How This Book Was Made
The person who wrote this marvelous book is Gail Carson Levine. our compliments also go to Al Cetta and Mark Elliott for illustrating the jacket cover. Harper Collins Publishers published this "Cinderella- like" story as well as many, many other novels. Except "Ella Enchanted" was published in the year 1997.
The Setting
This story takes place in approximately the year 1905 for about eighteen years. In the whole of this novel, it takes place in Ella's manor in Frell, Dame Olga, Hattie, and Olive's manor in Frell, and the castle. The finishing school in Jenn, Fen, and the palace are all part of the setting too.
The Characters
Ella of Frell, Prince Charmont, and Mandy are the main characters and the protagonists in this novel. The antagonists are Hattie, Mum Olga, and SEEf the ogre. Mandy is Ella's sidekick, and the royal knights are Prince Char's sidekicks. Fortunately, there is only one pair of sidekicks for the antagonists; and Hattie is Dame Olga's sidekick.
Character Descriptions
Ella: Ella had a curse of obedience on her put on by Lucinda the fairy when she was born. Ella has to do whatever order she is given. Such as, "Cut off your head, Ella!" But she does not have to obey wishes, which is fortunate for Ella. She is a maiden of medium height and small fairy feet. Later on, Ella falls in love with the charming Prince Charmont. Ella has an extremely kind heart as well as a strange obedience spell.
Prince Charmont: As told before, he is often called Char. At Ella's mother's funeral, the two young people meet. Since then, Char had loved Ella. Charmont is slow to anger but also slow to forgive. He has tawny curls like his father, but the king's sharp facial features are softened in his son. Char has two parents, King Jerrold and Queen Daria. He also has a younger sister named Cecilia.
Mandy: She is a kind cook who acts as a mother to Ella after Ella's real mother dies from a serious cold. Mandy is a secret performer of gathering up broken crockery and throwing it in the trash bin with magic. To prove it, Mandy doesn't touch anything when she does that. Mandy soothes Ella when Ella has a problem on her mind. Mandy is a comforting, and wonderful cook to everyone.
Hattie: Hattie is a bossy person, just the opposite of Ella. Later when Hattie and Olive become Ella's stepsisters, they order what they want and get what they want because Ella can't refuse what her stepsisters order from her as much as she would like to. Then Ella and her father move into Mum Olga's manor, where Ella is treated like a slave. Partly because she is worked up harder than the rest of the servants. But now Hattie is happy because she , her sister, and her mother all get a personal slave.
Mum Olga: Mum Olga is a bossy and mean conniver. (Her daughter, Hattie, has her mother's personality. ) Dame Olga married Sir Peter (Ella's father) because he was THOUGHT to be very rich and titled and Dame Olga WAS rich and titled!
SEEf: No, I didn't make a spelling error. That's how the evil ogre's name is spelt! SEEf prods Ella with a stick when the dull - brained ogres find she is asleep under a tree. The ogre pack had already eaten the pony the elves had lended her. SEEf is an ogre that is always hungry, but Ella had managed to tame the ogre until Char and his faithful knights arrived to save her.
