SIT, CINDERELLA, SIT

A former film editor tells the story of how an offer to help re-create a fairy-tale classic transformed her life.

Cheek adored her life as a Hollywood film editor who cut video ads for big name brands like Urban Outfitters and Staples. But the year she turned 45, her company let her go because she had aged out of a business that worshipped youth just as much as the mainstream film industry. Almost immediately afterward, a filmmaker friend asked her to edit his dream project: a movie version of “Cinderella” shot in China and based on the original Chinese version of the story. Cheek accepted, eager for an adventure that would take her to remote lands near the Tibetan border but terrified of solo editing a feature-length film for the first time in a country where she did not know the language. The project was exhilarating, despite her initial dependence on a translator as well as intrusive memories of a painful childhood, which Cheek deftly interweaves into the main narrative. Missing the beloved terrier that had helped ease her social awkwardness at home, she rescued two dogs, one an abandoned puppy, the other an abused dog she named Cinderella. Both animals helped Cheek bond with others and later became the unexpected agents of her rescue when misunderstandings led to mishaps on the voyage home. By turns funny and moving, this book about a lonely woman who came into her own will appeal to animal lovers and anyone who appreciates the satisfaction of a hard-earned happily-ever-after.

A feel-good memoir about embracing risk and finding the courage to love.