of the classic tale Cinderella by a good storyteller. I thoroughly enjoyed some of the new concepts presented like the magic that was so prevalent that it was commonplace. I liked the way the author started the book, with the knowledge that we are all made up of multiple stories with multiple beginnings narrowing down into one perfect end of a person. The author had a way of writing about her characters that was both detached and loving - a bedtime story for her children to fall asleep to.
There are some main differences from the other major written works of Cinderella and a ton of differences from the Disney Cinderella many children have grown up with. In this book Cinderella is Cendrillon (the French version of the name) but her real name is Constanze after her mother who died at her birth. Her father is a nobleman but is alive for the duration of the book and cuts himself off emotionally from his daughter blaming her for the death of his beloved wife. As he leaves his infant daughter with Old Mathilde who delivered her he also leaves a baby boy. Mathilde gets to name both children and raises them as equals. She names the young boy Raoul.
In this story Cendrillon's father does remarry and sends his unwanted wife to the same stone house where his unacknowledged daughter lives. Through her goodness and kindness Cendrillon is able to get the nobleborn stepmother and her two daughters Amelie and Anastasia to become a real family for her. There are no ugly stepsisters in this story; just ones who have a little more growing up to do. It is a very happy ending for everyone: Amelie ends up with Niccolo (a younger nobleman's son from another country), Anastasia falls in love with Raoul (who turns out to be a prince) and Cendrillon falls instantly in love with the Prince Pascal who is twin brother to Raoul.
It is a lovely story with many good lessons in it. Cendrillon admonishes her father for turning his back on love. Mathilde advises her young charges that nothing is impossible just perhaps not as you would expect it. We learn that things can change in a blink of an eye and that sometimes it may take years of wishing and hoping to get what you want. All in all this is a beautiful bedtime story.
It is a lovely story with many good lessons in it. Cendrillon admonishes her father for turning his back on love. Mathilde advises her young charges that nothing is impossible just perhaps not as you would expect it. We learn that things can change in a blink of an eye and that sometimes it may take years of wishing and hoping to get what you want. All in all this is a beautiful bedtime story.
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