Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold

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They have all taken the essence of the original and moulded and shaped it to a contemporary context. I have always enjoyed folktales but these feminist, contemporary retellings of forgotten British folktales were delectable! Without the separation of episodes, it feels a little same-y to have two stories both commenting on the nature of storytelling in this way.

The first tale is 'A Retelling' by Daisy Johnson, tackling the tale of the Green Children through a combination of magical realism and meta-fiction. Eimear McBride on the other hand tells the story of Kathleen almost as is, albeit with some stunning prose stylings mixed in. I would say some are stronger than others and tricky on kindle to figure out with ease who wrote what. There is a vague whiff of her legacy to be found here - a few incidents of sensuality, a few moments that address female appetites – but overall Hag lacks the creativity, imagination and, quite frankly, the subtle yet pointed political engagement that make The Bloody Chamber so compelling.After that the baby, Muir starts to spend six months with his mother and six months with his father until one day, he decides that he wants to spend all his time with his mother. As with most short story collections, some were absolutely standout (for me, A Retelling and The Panther's Tale), most were enjoyable, and I didn't gel well with a couple of them.

After reading the original story, I'll say that this is more like an extended version down a few generations rather than a full-on re-telling but it works here, at least for me. The book has a very informative foreword, which is almost a story in itself, and explains how the book came to be and some info on what the retellings are based on.Eira thinks that she knows the young woman and she helps deliver the baby only to find out that things aren't as they seem. She'd never met her father and when she was all grown up, she leaves the town she grew up in to move to the big city and finds work on a secluded farm where the owner doesn't pay her much and got her to work tirelessly. Little has hosted a range of podcasts and shows, her awards include LGBTQI+ Broadcaster of the Year, Future Leader and Rising Star at WOW.

What McBride brings to an otherwise “straight” account is a strongly opinionated present-day narrator, who keeps intervening with ironic commentary about the story. Her work spans journalism, audio, TV and curatorial projects for which she's received various accolades, including LGBTQI+ Broadcaster of The Year and Rising Star at Wow. When the baby's father comes to get the baby exactly six months after the baby, Muir was born, Skye can't stop him. When he captures a panther that reminds people of the devil himself, things turn out to be even more magical than they could have imagined.They are not a part of popular culture the way fairy stories from other countries have become, via the Brothers Grimm and, eventually, Disney. Loved learning about some lesser known folktales, and combining that with samples of writing from authors new to me. She meets a woman who seems to be the girl from the story, but the re-interpretation process leaves her feeling like she has stolen it. Some of the authors in this collection were familiar to me and I loved revisiting their imaginations.