Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

Gregory Maguire

Iris and her family left England suddenly when their father was killed by some angry villagers. Her mother, Margarethe takes her daughters to her Dutch grandfather in Haarlem. The old man had died years before. Now she is in a strange country and broke with two daughters to care for. The older, Ruth,is childlike and mentally incapacitated. The younger, Iris, is clever and quite plain, almost ugly.

They are able to find lodgings with a painter. Margarethe acts as housekeeper and cook. Ruth spends her days in the meadow picking wildflowers. Iris has to pose for Master Schoonmaker. The painting is quite good and too realistic in Iris' opinion. He takes it to a local businessman, van den Meer, to show his talent. Van den Meer hires Schoonmaker to paint his breathtakingly lovely daughter with the new tulips he has bred.

Margarethe moves her family over to the van den Meer home. She again acts as housekeeper and cook. Iris now is to be Clara's (the daughter) companion. Clara is a girl who keeps to herself and rarely leaves her room. She has not been out of the house or yard for years. Iris now has to find ways to cajole Clara to open up some and learn English.

Clara's mother died soon after they moved in during childbirth. After proper mourning period, Margarethe marries van den Meer. Clara doesn't accept Margarethe as her stepmother and moves to the kitchen. Now the Cinderella story is ready to commence.

Gregory Maguire has taken a classic fairytale and given it a new twist and perspective. Iris is the first person narrator of the story. She has a keen eye for what happens around her unless it applies directly to herself. Often I find Maguire's writing style a bit convoluted and hard to stay with. But the overall story makes it worthwhile.

Since my version was printed a few years after the novel was first released, so includes questions at the end for reader's groups. I found those helpful to make me consider aspects of the tale that I wouldn't have considered otherwise.

This book concentrates on beauty - Clara's and the tulips are obvious. There is also the artwork, specifically Schoonmaker's, and gestures of charity. The first two are fleeting and will pass. Artwork usually lasts (there are exceptions as Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister shows) and so do the effects of charity. Yet is one less worthy than another? Iris' looks are plain. Yet she has her own beauty - like in her wit and her care for others. She and Clara are opposites in many ways, and so complement each other.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is an interesting book and gives the reader a good story as well as imponderables to think about.