<p> In the lives of children, pumpkins can turn into coaches, mice and rats into human beings. . . . When we grow up we learn that it's far more common for human beings to turn into rats. </p> <p> We all have heard the story of Cinderella, the beautiful child cast out to slave among the ashes. But what of her stepsisters, the homely pair exiled into ignominy by the fame of their lovely sibling? What fate befell those untouched by beauty . . . and what curses accompanied Cinderella's exquisite looks? </p> <p> Set against the rich backdrop of seventeenth-century Holland, <i>Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister</i> is a novel of beauty and betrayal, illusion and understanding, reminding us that deception can be unearthed?and love unveiled?in the most unexpected of places. </p>