Bound by Donna Jo Napoli

Bound by Donna Jo Napoli

Summary from Goodreads:
Bound to her late father's second wife and daughter. Bound to a life of servitude as a young girl in ancient China, where a woman is valued less than livestock. Bound to be alone, with no parents to arrange for a suitable husband. Xing Xing spends her days taking care of her half sister, Wei Ping, who cannot walk because of her foot bindings, the painful tradition for girls who are fit to be married. Even so, Xing Xing is content to practice her gift for poetry and calligraphy, and to dream of a life unbound by the laws of family and society.

But all of this is about to change as Stepmother, who has spent nearly all of the family's money, grows desperate to find a husband for Wei Ping. Xing Xing soon realizes that this greed and desperation may threaten not only her memories of the past, but also her dreams for the future.

A Chinese fairy tale based on the retelling of the oldest known version of Cinderella, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Xian

The story revolves around the lives and interactions of four women; Xing Xing, her dead mother, her stepmother and her dauther, Wei Ping.

After the death of her parents, Xing Xing becomes bound as a servant to her stepmother and for caring for her halfsister, Wei Ping.
In hopes of finding a good marriage for her daughter, her mother binds the girl's feet even though she is over the customary age of foot binding because their father did not believe in the practice.
It's up to Xing Xing to do the chores and care for her half-sister.

Surprising, the elegant clothes, jewels, and golden slippers Xing Xing finds hidden by her mother and later the prince who seeks out the true wearer of the slipper is only a small part of the story.