This is the true documented story of the real 16th Century Cinderella. Germaine Cousin was a shepherdess who lived from 1579 to 1601. Born with a lame right hand and the disease scrofula (a non-tuberculous infection of the lymph nodes of the neck), she projected quite an unsightly appearance. The only child of Laurent Cousin and Marie Laroche, Germaine lived about 1.5 miles west of Pibrac, France. When she was just five years old, the plague suddenly took her dear mother, and her father soon after remarried. Germaine was physically and mentally abused by her new stepmother, Armande de Rajols. The fable of Cinderella is but child's play compared to the true story recounted in these pages. This poor little shepherdess is, however, not left completely defenseless, for wondrous occurrences begin to surround her, but unlike the fable, the events are true.