The Ash Girl

When an invitation to the Ball, addressed to all the daughters of the house, arrives from Prince Amir, Ashie can't bring herself to believe she can go too

With the help of her friends, not all of whom are in expected places, she finds the strength to go, but loses her shoe when rushing back at the appointed hour. Finally, in the end which is also a beginning, she discovers that in order to regain the fleeting happiness she had found in the arms of the Prince, she must fight the monsters who have slithered and insinuated their way into her heart and mind

She must believe in herself for others to do so. Timberlake Wertenbaker has fashioned a wondrous story of the beauty and the terror of growing up and made The Ash Girl a fable of and for our times