'Ash,' A Cinderella Tale Any Lesbian Would Love

Former lesbian entertainment reporter Malinda Lo forays into young adult fiction with her debut novel Ash.

Take one part Cinderella. Throw her into a world of magic and whimsy, fairies and princes. Subtract one handsome prince. Then add the Kaisa, the King’s beautiful huntress and object of Ash’s affection. Out comes Malinda Lo’s debut novel Ash, a dark and magical love story, written for young adults but engrossing for all ages. 

As a young girl, Ash loses her mother then her father and suddenly finds herself serving her evil stepmother and step sisters. As she loses herself to a world of books and magic in the Wood behind her house, she meets a fairy named Sidhean, who seems like he could solve all of her darkest problems. He tempts her with promises to take her away from her harsh life to a better world. However, Ash comes to realize that the the fairy holds an unhealthy power over her (a relationship Lo eventually calls "queer," the only time the word is used in the book). There is, of course, a handsome Prince in this Cinderella story, but he fades into the background as Ash becomes enamored with a strong female character, the huntress:

Ash led the huntress up the garden path and into the kitchen, and she poured some water from the pitcher on the scarred kitchen table into a clean goblet. When she handed it to her, she took care not to touch Kaisa’s hand with her own dirtied one. She watched the huntress’s throat as she swallowed, and she wondered if Kaisa could hear the pouding of her heart. She was nervous, afraid that she would do something wrong… 

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