A Wartime Cinderella Retelling with Magic and Fishbones
Elizabeth Lim reimagines Cinderella in 1940s China, weaving wartime danger, curses and golden fishbones into a magical retelling. Fantasy readers will love seeing familiar fairy-tale bones transformed by history, sacrifice and a fresh cultural setting.
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Fishbone Cinderella
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A Wartime Cinderella Retelling with Magic and Fishbones
Elizabeth Lim reimagines Cinderella in 1940s China, weaving wartime danger, curses and golden fishbones into a magical retelling. Fantasy readers will love seeing familiar fairy-tale bones transformed by history, sacrifice and a fresh cultural setting.
- Book Synopsis
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A bracelet. A curse. And golden fishbones to be returned to the sea...
Guangdong, 1940. When Ha Yut Ying narrowly escapes Japanese soldiers by turning invisible, she knows her new-found magic must be kept a secret. But her mother, whose dreams foretell the future, suspects her daughter has changed, and warns her of a curse upon their family. For her protection, she gives her a gold bracelet whose links are shaped like fishbones.
After the war, Ha Yut Ying is sent to live with her father and his second wife, who have become wealthy factory owners in Hong Kong. Her stepmother, jealous of her beauty, forces her to work in the family's shoe factory.
But when Yut Ying collides with a boy on a bicycle on her way to work, she loses her bracelet. The boy is Tommy Yeung, scion of a local soymilk tycoon. And their encounter will change both of their destinies forever...
Ideal for readers who:
- Enjoy fairy-tale retellings transformed by Chinese history, war and family obligation.
- Want magic that feels tied to survival, secrecy and inheritance.
- Like stories where a cursed object carries emotional as well as plot weight.
- Appreciate romance and destiny unfolding across Guangdong and post-war Hong Kong.
- About The Author
- Elizabeth Lim is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of ten novels, including A Forgery of Fate, Six Crimson Cranes, and Spin the Dawn. An alumna of Harvard College and the Juilliard School, she grew up in Northern California and now lives in New York with her husband and her daughters.
- Product Details
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- ISBN
- 9781399750820
- Format
- Paperback
- Publisher
- Hodderscape, (23 July 2026)
- Number of Pages
- 448
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 234 x 153 mm
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