Virginia Lewis lives on the edge of the forest. The twenty-two year old waitress shares an apartment with her father Tony, who works as a janitor in their complex on the edge of Central Park in Manhattan. When she was seven years old, her mother abandoned them both leaving Virginia deeply wounded and bitter. When Virginia accidentally hits the fugitive Prince Wendell with her bicycle, she and her father become embroiled in Wendell's wicked step-mother's plot to usurp the thrones of the Nine Kingdoms. Along their adventure, Virginia discovers herself and the love she believed would never come true when she falls for a dapper, yet neurotic half-breed named 'Wolf'. Virginia finds strength she never knew as she comes to terms with the loss of her mother and helps save the Nine Kingdoms.

When Wolf is freed from the Snow White Memorial Prison by the Evil Queen, he is set on the trail of the escaped Prince Wendell — a trail which takes him through a magic mirror to the mythical land of Manhattan. There, he meets and falls for the succulent, creamy, dreamy Virginia Lewis, undergoes extensive behaviour modification therapy (consisting of one lone session, during which he takes great care not to eat the psychiatrist), and acquires several self-help manuals to aid him on his journey to living in harmony with his animal instincts. Following Virginia, Tony and Wendell back through the mirror, he aids them on their quest. In the end Wolf saves the day and gets the girl, while proving that wolves aren't entirely deserving of the bum rap they get in the fairy tales... since "wolfies only pretent to do naughty things!"

Tony Lewis used to own a thriving plastics business and was married to a posh Park Avenue debutante, until he risked his fortune on a children's toy that flopped and left him broke. His wife left him to raise their young daughter alone, and he took a job as a janitor to survive. Tony's a dreamer, but not much of a do-er, and dreads the day when his daughter Virginia will grow up and leave him, fearing he'll be alone and miserable. However, he discovers great strength of character when he becomes involved in the epic adventure in the Nine Kingdoms, and is now the close personal friend of none other than the ruler of the Fourth Kingdom and is on the way to bringing the Nine Kingdoms into the modern age.

The grandson of Snow White—one of the Five Women Who Changed History—twenty-five year old Prince Wendell was bored and spoiled and not particularly fit to rule prior to being turned into a dog by his wicked stepmother, the Evil Queen. Trapped in dog form, he learns humility, bravery, wisdom, and compassion as he and his new-found compatriots the Lewises and Wolf foil the Queen's plot to murder the assembled rulers and dignitaries of the Nine Kingdoms.

Christine Lewis was beautiful, rich, and mentally unbalanced. The Manhattan jet-setter turned housewife resented her young daughter, whom she believe to have been a mistake, and in a moment of confusion tried to drown young Virginia in the bath. Fleeing her home, she stumbled into Central Park, where she was summoned by Snow White's wicked stepmother, the Swamp Witch. Crossing through the magic mirror to the Nine Kingdoms, Christine became the witch's successor and instrument of revenge against the House of White. As nursemaid to young Prince Wendell, she poisoned the boy's mother, and then married and murdered his father. She was caught and imprisoned before she could kill young Wendell, and spent years plotting and scheming. The Evil Queen had all but forgotten her earthly origins when Virginia and Tony enter the Nine Kingdoms, and at the moment of her death, Christine comforts her devastated daughter.