Genre: Adult Fairy
Tales/Short Story Anthology
Description:
600 or so stories were submitted for
inclusion in the Gilded Glass: Twisted Myths and Shattered Fairy Tales
anthology published by WordFire Press in 2022, but there was only room for 24 stories
in the anthology. A lot of very good material had to be rejected. Booth creamed
off the best and packaged it up into three anthologies: this one and, I think
(they don’t advertise their kinship), Where Spirits Linger and Refracted
Reflections. All the anthologies are short and inexpensive: ideal for
reading on the commute or in bed.
Author:
Kaye Lynne Booth is a busy American indie author,
poet, and facilitator of the writings of others. She has compiled a number of
anthologies, mostly in the adult, modern fairy tale, fantasy, dark fantasy, SF
and western genres. She has several enthusiastic writers working with her on
her “Writing to be Read” blogsite. The writers featured on the blog appear regularly
in the anthologies. There seems to be a thriving cottage industry involving
these people, with – perhaps – opportunities for other emerging writers
exploring genre fiction, mash-ups and other fringe creations.
Appraisal:
Gathering up these eleven stories and giving
them a second chance was certainly worth doing. They richly deserve it. All the
authors are young and female. (Each story is followed by a brief CV of its
author.) Their youth gives the work
freshness. They recast established folk tales with enquiring minds, which
brings a sparkle to the new work. That they are all women is also refreshing.
Most fairy stories are – like so much of our literary heritage – written by
men. Sure, women and girls appear in the traditional tales but, as we all know
girls, patriarchy is – historically – never generous to women: they have no
agency, unless they are wicked; if they are wicked they come to a bad end. And transgender
people were unacknowledged when stories like the original Cinderella were first
told.
Some of the stories are laugh out loud
funny. All are witty. Some have happy endings, some do not. Some are based on
stories of the Greek gods. Some laud the continuity of human kindness through
history. Some deal with our destruction of our planet. Cliches are given a
thorough pummelling.
The authors come from the USA, Canada, South
Africa, Britain, Northern Ireland and Scotland. They are gay, straight and
non-binary.
There is a great deal of variety here. It
could be argued that three stories about magic mirrors out of a total of eleven
stories is over-plenty about mirrors – but then one realises how different each
mirror story is, and realises why there was room for all three of them.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
Format/Typo
Issues:
A few.
Rating: ****
Four Stars
Reviewed
by: Judi Moore
Approximate word count: 35-40,000 words
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