The Charmed Wife

By: Olga Grushin

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

"Genre-bending and darkly comic, Grushin's fourth novel is a weird and wonderful triumph." (O, the Oprah Magazine)

Cinderella wants her Prince Charming dead in this sophisticated fairy-tale for the 21st century.

Cinderella married the man of her dreams - the perfect ending she deserved after diligently following all the fairy-tale rules. Yet now, 13 and a half years later, things have gone badly wrong, and her life is far from perfect. One night, fed up and exhausted, she sneaks out of the palace to get help from the witch who, for a price, offers love potions to disgruntled housewives. But as the old hag flings the last ingredients into the cauldron, Cinderella doesn't ask for a love spell to win back her Prince Charming. Instead, she wants him dead.

Endlessly surprising, wildly inventive, and decidedly modern, The Charmed Wife weaves together time and place, fantasy and reality, to conjure a world unlike any other. Nothing in it is quite what it seems - the twists and turns of its magical, dark, and swiftly shifting paths take us deep into the heart of what makes us unique, of romance and marriage, and of the very nature of storytelling.

©2021 Olga Grushin (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

One of Oprah Daily's Best Beach Reads to Help You Escape

"This wildly inventive, thoroughly modern retelling of the story of Cinderella - and what happens after she marries Prince Charming and comes to feel he is not really so charming after all - is creepy in all the right ways. Genre-bending and darkly comic, Grushin's fourth novel is a weird and wonderful triumph." (O, the Oprah Magazine)

"A comic riff on an ancient fairy tale." (Los Angeles Times)

“The Charmed Wife is a modern take on the story of Cinderella, marriage, divorce and love that’s surprising, darkly comedic and enchanting.” (CNN)

It’s All There

The story was creative and an amazing way of looking at our princesses. The reason I gave the book 4/5 stars is because the multiple story lines and multiple time lines ended up being too much. Once I was invested in one I felt I was yanked out and moved to another. I’d have rather have read a five book series focusing on each one and it’s tie to the present. Great Audible.

Utterly Charming

I loved this take on a Cinderella story. At times I was absolutely devastated, and then hopeful. I love the way Ms. Grushin wove in different fairytales and fairytale elements into the overall narrative.

This book will make you dizzy.

Lots of hard to follow story lines. Some unanswered questions still remained at the end of the book.

Thought provoking

Timelines become jumbled for Cinderella as she moves from her fairytale life to a more realistic world. Don't worry about trying to keep all the timelines straight in your head. We're seeing this through Cinderella's eyes as she makes her way from one world to the next. The timelines are jumbled for the reader because they are jumbled for her. It's an interesting look into our roles in creating our own happily-ever-afters, and how things are frequently not what they seem.

Beautiful, Hopeful, Powerful

The heroine is memorable and the story is unforgettable. a fantastic read. Highly recommend.

Sad fairy tale

The narration of this story was superb. I found the story just a little bit too long because it went into so many different tangents. Too many characters. That said, I did enjoy the story and found it very true to life not at all what we would think it’s fairy tail wouldn’t tail.

Absolute perfection

The story was hard to get through at times but the wonderful voice-acting made this beautifully sad tale a true wonder.

Warning

This is not an escapist fairytale. And not humorous. It is an allegory for a deeply troubled woman. When a girl grows up and realizes that the fairytale marriage and kids she was promised is not all it's cracked up to be. So if you don't want to go there, pick something else. When will a generation of women happen that doesn't have to fall into this trap? When will this kind of story be a quaint revisiting of a forgotten past?

Not a fairy tale story

This book was written very creatively, however I got a bit frustrated not knowing this and it was a hard story line to want to stay committed. The use of characters were good but there is a bit of confusion on time period along the way. Not until did I fully appreciate the storyline and narrative of the story. If you can get through the majority of the book you may be able to appreciate the ending and could essentially relate to it.

Less fairytale more reality

I thought I was going to read about the fictional Cinderella. Instead, it ended up being awfully similar to my actual life.

As with books in similar genres, it is slow to build. Which is interesting given how much most people know about that story. But once it gets going, it sticks!

Definitely worth read! It has been reevaluating my life 👀