The Peasant's Dream by Melanie Dickerson is the eleventh book in the series Hagenheim, which is a cross between historical fiction and fairytale retellings. Here we get the story of the youngest daughter of the duke of Hagenheim, Adela, and an aspiring woodcarver, Frederick. This gender bent retelling of Cinderella is an easy read, though tedious at times, and wholly predictable.

As the youngest daughter of the duke, Adela is pampered and sheltered from the world outside their castle. She is exactly what you'd expect from a duke's daughter: accomplished in needlework and painting, well educated, and beautiful. The story opens with her being courted by a nobleman's son, Lord Barthold. He isn't at all what Adela pictured in a suitor. He is handsome and a bit reserved, but she feels none of the things her elder sisters and sisters-in-law described upon meeting their spouses. She wants more, and she fears this makes her "spoiled" as she has overheard the guards say about her. Adela, unfortunately, falls flat for me. She isn't really fleshed out. As a result, it was hard to care for her, even if I liked the woodcarver she meets in the Marketplatz.

Frederick is the son of a farmer who dreams of being something more. His father is an abusive man, who takes all his anger out on his son. Frederick prefers this to the anger being directed at his mother or younger sisters. I respect him. He's kind and gentle, yet extremely protective. When the opportunity comes for him to show his woodcarving work to the Bishop in Hagenheim, it is one he cannot pass up. When the bishop offers him a job carving the new doors to the cathedral, it feels like a dream he never could have dreamed for himself. Then he meets Adela and a new life, one he never dared hope for is within reach. Clearly you can tell which of the two I like better