Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story is the 2nd book by Carolyn Turgeon.
In present-day Manhattan, an old woman with beautiful white hair named Lil divides her time between working in an independent book shop and sitting in her lonely apartment. Lil’s friends are few and far between because she has an important secret she can never share with anyone.
Lil is Cinderella’s notorious fairy godmother. She was banished to our real world forever for appearing to Cinderella’s prince as a human and making him fall in love with her. As punishment, Lil must spend years in our world without her one true love, while also maintaining large fairy wings she keeps hidden and bound to her back each and every day.
When a beautiful and free-spirited young hairdresser named Veronica steps into the bookshop, Lil is reminded instantly of her beloved fairy sister, Maybeth, who remains behind in the fairy world. Lil makes it her personal mission to help Veronica find her one true love with hopes that if she succeeds, she will be redeemed and allowed back into the fairy kingdom, and possibly also reunited with Maybeth.
Godmother is clever, magical, and entrancing. It’s a unique, macabre spin on the traditional story of Cinderella. This book had me reeled in from the start. Each and every character in Godmother is colorful and romantic, even the wistful and tragic Cinderella.
Lil’s transformation at the end reminds me of Natalie Portman’s transformation at the end of Black Swan. The author nearly had me believing fairies are real, just by the way she writes.
Those who like dark spins on classic fairy-tales will absolutely love Godmother. This book deserves the highest praise possible and it’s one of the best novels I’ve read in the past year.
I’ve also read and reviewed The Fairest of Them All by Carolyn Turgeon, which is also very good!
Other books by Carolyn Turgeon include:
- Rain Village (2006)
- Mermaid (2011)
- The Next Full Moon (2012)
What did you think about Godmother?
Last Updated on December 1, 2025 by Sarah Ann
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