WE KEPT HER IN THE CELLAR is a fresh new look at the classic Cinderella story.

WE KEPT HER IN THE CELLAR
by W. R. Gorman
Crooked Lane, September 2024

Eunice’s life is upended when she meets her new stepsister, Cinderella. Cinderella has dark, terrifying powers, and must be sequestered for her own well-being, and the safety of others.

Her sister, Hortense offers to care for Cinderella for a night, allowing Eunice the chance to attend the ball and reunite with Prince Credence. However, Hortense is not practiced in the art of Cinderella handling, and breaks the rules.

Cinderella strikes, killing Hortense and blossoming into her full power. Flush with the success of her kill, it is Cinderella, not Eunice, who attends the ball. She charms Prince Credence before vanishing at midnight, leaving behind a single green glass slipper.

When the prince mounts a search to find the slipper’s owner, Eunice tries to stop Cinderella from getting her claws into the prince the only way she can think of-she mutilates her own foot to fit into Cinderella’s slipper. Her deception is discovered, and Eunice is thrown into the dungeons, and Cinderella is set to marry the prince.

As Cinderella breaks free, unleashing chaos on the kingdom, it is up to Eunice to put an end to her stepsister’s monstrosity.

W. R. Gorman lives and works in Minneapolis. WE KEPT HER IN THE CELLAR is her first novel.