Bound

Content levels

Trigger warnings

Positive tags

Heroine archetypes

Protagonist archetypes

Tropes

Themes

Synopsis

YOUNG XING XING IS BOUND. Bound to her father's second wife and daughter after Xing Xing's father has passed away. Bound to a life of servitude as a young girl in ancient China, where the life of a woman is valued less than that of livestock. Bound to be alone and unmarried, with no parents to arrange for a suitable husband. Dubbed "Lazy One" by her stepmother, Xing Xing spends her days taking care of her half sister, Wei Ping, who cannot walk because of her foot bindings, the painful but compulsory tradition for girls who are fit to be married. Even so, Xing Xing is content, for now, to practice her gift for poetry and calligraphy, to tend to the mysterious but beautiful carp in her garden, and to dream of a life unbound by the laws of family and society. But all of this is about to change as the time for the village's annual festival draws near, and Stepmother, who has spent nearly all of the family's money, grows desperate to find a husband for Wei Ping. Xing Xing soon realizes that this greed and desperation may threaten not only her memories of the past, but also her dreams for the future. In this searing story, Donna Jo Napoli, acclaimed author of "Beast and Breath," delves into the roots of the Cinderella myth and unearths a tale as powerful as it is familiar.

Tags

Is Bound appropriate for my child?

Suitable for most readers 10 and up.

Parents should know this retelling of Cinderella in ancient China addresses foot binding (a painful traditional practice), class inequality, and the mistreatment of a young girl by her stepmother. The tone is literary and contemplative rather than graphic.