Ella defied them by going anyway, hoping to make connections through which she could find more gainful employment and build a better life. When the women learned that the king and queen were throwing a royal ball, they forbade Ella from going and overloaded her with chores. In response, she tells him what really happened.Īfter the tragic death of her father, her stepmother, Lucille, and two stepsisters, Griselda and Corimunde, had essentially enslaved Ella. Jed reveals that rumors have been circulating regarding Ella’s origins and that they involve a pumpkin coach and fairy godmother. She befriends her history teacher, Jed Reston, and a young servant Mary. Ella strongly dislikes her new mentor, Madame Bisset, who is of the belief that noble women should not have their own power. Moreover, she has figured out that there is not much to the Prince beyond his power and privilege. She is highly unfamiliar with what it means to be royalty, having grown up with her abusive stepmother and stepsisters. Part of this task involves refining her identity as a princess. Ella, now known publicly as Princess Cynthiana Eleanora, has moved into the royal palace and is busy getting ready for the wedding. The novel begins after Ella Brown of Fridesia is engaged to Prince Charming. The novel touches on many ways in which patriarchal elements manifest, ranging from domestic relationships and marital tensions, to feminine solidarity and one’s conception of selfhood. The story contextualizes Ella within her patriarchal aristocratic society, illuminating how even the most successful women in this kind of system feel disillusioned and frustrated as they internalize their oppression.

A feminist reimagining of the classic fairy tale of Cinderella, it follows fifteen-year-old Ella who struggles to find happiness after she ends up in a dead-end marriage with Prince Charming.

Just Ella is a 1999 fantasy novel by American author Margaret Peterson Haddix.

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix