Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's The Godmother puts a new twist on contemporary fantasy with the assertion that fairy godmothers exist here and now, and they have magical power that allows them to intervene in real-world problems.

What if someone wished a fairy godmother would help the entire city of Seattle? An overworked, overstressed social worker named Rose Samson does just that when she makes an idle wish on a mustard seed. Felicity Fortune of "Godmothers Anonymous" shows up to help. Rose Samson is neither fashion model beautiful, nor a twit, and she happily joins forces with Felicity Fortune, a "Godmother" who demonstrates that Grimm's fairy tales are still relevant in our humdrum modern world.

Fairy godmothers are on a magical budget, so every possible way they can get human beings or animals to assist one another, they will try, rather than using up their magical means.

Felicity encounters many strangely familiar situations: a pretty stablehand named Cindy Ellis is mistreated by her cruel stepsisters. A rock star's daughter, scared of the supermodel her dad married, runs away from home and meets seven Vietnam veterans at an encounter session and retreat. One of them might be a big bad wolf, who knows?

In all their experiences, Rose and Felicity try to blend their magical aid with realistic human initiative and social responsibility. Scarborough's fully realized settings, with the humor built into the mix of magical solutions and grim reality, make this work an entertaining and compelling read.