Lady Tremaine
Reese’s Book Club Pick (A Novel)
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
Instant New York Times Bestseller • REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK • IndieNext Pick • LibraryReads Pick
"With transporting prose and a galloping plot, this wholly original take on Cinderella recasts the wicked stepmother...a riveting, complex paean to women's strength." —People (Book of the Week) • "Destined to be one of the biggest books of the year." —Glennon Doyle, #1 bestselling author of Untamed • "Breathtakingly beautiful." —Emilia Hart, bestselling author of Weyward
Twice-widowed, Lady Etheldreda Verity Isolde Tremaine Bramley is solely responsible for her two children, a priggish stepdaughter, a razor-taloned peregrine falcon, and a crumbling manor. Fierce and determined, Ethel clings to the respectability her deceased husband’s title affords her, hoping it will secure her daughters’ future through marriage.
When a royal ball offers the chance to change everything, Ethel risks her pride in pursuit of an invitation for all three of her daughters—only to see her hopes fulfilled by the wrong one. As an engagement to the future king unfolds, Ethel discovers a sordid secret hidden in the depths of the royal family, forcing her to choose between the security she craves and the wellbeing of the stepdaughter who has rebuffed her at every turn.
As if Bridgerton met Circe, and exhilarating to its core, Lady Tremaine reimagines the myth of the evil stepmother at the heart of the world’s most famous fairy tale. It is a battle cry for a mother’s love for her daughters, and a celebration of women everywhere who make their own fortunes.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Was Cinderella’s stepfamily really all that bad? And was Prince Charming really that charming? This nuanced fantasy recasts the familiar fairy tale from the “evil” stepmother’s point of view. After two brief marriages, Lady Etheldreda Verity Isolde Tremaine Bramley has a mountain of debt; a decaying manor house; two beloved daughters, Mathilde and Rosamund; and Elin, a sullen, standoffish stepdaughter who does nothing to help improve the family fortunes and is just biding her time until she can lay her hands on her dowry. The prince’s ball could be Lady Tremaine and her daughters’ salvation, until Prince Simeon’s eyes fall upon Elin, who makes her own dramatic entrance into the occasion. Worse still, there’s a darker purpose behind the ball and the prince’s attention, and it’s up to Lady Tremaine to save her prickly, dangerously naïve stepdaughter once it becomes clear that Elin’s not headed toward a happy ending. Lady Tremaine is depicted as a resourceful—and when necessary, ruthless—woman doing her utmost to make the best of unfortunate circumstances. This time, she’s a far more engaging character than her stepdaughter.
