Just Read: CINDER HOUSE by Freya Marske
"Sparks fly and lovers dance in this gorgeous, yearning Cinderella retelling."
I’m a huge lover of fairy tale retellings, and scooped up Freya Marske’s CINDER HOUSE the moment I saw it. Marske’s version is a lush, Gothic delight, casting Cinderella as a ghost trapped in haunting her own home with her evil step-mother and step-sisters. There is known magic in Marske’s world, including fairies and sorcerers that push the traditional fairy godmother aspect into a new perspective, and curses cast not only on our heroine but her prince as well. Brushstrokes of queer romance add additional heart to Marske’s version of the story. Overall, a gem.
A slim novella that respects the boundaries of the original tale without diminishing what Marske brings to the retelling, the story doesn't break the rules of its own magic, relishing a tale spun in gossamer and glass slippers.
Ella is a haunting.
Murdered at sixteen, her ghost is furiously trapped in her father's house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters.
Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family must never learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died.
Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched.
You think you know Ella's story: the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince.
You're halfway right, and all-the-way wrong.
CINDER HOUSE is coming from Freya Marske and Tordotcom in October, and available now for preorder!