The Cinderella Waltz

The Cinderella Waltz is a 1982 contemporary romance novel by Ann Beattie. The title refers to the classic fairy tale Cinderella, but undermines its plot, describing the life and reflections of an unnamed divorced woman whose search for intimacy is continually thwarted by forces outside her control, including her husband’s revealing of the fact that he is gay. The novel refers several times to the work of postmodern existentialist playwright Samuel Beckett, whose beliefs in the absurdity, contingency, and suffering of human life resonate with the woman’s feelings of alienation.

The Cinderella Waltz opens on a Friday afternoon. The woman waits with her nine-year-old daughter, Louise, for her ex-husband, Milo, to arrive with his new partner, Bradley, to pick up Louise to take her to their home in New York for the weekend. She helps Louise pack her weekend bags, which they fill with toys that bring Louise a sense of security when she is away. As they do so, Louise reminisces about her last years of marriage with Milo. They have only recently divorced, and the transition has been hard on Louise. Louise perturbs her mother by including in her bag a copy of a play by Samuel Beckett, Happy Days. Privately, Louise’s mother is still deeply upset over her break from Milo, which she views as a betrayal and an abdication of his duties to the family.

Though Louise’s mother is still distant from and angry at Milo, she has warmed up to Bradley, a far more empathetic and compassionate man. At the same time, she sees some warning signs in Bradley and Milo’s relationship that she once failed to recognize in her and Milo’s relationship. Almost pathologically, Milo considers any person who gets close to him “not good enough.” She also notices that Milo keeps mentioning he might move to San Francisco. The possibility of him moving and still wanting to share custody of Louise makes her uneasy.



The following weekend, Milo and Louise get into a series of trivial arguments that stem indirectly from the anxiety of Milo’s plans to move. Louise returns from New York extremely upset. She relates to her mother that she performed the role of a host at his dinner party and that Bradley was nowhere to be seen. Louise’s mother knows that Bradley has been struggling with illness and lost his job as a result. She deduces that Milo has broken it off with him, repeating his cyclical pattern of dissatisfaction, coldness, and abandonment. When Bradley calls her, asking to meet to talk to her about Milo, she finds out that her hunch was correct. She sympathizes with Bradley’s predicament, and most of the remaining tension in their relationship dissolves. However, they both feel stronger with the knowledge that the failure of their respective relationships was due to no fault of their own.

Not long after Louise’s mother and Bradley meet, Louise’s mother finds out through Milo’s sister that Milo is acting on his plan to move to San Francisco. Milo throws a party for himself, inviting both Bradley and his ex-wife, along with Louise. The party goes predictably awry: Louise sobs, and is only placated when Milo assures her that he will treat her to amazing experiences when she visits, including a glass elevator ride in the Fairmont Hotel. Milo’s mention of the elevator reminds Louise’s mother of all the times Milo would tell Louise that he would like to dress her in glass slippers, rather than baby shoes, when she was an infant. Louise’s mother reels at the realization that Milo has a Cinderella complex for his daughter; he will continue discarding his partners for the rest of his life. Watching Louise’s elation in response to his promises, her mother experiences only pity for her daughter, whom she knows will one day be abandoned also.