Artistic Significance: New take on classic fairy tale offers important theme 

Nobody else can write your story

I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a sucker for retellings of classic fairy tales.

That’s why, when I saw the book “Cinderella is Dead” I knew I needed to read it and in all honesty, I wasn’t disappointed.

This 2020 release takes the story of Cinderella and turns it into something of an intellectual horror story.

The story takes place in the kingdom of Lille, 200 years after Cinderella’s death, where her story has become the law of the land, the stated goal for all women.

Every year, the king holds an annual ball that 16-year-old girls are required to attend in search of a husband. The men? They can attend whenever they want.

Girls of the kingdom are told to read Cinderella’s story every night, memorize it, recite it, live by it, and if they’re dutiful enough a fairy godmother will come on the night of their ball.

If a girl doesn’t find a suitor after three trips to the ball, she’s considered a forfeit and sent to the edge of the kingdom to work.

And if she marries? Her husband is in charge and can do what he wants with her with no repercussions. She also has no say in who she marries.

While some teenage girls excitedly look forward to the ball, our protagonist Sophie wants nothing to do with it or marry a man.

When she witnesses the king ridicule her friend for not being pretty enough and her potential suitor Luke taken away by guards for getting in a fight, Sophie flees her ball.

As she runs for her life, she runs into Constance, a descendent of Cinderella’s step-sister Gabrielle who explains the lies within the “official” version of the story.

Together, they decide the king must be stopped to save, protect and lift up the women of Lille.

Yes, the author hits the message of “destroy the patriarchy” over the head, but she does it in a way that doesn’t villainize all men.

Despite not wanting to marry Luke, Sophie agrees to because she trusts him not to hurt her and treat her well.

Her father does nothing to hurt her or her mother, beyond wishing she could fit in for her own good.

Sophie believes most of the men of Lille are good, but don’t fight the situation out of fear.

While there’s plenty of messages and themes to explore, my main takeaway: you can’t write anybody else’s story.

The king wants to dictate women’s lives, but they fight back.

Constance has a preconceived notion about Cinderella’s fairy godmother, which turns out not to be true.

In the beginning, Sophie tries to convince her best friend Erin to leave Lille. She’s written out their lives together, but it isn’t what Erin wants.

Everybody gets to decide what they want their life to be, and nobody else can decide that for you.

Michael Shine is a contributing writer for the Daily American Republic.