Our new release is called The Stepmother and is about how far a mother would go to protect her children, even if they’re not her own. And while we’re not going to give any spoilers away on what kind of stepmother Libby is, we did think it would be fun to talk about stepmothers in books and movies.
Often when we think of stepmothers, it’s along the lines of the evil stepmother trope that Disney have always used—from the Evil Queen in Snow White to Lady Tremaine in Cinderella. And while it makes sense from a writing perspective because there is so much inherent conflict built into it, how accurate is it really?
Amanda’s own stepmother never once stopped her from trying on a glass slipper or made her stay home and mop the floor, and we both have plenty of friends, family and colleagues who are step-parents, ex-wives, step-children, or have other complicated family relationships that don’t lead to such levels of toxic jealousy!
And with the increase in blended families, it seems harmful to only see stepmothers one way. This is something we explored in our book, and we also thought it would be fun to talk about our Top Three favourite stepmothers and what we love about them.
1) The Sound of Music
Anyone who knows Sally, knows she loves a musical, so at the top of her list is Maria from The Sound of Music. Maria helps the von Trapp children find their voices, both figuratively and literally and it’s fair to say she falls in love with the children before falling for their father. As far as stepmother awesome goes, she is a winner!
2) The Brady Bunch
As for Amanda, she grew up watching the Brady Bunch, so she has to put Carol Brady on the list. And while it was ridiculously wholesome and PG, there was something so reassuring about the Brady Bunch and seeing them fight, talk about it, compromise, and work through their problems.
3) Stepmom
And finally, something we can both agree on! Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon in Stepmom give such a powerful and sad perspective from both the stepmother and the ex-wife’s point of view (which, turns out is the title of one of our other books).
We’d love to hear from everyone else about what their favourite stepmothers are in books, movies, TV and musicals. And don’t worry, they don’t need to be good. We do like a little evil in our lives as well, so fire away! And if you get the chance to read our latest book, don’t forget to let us know what you think.
Yours,
Amanda and Sally