I remember loving this novel as a child. Sadly it doesn't quite live up to my fond memories. It's a little too childish, with all the sing-song rhymes and Ella's saintly goodness. But I did enjoy Ella invoking the guests to play hide-and-seek at the ball and how she became strong enough to stand up to her stepmother at the end. Still a worthwhile read, but more for children than adults. ( )

A retelling of the classic tale of Cinderella, based upon an earlier play of the same name. Brings to vivid life the trials and tribulations of young Ella, mistreated by her nasty stepmother and unattractive stepsisters, who dreams of going to the Prince's ball.

I absolutely love some of Farjeon's work. This was a a little scattered, a little odd. At a few, brief, times it felt almost like either a hack job or a parody of the Cinderella story. But as I got further into it, and saw how all the little songs and the extra characters belonged in this version, all came together for a richer story.

I loved the chapters at the ball. The enchantment lay over the prose as it did over all the ladies as they lightly ran out into the snow to play Hide & Seek with this little stranger, this utterly charming Princess of Nowhere.

I'm not comfortable with the character of the Zany, the Jester.
And I'm frustrated that the character of the Father was drawn sympathetically, but then just totally dropped before the end.

And, even though I read the whole book, I don't know how the author managed to stretch it out for so long. Really there wasn't much more here than in most 6-8 page versions.

I suspect Farjeon dreamed the ball, wrote it all done in a fever state, realized how lovely it was, and constructed a book around it. And because she was an established & successful author, her editor trusted her, and didn't push her to improve it (ie, by telling us what happened to the Father). ( )

This is a lovely "old-fashioned" retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale. It is based on a play and this is obvious in both the way the action centers on a few specific locations (eg. the kitchen in the house) and the rhyming verses many of the characters speak. The language is lively and fun. The "things" in the kitchen are animated, which adds a whimsical touch. My 4-year old, who has a fondness for this particular fairy tale, asks for it over and over again; needless to say it works really well as a read-aloud.

The characterizations are very straightforward -- Cinderella is sweet and good, her father is kind but weak and completely under his wife's thumb. The stepsisters are selfish and crude. The stepmother is actively cruel and malicious. The prince is shallow. There is also a "Zany" or companion to the Prince, and then the necessary mysterious fairy godmother.

If giving this to a child, you may want to know that Cinderella's stepmother repeatedly refers to her as a "slut" and a "slavey". I simply changed these for reading aloud. ( )