Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley

This is my first finished book of the summer. My goal was 40 books - that's 5 books a week and I am way behind. I think cleaning my house and playing with my new notebook are making serious inroads into my reading time. Luckily, I have 4 days of fishing (reading) coming up for vacation.

This book is so much more than I expected. There have been so many fairy tale stories lately, I wasn't prepared for the depth of this story. It is about Bella, a noble knight's daughter who is left with a peasant family for fostering after the death of her mother. The story deals with some of the very difficult issues of medieval life - childbirth, death, disease and the challenge of behaving with strength and character despite the perfiidity of others.

The story is told in multiple voices and reveals many of the classic Cinderella elements, stepmother and stepsisters, handsome prince, a disguise, glass slippers; but what a change in how the elements fit together.

You are going to have to pick this book up to read the rest!