Reese Witherspoon has named Rachel Hochhauser’s Lady Tremaine the latest pick for her popular book club.
Hochhauser’s debut novel, published last week by St. Martin’s, is a reimagining of the Cinderella story from the point of view of the character’s stepmother. In Hochhauser’s version, the stepmother, Lady Etheldreda Verity Isolde Tremaine Bramley, is a misunderstood, loving woman trying to sustain her family after the death of her second husband. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the book “a bold and beautifully written examination of a mother’s love told through the eyes of Cinderella’s ‘wicked’ stepmother.”
Witherspoon announced the novel’s selection in a video on Instagram, which features her chatting with some club members. “I loved the idea that it’s a retelling of the Cinderella story,” she says. “What we thought we knew, we don’t know at all. Cinderella is not the hero.…I thought she was a brat, and not in a Charli XCX way, in a little-girl-who-won’t-clean-up-her-room [way].”
Hochhauser appeared in another video on the Reese’s Book Club Instagram account, saying, “Like a lot of young girls, I grew up absolutely enthralled with Cinderella. But now, as an adult and especially the mother of two young daughters, I’ve started to question its message: that if you’re beautiful and nice, you just might be lucky enough to be picked by a prince. This book flips the classic fairy tale on its head. It’s filled with falconry, and 17th-century sweets, and family secrets, and maternal love, and so much more that will defy your expectations at every turn.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
