Customer Reviews

TRAP FOR CINDERELLA

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4 star:		(7)
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A Trap for Cinderella is a masterpiece of fiction. It is the story of a young woman who has lost her identity and continues to lose it as she finds herself deeper and deeper in a morass of passion, greed, bitterness, and sexuality. Each way she turns, she finds a new persona for herself, and new victims. Each shadowy profile she sees of herself is obliterated: she is beautiful, but hated; she is loved, and despised; she is rich, but poor. And she is a gentle human being who may also be a murderer.

In the end, the relief comes not from finding out who is murdered and who has committed the crime, but from the simple act of knowing the truth, however shocking and ugly it may be.

This is a short book, but spare and beautiful. I recommend it.

It's an excellent novel that transgresses the limitations of the detective genre. Unfortunately, the translation is not very good. It inexplicably removes the opening part of the story, and this reduces the book's charm.

Japrisot takes the mystery/thriller genre to another dimension. There aren't just plot twists, reading one of his stories is like taking a roller coaster ride with hairpin bends. You're never really sure what the answer is, and yet if you pay attention, maybe you are. When you think you've found an answer, it opens up more questions, revealing levels of complexity most writers never approach. What I particularly like is, he doesnt use exotic and high-flying settings like english manor houses, international espionage, the world of high finance, etc. Like that American genius Rod Serling, Japrisot's plots happen to ordinary people, a salesperson, a bank teller, a truck driver, a farmer. If his books dont hold your attention nothing will. Also the translations have been dynamite and lose nothing. When I run out of his books that have been put into English, I already am stacking up the ones only available in French. Everyone of the four I have read have been masterpieces.

read this years ago and am thrilled to find it again. i remember that the translation from the french was horribly mangled, but the story was so good, it overcame. would make an excellent movie. (talented mr. ripley is kinda similar concept). i even think that a better translation would take away from some of its charm :)

I found an old, dogeared copy of Trap for Cinderella when I was killing time in a used bookstore. Though I had no intention of buying anything, Trap's premise was so clever that I could not bear to leave the book behind. I am glad that I purchased the book, because it is an intelligent mystery that entertains the reader while also causing him or her to think.

Trap's plot centers on a young woman who is found badly burned and suffering from amnesia after a fire. (If I had to be criticial of Trap, I would note that amnesia has appeared in too many mystery stories). Since another woman died in the same fire, no one can be certain of the survivor's identity. As the novel progresses, it becomes apparent that the fire might have been the result of foul play. So, is the survivor the victim or the killer? That clever twist, well-drawn characters, and a vivid French setting all make Trap a winner.

If you like mysteries, but find too many mystery novels to be dull and predictable, Trap just might be the book for you.

I first read Sebastien Japrisot because Amazon so frequently included his name under "also bought". This time I was well rewarded. Japriscot's work, like most authors, varies in quality - this book falling close to the middle of his quality. A Trap for Cinderella is interesting because of the intrigue upon intrigue as to the identity of the burn victim. The final answer is neither self-evident nor surprising. Rather the reader is led through a narrowing maze of possibility until finally the final answer is disclosed - an answer that is satisfying because it has been threaded throughout the story as one possible outcome.

This is a slender book of tremendous suspense. However, the story is fundamentally about whether the main character can know the truth about those around her and, more importantly, about herself. I appreciated the simplicity of the prose, the unique structure (which allows a reader to see the world as the main character might), and the terrific final few sentences. This is a work not to be missed!

Read this book many years ago, but the eerie plot has stayed with me. Now reading "Talented Mr. Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith and the similarities in the protagonists are striking. Both are poor and young and long for somebody else's life. Envy is their driving motivation. Dominic (?), the poor girl in "Trap for Cinderella," insinuates herself into the life of her rich cousin, Michelle. (May have some of this wrong; it has been years.) Michelle casually allows Dominic to become her syncophant, just as Tom Ripley becomes a leach on Dickie Greenleaf's life in "Talented." Still not sure who survives in the end of "Trap." Think it was not the leach. Wish I had a copy to read again. One of the best mystery/suspense novels I've ever read.

Read "Trap for Cinderella" years ago, but the eerie plot lingers in my mind. Poor, young Dominic (I think that's her name) latches herself onto rich, wild, beautiful Michelle. Michelle casually allows Dominic into her life as a syncophant. Dominic is much like the leachy Mr. Ripley in Patricia Highsmith's novel, in that she envies someone else's life and plots to take that person's life, and become that person. Was young when I read "Trap" and was confused as to who actually survived at the end, the Leach or the rich girl. Hope it was not the Leach. Didn't like her. Would read the book again if I could locate a copy.