Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by: Carolyn Turgeon

The dark and enchanting backstory of Cinderella's fairy godmother

Lil is an old woman who spends her days shelving rare books in a tiny Manhattan bookstore and lonely nights at home in her apartment. But Lil has an intriguing secret. Tucked and bound behind her back are white feathery-wings- the only key to who she once was: the fairy godmother responsible for getting Cinderella to the ball to meet, fall in love with, and mary Prince Charming.
    But on that fateful night, something went terribly and beautifully wrong. Lil allowed herself the unthinkable: to feel the emotions of human beings and fall in love with the prince herself, going to the ball in place of Cinderella in her exquisitely gorgeous human guise. For the unforgivable mistake, she was banished to live out among human beings, far from her fairy sister, her friends, and their magical world. But then one day she meets Veronica- a fair-skinned, dark-haired young East Village beauty with a passion for all things vintage and a penchant for falling in love with the wrong men- and suddenly it becomes clear to Lil that she's been given a chance at redemption. If she can find a soul mate for Veronica, she may return to the fairy world she so deeply longs for....

CAROLYN TURGEON is the author of Rain Village and is working on her third book, a noir.

And so states the back cover of Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story, an amazing book I read this month by Carolyn Turgeon. I cannot tell you the purpose of why she chose to write this book. However I can tell you the reason I enjoyed it so much. From the beginning of the book, it took me back to my childhood watching the Disney version of Cinderella- a much sugar coated version. Now that I am an adult, what seems to be many years later, it was a bitter-sweet shock to find out it was an adult version. When we become adults the majority of us loose our sense of imagination. This book enthralls you and escapes you back into a child-like fantasy world. The use of Carolyn’s descriptions throughout the book just makes my room fill with haunted forests, kings and queens, and yes even fairies fluttering around sprinkling their dust all over the land.


From beginning to end I was laughing at the author’s application of humor. As much as I use the F bomb, I have to admit I even gasped, and had to laugh. I was hardly expecting such a word to be used in a “fairy tale.” Another great feature about this book is that it is from the godmother’s perspective. It has a past/present flash back story from Cinderella to modern day Manhattan, New York. Since I have been to New York myself it was nice to read her portrayal of it, and even naming a lot of the places I had gone to, and a few that I hadn’t- but now am dying to see.

I think the greatest thing about this genre of fantasy that Carolyn chose to write about is that we all need an escape at times. Living vicariously via this book, even for the brief time of its reading consumption can put one in a zen-like state. She takes you away from all the worries of current times, and hell, even makes you focus on someone else’s (Lil’s). The audience for this book is definitely not for children. Possibly some mature teen audiences, but more suitable for adults. I only say this due to some of the briefly abuse situations. At the same point, I was always the one kid reading the books/magazines I was told not too.

Over all, I would recommend this book to just about anyone. I went to the library today to request a copy of Carolyn’s first book Rain Village. While she was getting the book reserved for me she mentioned Carolyn had another book. I got all excited and was about to request it. Then she told me the title was Godmother. I quickly had to express to her my appreciation for such a well written book and recommended to her that she take some time out to read it. Carolyn is currently working on another book, from what I seen, on mermaids. Maybe it’s the secret life of a certain mermaid named Ariel? Who knows, but all I do know is I am now a fan of Carolyn’s and her miraculously well use of humor and power to be a very talented writer.

Opening Day

I recently aquired a book titled "Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story" by Carolyn Turgeon. Before this book I had no remote clue there was such a thing as ACR's (Advanced Copy Reviews) also called Galley's. So I began doing some research and found out that anyone can request such a copy as long as they provide a review of sorts.

This is what caused me to join Blogger. Along with my various social networking sites, Blogger will help keep readers up to date with upcoming releases. I review and you get the heads up! :) Well my time is up and Godmother is calling my name. I wonder if she can help me with my Prince Charming?

xo xo