Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Many are going to love this debut from Rachel Hochihauser that reimagines Lady Tremaine, the evil stepmother from Cinderella. That description is perhaps the first problem here. When I think of Lady Tremaine I always think ‘evil’. Not just stepmother, but evil. I know this is a retelling, a spin and change up of the story we all know and love. I also know unlike most, even as a child and certainly as an adult, I love villains. A good villain is far more intriguing and impressive than a good hero to me. So it is perhaps not surprising that I did not love this downplaying of the evil aspect here.
While Lady Tremaine story is very feminist, well written (or at least quite good for a debut), and very original for a retelling; it just didn’t quite do it for me. Although the narrator of the audiobook has the perfect British tone for the story; I still found myself wandering whether on audio or reading off the printed page. I just wanted more darkness and at times was bored by the banality of details I just didn’t care about.
Before you jump at me, that the blurb made it clear this was a more positive spin on Tremaine, let me reiterate my point. This is the EVIL stepmother. The lady that made our society think of stepmothers as inherently awful. So to add too much vanilla to her is a challenge. Does she do inherently ‘evil’ things? I suppose, spoilers aside, one might argue she does some unsavoury things. But everything she does is to help, save, or better the position of her daughters. All three of her daughters, yes the famous Cinderella (known as Elin here) included. At no time is she ‘mean’ or ‘unfair’ to Elin over her own daughters. In fact it could be said that Elin is the one who is awful most days.
On the note of Elin, I did not understand why Hochihauser changed the names so drastically of the characters. It felt unnecessary. Ella would have been fine, and the original (non-Disney names) better for the girls. Yet the one thing that bothered me the most in the entire story is the cut of the most iconic item from any Cinderella telling, the glass slipper. There are no slippers, no glass, no attempt at symbolism or way to draw in this critical aspect of the tale. This for me is the worst mistake made here. I didn’t need a glass slipper; but I did need some attempt to join the idea back to something left behind. I kept waiting and waiting for something to represent that classic slipper and am stunned it never appeared. I did however enjoy the focus on apples as a nod to the Evil Queen and many other Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and other fairy tale princess story nods.
Ironically, perhaps, the best part of this novel was once we were done with the ball and the original Cinderella story was behind us. Then Lady Tremaine took on a life of its own. This tells me that Hochhauser should be writing her own unique stories. She did a brilliant job with the ending and twisted it all up. This would have been a much better story without any fairy tale base we all know. I’d have much preferred to strip it down to a twisted fairy tale and not bother to tie it to any one specific story or known character.
Generally, I think this is a clever take. I will consider reading a future Hochhauser novel as it was good enough, especially for a debut. I do like the feminist overtones and push of the young girls to not just the ‘be a princess’ like the Mothers all desire. And, not unlike a good Disney movie, the side characters were my favourite. The falcon, Lucy, is a lovely icon and her role is brilliant in the end. The stoic man and prince’s guard, Otto, is absolutely perfect representation of a man stuck in a very feminist toned, but stuck in a patriarchal royal story. He is just trying to live a good life and be fair to all; a trait I always admire in men (my own husband included).
In the end, I just wish there had been more darkness in Tremaine. She could have been just as feminist, strong, and downtrodden as she was without taking so much of the ‘evil’ out of her. It just didn’t quite hit for me; but again I truly believe it will for many others.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Many are going to love this debut from Rachel Hochihauser that reimagines Lady Tremaine, the evil stepmother from Cinderella. That description is perhaps the first problem here. When I think of Lady Tremaine I always think ‘evil’. Not just stepmother, but evil. I know this is a retelling, a spin and change up of the story we all know and love. I also know unlike most, even as a child and certainly as an adult, I love villains. A good villain is far more intriguing and impressive than a good hero to me. So it is perhaps not surprising that I did not love this downplaying of the evil aspect here.
While Lady Tremaine story is very feminist, well written (or at least quite good for a debut), and very original for a retelling; it just didn’t quite do it for me. Although the narrator of the audiobook has the perfect British tone for the story; I still found myself wandering whether on audio or reading off the printed page. I just wanted more darkness and at times was bored by the banality of details I just didn’t care about.
Before you jump at me, that the blurb made it clear this was a more positive spin on Tremaine, let me reiterate my point. This is the EVIL stepmother. The lady that made our society think of stepmothers as inherently awful. So to add too much vanilla to her is a challenge. Does she do inherently ‘evil’ things? I suppose, spoilers aside, one might argue she does some unsavoury things. But everything she does is to help, save, or better the position of her daughters. All three of her daughters, yes the famous Cinderella (known as Elin here) included. At no time is she ‘mean’ or ‘unfair’ to Elin over her own daughters. In fact it could be said that Elin is the one who is awful most days.
On the note of Elin, I did not understand why Hochihauser changed the names so drastically of the characters. It felt unnecessary. Ella would have been fine, and the original (non-Disney names) better for the girls. Yet the one thing that bothered me the most in the entire story is the cut of the most iconic item from any Cinderella telling, the glass slipper. There are no slippers, no glass, no attempt at symbolism or way to draw in this critical aspect of the tale. This for me is the worst mistake made here. I didn’t need a glass slipper; but I did need some attempt to join the idea back to something left behind. I kept waiting and waiting for something to represent that classic slipper and am stunned it never appeared. I did however enjoy the focus on apples as a nod to the Evil Queen and many other Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and other fairy tale princess story nods.
Ironically, perhaps, the best part of this novel was once we were done with the ball and the original Cinderella story was behind us. Then Lady Tremaine took on a life of its own. This tells me that Hochhauser should be writing her own unique stories. She did a brilliant job with the ending and twisted it all up. This would have been a much better story without any fairy tale base we all know. I’d have much preferred to strip it down to a twisted fairy tale and not bother to tie it to any one specific story or known character.
Generally, I think this is a clever take. I will consider reading a future Hochhauser novel as it was good enough, especially for a debut. I do like the feminist overtones and push of the young girls to not just the ‘be a princess’ like the Mothers all desire. And, not unlike a good Disney movie, the side characters were my favourite. The falcon, Lucy, is a lovely icon and her role is brilliant in the end. The stoic man and prince’s guard, Otto, is absolutely perfect representation of a man stuck in a very feminist toned, but stuck in a patriarchal royal story. He is just trying to live a good life and be fair to all; a trait I always admire in men (my own husband included).
In the end, I just wish there had been more darkness in Tremaine. She could have been just as feminist, strong, and downtrodden as she was without taking so much of the ‘evil’ out of her. It just didn’t quite hit for me; but again I truly believe it will for many others.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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