"The woman said to him, 'Do away with these children. You cannot even keep me. How then can you keep all these mouths?' for was she not a stepmother?" (from Hansel and Gretal) Why are stepmothers ubiquitously portrayed in fairy tales and folk legends as wicked, plotting and cruel? Is it because they will do anything on earth to shove the stepchildren out so they and theirs can inherit all the love and money? Is there such a thing as a non-evil stepmother? Or are all stepmothers evil breed? The Tragic Life of Waldinete Ferreira Miranda Johnson is the engrossing and poignant account of a disenfranchised father's child, and the woman who heaps shame and guilt on innocent children just because they are in the way. If you are a stepmother, or thinking about becoming one, this short but powerful tale will evoke an honest appraisal of who you are in relationship to your stepchildren, or future stepchildren, your partner and his family. Forewarned is forearmed, for in the end, evil stepmothers dance on the red hot coals of hell.