Book Review: Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim

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I have always been fascinated by Fairy Tales. However, little did I know that there is a Chinese version of Cinderella, the tale of Ye-Shen, dating back to the Tang Dynasty. In New York Best-Selling Author Elizabeth Lim's book Fishbone Cinderella, Ye-Shen and the Fish appear multiple times through the story of the protagonist, Yut Ying/Helen.

About Fishbone Cinderella

Fishbone Cinderella is a semi-biographical book by Elizabeth Lim, who created the protagonist, Yut Ying, based on her grandmother’s life story. That makes the book authentic, despite its fantasy element.


About the Author

Elizabeth Lim, a Harvard alumna, is a New York best-selling author with 10 novels to her credit. She lives in New York with her husband and daughters. 

Synopsis

In 1940, Yut Ying, along with her 2 brothers, mother and grandmother, was living in a camp. Their village has been taken over by the brutal Japanese army. She sneaks back to her deserted house to get some essentials for her ailing brother, when she discovers something very uncanny and unusual about herself. Yut Ying's life journey of intense suffering, strange experiences, and tremendous resilience forms the subject matter of the book. The book is divided into two parts: Yut Ying's life before marriage in Hong Kong and her life after marriage in the USA.


My Review of Fishbone Cinderella

Fishbone Cinderella is one of those rare books with memorable quotes that replay in your mind in specific situations.

The book's time period spans from the 1940s to the seventies and is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on Yut Ying and the second on her marital life in the USA as Helen and later her daughter, Marigold. Just like Helen, Marigold also carries on the generational curse that Helen discovered long back during her childhood. 

Separated from her mother in childhood, does Helen's desire to reunite with her come to fruition? What happens to her gifted daughter, Marigold, and the same curse that she carries? To know, you have to read this modern-day fantasy tale.

Here are a few quotes I loved:

Life was too short to be apprehensive of everything.

I inhaled mama's recipe's the way scholars inhaled ink.

It was simply a smile, the crumb of a fairy tale that had been told a thousand times—when a girl discovered she was in love. I didn’t hear the click of the camera that would immortalize it and turn it into my legacy.

Overall, Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim is a wonderful tale of war and misery, of hope and betrayal, of acceptance and renewal amidst a fantasy folklore.

Available on Amazon here

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