Marsha Says... Read this!

BEFORE MIDNIGHT by Cameron Dokey, 2007, 193 pages

Dokey’s young adult novel is a re-telling of the Cinderella fairy tale with a few minor twists. The same night Constanza--daughter of Constanza D’Este and Etienne de Brabant-- is born, her mother dies. Mad with grief, her father rejects the infant and leaves her behind to be raised by servants at their stone manor by the sea. Two weeks later, Brabant returns with a nameless infant boy and drops him off with orders that he is never to leave the estate. Again, Brabant leaves and has no further contact with his daughter.

Constanza--nicknamed Cendrillon because the hearth fires magically re-ignited during her stormy birth--and Raoul, the foundling, grow up together as best friends. Although there is Old Mathilde to take care of them, Cendrillon longs for her father’s love or at least the love of a mother or sister. Her wishes come true when a new step-mother and two step-sisters arrive unexpectedly from court. It’s obvious that Chantal de Saint André and her daughters Anastasia and Amelie have never heard of Cendrillon’s existence and they mistake her for a servant. Cendrillon is so shocked by events she doesn’t immediately tell them the truth.

While Chantal and Anastasia miss their life at court, the younger daughter Amelie is curious about her new home, especially the locked rooms of Constanza D’Este which were abandoned the night Cendrillon was born. Anastasia is a spoiled young lady and devises unnecessary tasks to keep Cendrillon busy. The more time that passes without Cendrillon revealing her identity, the more difficult she realizes it will be to convince Chantal and the girls who she is. But Cendrillon empathizes with Chantal’s abandonment by Brabant and soon earns her and Amelie’s affection.

When the king announces that all eligible females will attend a ball to meet the crown Prince Pascal, Brabant writes to his wife and forbids her and the girls to attend. But Chantal has other plans and when Cendrillon finally reveals her true claim as Brabant’s daughter, it’s decided that the four women will attend the ball with Old Mathilde as chaperon and Raoul as an attendant.

Things don’t go exactly as planned at the palace and there are more surprises awaiting the young people at court. Will Cendrillon meet someone to love? Will Anastasia and Raoul find love despite his lowly status? Will Cendrillon’s father acknowledge her existence? Will Brabant ever find peace from his dreadful grief?

Dokey’s rendition is lively, magical, and romantic. Cendrillon is an empathetic character with a strong will and a loving heart. Readers in grades 5-10 will enjoy this latest version of a traditional tale.

-- Reviewed by Marsha Bates, Mid-Columbia Libraries