The most obvious literary quality of the novel involves Maguire's use of motifs from the familiar fairy tale, including the ball, the lost slipper, the visit from the prince, the cinders by the fire, and so forth. Maguire includes these motifs, but he rearranges them to build suspense and keep readers wondering how this Cinderella tale will unfold. We do not know that Maguire's tale will end in the same way Perrault's did, and in fact, we have trouble identifying the main character. The story is told from Iris's perspective, yet in third person narrative, and when all is said and done, Clara and Margarethe appear just as strong as Iris as characters.

Maguire's characters differ from their fairy tale counterparts, yet they seem to embody the same concepts. The character of Luycas Schoonfield, for instance, embodies the theme of creation just as does the fairy...