Cinder Edna

by Ellen Jackson

“Cinder Edna” is a feminist version of Cinderella. Not being a romantic by nature, this version appeals to me. I remember my grandmother reading Cinderella to my sister and me. Grandma would tell my little sister that Cinderella was a princess just like her. Naturally, as the older sister, less attractive for sure, my sister became Cinderella in my mind. I think I was the coach. Yuck! Consequently, I have disliked Cinderella and her sappy prince for over forty-five years.

Needless to say, Cinder Edna is the flip side of Cinderella. Edna is practical, hard-working, average looking, has the evil stepmother and stepsister arrangement, and is realistic. Cinderella, Edna’s next-door neighbor, is beautiful, somewhat dim-witted, and has the same family set-up. Both girls marry princes in the end; however Edna is happy in her marriage. “Cinder Edna” suggests that Cinderella is not as happy in her marriage. This has also been true of my sister. I wish this story and my own sister’s story had been different at this point.

Kevin O’Malley illustrated “Cinder Edna”. Although the publisher does not state what medium the illustrator used, it looks like colored pencils and ink. Mr. O’Malley does an excellent job of drawing caricatures showing emotions clearly in each character’s face. The stepmothers and stepsisters are not featured in many pages as they are not as significant to Cinderella’s and Cinder Edna’s fates as the girl’s own personalities and their own ambitions are. The setting is drawn in current times and current clothing styles rather than the traditional medieval clothing styles and settings of traditional Cinderella stories.

This version of Cinderella will appeal to those of us who were not born beautiful.