Glass Slippers, Rusted Chains: The Hidden Violence in Happily Ever After (Life in the Bliss Lane)

What if the stories that raised us weren’t innocent bedtime tales, but carefully coded instruction manuals for obedience, silence, and self-erasure?

Glass Slippers, Rusted Chains is a myth-shattering exploration of the fairy tales we thought we knew—tales that have shaped our ideas of love, worth, sacrifice, gender, and power for generations. Dr. Sunayana Pandé—a neurodivergent, feminist, metaphysical psychologist and author of over 70 works on consciousness, trauma, and culture—reimagines 20 of the world’s most influential fairy tales, legends, and myths through a lens of liberation, gender inclusivity, trauma-awareness, and soul-deep truth.

From Cinderella to The Little Mermaid, Snow White to Beauty and the Beast, these iconic narratives are deconstructed and reborn. Each tale is retold not to entertain, but to excavate—revealing how these stories taught us to stay silent, settle, endure abuse, compete with other women, or believe our worth was found only in being chosen.

This isn’t just a rewrite—it’s a reclamation. Each chapter includes:

• A rewritten fairy tale that centers agency, autonomy, queerness, and neurodivergence

• A mythic and psychological breakdown of what the original tale encoded

• A healing commentary with spiritual and cultural analysis

• Integration activities such as rituals, journaling prompts, and affirmations

Whether you were the girl who waited, the boy who hid, the queer kid who didn’t see yourself at all, or the parent who no longer wants to pass these myths forward—this book is for you.

🔥 These are the stories we needed. This is the spell that breaks the silence.

Perfect for fans of Clarissa Pinkola Estés, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and those walking the healing path of re-storying their inner child, this book is both invitation and invocation: Let the myths fall. Let your truth rise.