The Testament of Lady Silvie

(Originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)

Overall: 3 1/2

Storyline: Simply put, this is Cinderella as told from the point of view of the “evil stepmother” on the eve of her execution. Lady Silvie would object to the evil stepmother description on at least two counts.

Character Development: 3 1/2 I really second guessed myself the whole time I read this, wondering how sympathetic I was meant to be toward Lady Silvie and how unsympathetic I was meant to be toward Elise, the Cinderella character. I wasn't sure if the intention was a Gregory Maguire-esque effort to paint Sylvie as misunderstood and maligned - although I'm sure Silvie would say she's both.

If so, it didn't work for me on that level. Lady Silvie remained incredibly unlikable and Elise still came across as plucky and determined to have a better life, sympathetic, even if Lady Silvie's words were all true. With the exception of Elise being willing to see Silvie dead for being a self-important witch, I remained on her side. Not that that's not a big exception to make.

Elise, depending on how reliable of a narrator Lady Silvie was, might have been a liar and an opportunist, but she also came across as strong and proactive in direct opposition to some of the most well-known versions of the tale.

Writing Style: 3 1/4 I thought some of Lady Silvie's word choices were a little off. The author might have intended, at best, to present her as a well-reared and intelligent woman, and at worst as a pretentious, cold, well, evil stepmother. The language used steered me to the latter explanation.

At various points in the story she calls Elise a scamp and a rapscallion. Both of these words carry the sense of someone mischievous, but in a more fond sense than I think Lady Silvie could have possibly meant it. The oddest word choice was when she remembered at incident when Elise was six and referred to her as a tramp. Really? Unless she means “vagabond” which would still be inaccurate, then I don't see it as apt. Now, the word tramp applied later on would make sense from Silvie's perspective. Applied to a six year old though - and this woman is trying to come across as sympathetic?

I think that sometimes writers when portraying characters in a different time tend to use words that seem old-fashioned, tend to use bigger words, but they still have to be the right words.

There was also a point where Lady Silvie is told that her eldest daughter's dress was ruined “in the wash.” That felt anachronistic to me. Five minutes of crack research - I Googled - indicates the expression “the truth will come out in the wash” dates back to Don Quixote, but the usage here still doesn't sit right with me and sounds too much like the modern sense of a load of wash.

On the other hand, I think several moments were expertly handled. In particular the last line was wonderful and the scene at the ball was also nicely done.