New Book: Charlie Glass's Slippers: A Very Modern Fairy Tale by Holly McQueen

Charlie Glass's Slippers: A Very Modern Fairy Tale by Holly McQueen was released last week. It is technically a reprint of a book published last year in the UK as The Surprising Life of Charlie Glass (size 18 and a Bit) which apparently didn't sell well enough and has earned a retitle and cover change for both the US and new UK edition--the same new title and cover in both countries, that is.

It's obvious the Cinderella inspiration was always present, but the marketing didn't play it up obviously enough with more of a Meg Cabot vibe for the cover instead. Fairy tales sell products, didn't you know? If your product was inspired by them, don't hide it! That said, it looks like a fun romp in women's fun fiction--I hate to use "chic lit" since it is a derogatory term so often now and I don't like to denigrate literature women read for fun. Although I don't mind chic lit or scifi as a description, it's the intent behind the way other people use it that matters.

Book description:

In this delightful, clever spin on Cinderella, Charlie Glass—a heroine as loveable as Cannie Shapiro and Bridget Jones—inherits her father’s shoe empire and snatches up a drop-dead-gorgeous, multi-millionaire Prince Charming. But is he truly the key to her happily ever after?

When Charlie’s beloved father, iconic shoe designer Elroy Glass, dies after a long illness, everyone expects that he’ll leave his business to his glamorous wife and eldest daughters. After all, they’ve been running the company for years. But Elroy surprises everyone from beyond the grave: at the will reading, it’s announced that his fashion empire has been left to Charlie, his youngest—and plumpest—daughter.

Before she can run the company, Charlie decides she needs to make a few changes in her life. After several weeks at a California boot camp, she returns to London a new woman: thinner, blonder, and ready to revitalize the Elroy Glass brand. But as she’ll soon discover, a good esthetician and a killer pair of stilettos can only go so far, and there’s more to reinvention—and running a fashion empire—than meets the eye.

Endlessly entertaining, surprising, and ultimately inspiring, Charlie Glass’s Slippers is a modern-day fairytale about finding your own magic and transforming yourself from within.