‘Pepelina, The Slavic Cinderella’ follows an aspiring writer who, after the death of her father, is silenced and rejected, but she goes on a transformative journey with a story that can either bring destruction or peace.

First, Pepelina took off her cloak. Then, she tore off the train of her gown and stripped off her gown. Standing in her white linen shift, her teeth chattered but she was not scared. She unclasped the white gold butterfly necklace and unlaced her high heeled boots. Finally, she bundled the necklace and boots inside the gown and the cloak and threw all of it into the river. A grin appeared on her face as she watched the bundle sink.

Pepelina touched the crown of white gold with purple cabbage roses diamonds still clinging to her head. The still water of the river showed the crown as what it truly was – a woven wreath of rose thorns that caused her immense pain and suffering. When she took it down, she threw it in the river praying for a peasant to find it. They could melt it and sell the white gold and diamond roses for few bags of gold and silver.

Hunger grew in her stomach, and her mouth ached for some water. Pepelina had no cup or a water jug, but she remembered she had her cabbage butterfly shoe. She took it out of her small leather bag and then scooped up water and drank until she satisfied her thirst.

The water shimmered before her like a doorway to another world. She gazed into its mirror surface as if trying to find in the clearness of water the truth of Zhar ptitsa before the Wormed found her and the prince. But the water flowed gently and had no voice. Soon enough, the horses’ hooves and horns sounding in the distance broke Pepelina’s moment of stillness and quiet.

The hunt, thought Pepelina.

Excerpt From

Pepelina, The Slavic Cinderella

Written By Mary-Anne Frost

Pepelina is a young storyteller who writes stories in her father’s orchard. When her father dies, her writing heals her grief. Still, stepmother mocks her, burns her stories and forbids her to write. Desperate, Pepelina goes to the ball where she hands her story to the dream publisher who only wants to control her.
Wounded and rejected, Pepelina kneels in the ashes of her failures. The literary villains close in on her world with their many demands. Her only chance to write her way out of the ashes lies in the wings of fire, wings that can fan out the flames of a story powerful enough to break or heal the world.
This is a tale of literary slipper that fits one, befits many, and outfits any.

Book also available on Amazon, Kobo, Booktopia, Dymocks etc.

Mary-Anne Frost is a writer of fantasy stories and fairytale retellings. Born in Croatia, her love for stories started with her great-grandmother who told oral stories. Mary-Anne studied literature at University of Western Australia and completed various writing courses with Australian Writers Centre. She performed as oral storyteller at Perth Festival in 2025. Her stories are magical and empowering, rooted in folklore but blended with feminist experience. She lives in Perth and writes with her feline baby Felix.

Text and images © Mary-Anne Frost