Shadowbook

SHADOWBOOK: Author's Commentary

This book has been written and rewritten. Cinderella stories are always about development. Development from drudge to princess, from child to woman. This one is about the development of the Shadow.

Shadowbook as a Fairy Tale

Shadowbook is unquestionably a Cinderella story. I loved Cinderella as a kid. Cinderella turns up in just about every human culture. To show how, well, unconscious the motifs, I didn't originally intend to write a Cinderella story. I wanted Shadowbook to be about Nyx, and the development of her Shadow (my Shadow). But no. My Shadow had other plans, giving me a slap on the face and informing me that he was a boy. In true Astor fashion, he sauntered into the spotlight and took control of the book. The moment I cemented Astor's role as a prince was when it became a Cinderella story. Is the plot cliché? Yes. But I realized that I used the cliché plot as a literary device. The well-known storyline is easy to follow and balances the complex psychological concepts.

Is Nyx a damsel in distress? Is she too reliant on the fulfilled fantasy of a handsome, wealthy man that will love her and save her from her life? Maybe, but maybe not. I wanted Nyx to be a traditionally feminine character, but not necessarily a passive one. I see Nyx as the girl who is capable of plowing through by herself, but who desperately needs someone to rescue her before she can go anywhere. She hasn't been able to rescue herself. A parent has not rescued her by adopting her. What's left? Prince Charming. But all Nyx needs is to be rescued. Once she recovers in his loving arms, she can fully develop as a person (or Shadow) and won't need him. Nyx is dependent because she has to be; she is not a dependent person.

The "Cinderella Complex" is described as women's tendency to depend on men. Anti-feminist, right? But some forms of feminism don't promote femininity at all. This story is so universal; we can't just narrow it down to that. In fact, most Cinderella stories are not so regressive; the prince is merely a catalyst for Cinderella's development, not the purpose of it. She doesn't go to the ball because she wants to marry the prince. She goes because she wants to go do something fun for once and just happens to get the prince— at least, that's how I always interpreted it. The prince isn't a character in Cinderella! He just is the occasion for the development. Compared to the damsels in towers or chained to rocks by dragons, Cinderella does not throw herself at the feet of her prince and demand he protect her.

This isn't exactly the case here, but that's what's different about this version. Astor is Prince Charming, but his charm is quite dangerous. Part of the reason I don't see Nyx as the hapless damsel in distress is because despite her need for his love and protection, Nyx protects herself first and does not trust Astor right away (unlike in the original). Quite frankly, she has no reason to. Recently, I seriously considered what it would be like to be in Nyx's shoes for her first date with Astor (a mix of a dream and spontaneous fantasies). That would be extremely overwhelming! For a first date? With someone you thought was normal? She'd never want to see him again! So why does she? In that moment, I decided she was too euphoric about being with someone like Astor. Being in the Otherworld also automatically puts her in a dreamlike state, and she has trouble convincing herself that it's real. She doesn't fully absorb the overload of carriage and castle and Astor's debonair approach toward her. He becomes like a drug to her. Suddenly, the thrilling, playful, let's-break-the-rules wickedness of the Shadow no longer seems so appealing when Astor preys on Karrine. Still slightly euphoric and awed by his predatory grace, Nyx's fear doesn't hit her until later. When it does, her euphoria breaks and her whole world crashes down. She realizes she can't trust the person she thought would save her, until he proves that she can.