Ella Enchanted
Gail Carson Levine's 1997 Newbery Honor novel reframes Cinderella as a fairy tale about consent. Ella of Frell is given a so-called gift at birth by the bumbling fairy Lucinda, the gift of obedience, which means any direct order anyone gives her, hand over your jewels, eat that cake, drown yourself, she physically must obey. After her mother's death and her father's remarriage to the predatory Dame Olga, Ella sets out across a fantasy continent to find Lucinda and undo the curse, befriending elves, fighting ogres, falling slowly in love with Prince Charmont, and ultimately discovering that the only way out is something the curse itself cannot force. Levine writes with affectionate humor and a real sense of agency for her heroine, and the book has been a fixture of middle grade fantasy ever since. The 2004 Anne Hathaway film is a different and broader thing.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about Ella Enchanted
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
At her birth, Ella of Frell was given the fairy gift of obedience. She has spent her life having to do whatever she is told. After her mother's death, she sets out to undo the gift before a stepsister figures out it exists.
Ella Enchanted was written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. It is a feminist Cinderella retelling and was a Newbery Honor book in 1998.
The 2004 film starring Anne Hathaway departs significantly from the novel, with new characters and a more comedic tone. Many readers prefer the original book; the film has gained nostalgic appreciation as a 2000s teen fantasy.
Ella Enchanted is 249 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Ella Enchanted takes most readers 4 to 5 hours to finish.
Ella Enchanted is a standalone novel by an unknown author, not part of a series.
Ella Enchanted is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.