Is this new land a place where magics really happen? From Gregory Maguire,the acclaimed author of Wickedcomes his much-anticipated second novela brilliant and provocative retelling of the timeless Cinderella tale. In the lives of childrenpumpkins can turn into coachesmice and rats into human beings…. When we grow upwe learn that it’s far more common for human beings to turn into rats…. We all have heard the story of Cinderellathe beautiful child cast out to slave among the ashes. But what of her stepsistersthe homely pair exiled into ignominy by the fame of their lovely sibling? What fate befell those untouched by beauty . . . and what curses accompanied Cinderella’s exquisite looks? Extreme beauty is an affliction Set against the rich backdrop of seventeenth-century HollandConfessions of an Ugly Stepsister tells the story of Irisan unlikely heroine who finds herself swept from the lowly streets of Haarlem to a strange world of wealthartificeand ambition. Iris’s path quickly becomes intertwined with that of Clarathe mysterious and unnaturally beautiful girl destined to become her sister. Clara was the prettiest childbut was her life the prettiest tale? While Clara retreats to the cinders of the family hearthburning all memories of her pastIris seeks out the shadowy secrets of her new household–and the treacherous truth of her former life. God and Satan snarling at each other like dogs…. Imps and fairy godmotbers trying to undo each other’s work. How we try to pin the world between opposite extremes! Far more than a mere fairy-taleConfessions of an Ugly Stepsister is a novel of beauty and betrayalillusion and understandingreminding us that deception can be unearthed–and love unveiled–in the most unexpected of places.