Book Journal: Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

I think this is the fourth time I've read this book...

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

Like I said for my entry on Mirror, Mirror, Maguire's writing really enchants me (though I understand if it isn't everyone's cup of tea). I also believe this is his greatest work, paces above Mirror, Mirror and absolutely the Wicked series, which seems to be pretty much universally panned by reading audiences, though really gave way to a fantastic Broadway show (which I saw with the original cast! God, that was amazing).

He's got a big vocabulary which I really appreciate, and CoaUS is more direct in its writing, so that his messages aren't quite as esoteric as they were in MM. That's not to say that sometimes you kind of look down in mild exasperation at times--his strength can at times be his weakness--but this is far and away the most accessible, and the most engaging.

The story is set in a believable 1500s/1600s Haarlem with really interesting characters and wonderful imagery. The book isn't long, at about 350 pages or so, but there are times when Maguire approaches a flat road that could have better benefited from a more uphill rise. My favorite aspect here is the relationship between Caspar and Iris, which I would have liked to see played out on page more, and the dastardliness of Margarethe, a great villain trapped by her own evils and the circumstances thrown at her in life--marked by the fact that she is, in fact, a woman.

The more I read Maguire's works the more I am enchanted by his writing--and the more I see where that kind of writing masks less decent aspects. That's not a knock on Maguire so much as I feel grateful for a more critical eye.

7/10