We all know the story of Cinderella from the point of view of the titular young woman, but what about from her stepmother’s point of view? In All the Ever Afters, we get to see the origins of Cinderella's stepmother, Agnes. It tells us of how she wasn't all that wicked but just a bit too stern for a girl endlessly spoiled by her father, and how her sisters were only ugly by the era's arbitrary beauty standards.
All the Ever Afters is a work of historical fiction, eliminating all fantasy elements from Cinderella's story.
All the Ever Afters contains examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: The premise of the story, which seeks to expand on Agnes’s backstory and motivations.
- Adaptational Heroism: Much of the cruel things Agnes did in the original story are cast in a much kinder light here. Ella being made to sleep in the attic was supposed to be a temporary arrangement, only because she refused to stop antagonizing her stepsisters and because there's only one of her and two of them, meaning they required more space. Her bed and things are also moved up there, and she stays up there because she cleans it up and decorates the space. Since there are no fantasy elements in this story, Agnes's trying to shut out the rats and mice is actually a reasonable thing to do in order to keep Ella healthy.
- Adaptational Villainy: The story's "real" version of the Fairy Godmother is a vindictive nun who kicked Agnes's daughters out of the school at the Abbey as retaliation for her marriage to Ella's father.
- Ambiguous Disorder: Ella's mother had some sort of mental illness, likely schizophrenia, and she nearly killed Ella when she became convinced that Ella was a changeling. After that she was never left alone with her daughter. Ella likely inherited a similar disorder. In this story, it's made clear that the mice are not sentient and do not see her as a friend like she claims, and that they are actually disease ridden pests.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Ella being spoiled by her father strained their relationship at times, but Agnes truly loves her as much as she does her biological daughters. This becomes clear when she breaks down crying after finding out that Ella will have to move to the castle and she expresses that she wants them to come with her.
- Babies Make Everything Better: Averted, this is what makes Agnes leave the abbey and causes Fernan to stop caring for her, especially when both children turn out to be girls (although considering he already knocked up one maid before her, he probably would have moved on quickly anyway).
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Averted and discussed. Agnes notes that if someone being ugly is God's will, then they shouldn't be shunned for it, but society at large views beauty as a sign of God's favor.
- Convenient Miscarriage: What Fernan hopes for after he gets Agnes pregnant with Charlotte.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Domestic abuse is not seen as out of the ordinary and widows by law don't have any right to inherit.
- Fantastic Racism: Cinderella's stepsisters were the result of an interracial relationship, resulting in Charlotte having dark skin and curly hair. Agnes notes that she is pretty, but the racist beauty standards of the era which value light skin and smooth hair treat her as ugly. On top of that, some of her neighbors think that her dark skin is a sign that she's a witch.
- Fractured Fairy Tale
- Karma Houdini: Played with. Agnes's abusive first husband never faces any direct consequences for his actions, but he dies of illness halfway through the book.
- Love at First Sight: Deconstructed. This book treats the prince's instantly falling in love with Ella as utter stupidity at best.
- Mama Bear: Agnes adores her daughters and will do anything to protect them, including Ella. Agnes has the last laugh on a woman who did nothing to stop her children from bullying Charlotte by spreading rumors about her being a witch. Despite her being from a well-to-do and pious family, since she was known around town to be full of herself and everybody loves Agnes's ale, it works like a charm and they're forced to leave Agnes and her family alone for fear of getting into serious trouble with the church.
- The Middle Ages: This retelling eliminates the fantasy elements from the story.
- Scars Are Forever: Matilda's "ugliness" comes from her being a pox survivor, leaving her with indents and scars on her face and chest.
- Spoiled Brat: Ella turns out to be this. This story makes the case that Agnes being cruel to Cinderella in the story and favoring her daughters was much fairer, but it seemed like unfair treatment to someone as spoiled as Ella. For instance, her not getting a gown for Ella but getting new ones for her daughters was actually due to the fact that Ella already had plenty of gowns but her daughters barely had anything. Her making Cinderella work cleaning the manor in this story was a temporary punishment she had Ella do because she was taking the hard work the laundress does for granted and carelessly increasing the woman's workload.
- Surprise Pregnancy: Agnes doesn’t realize she’s pregnant until Fernan starts acting brusquely with her.
