Wise Women

An unforgettable collection of retold myths and folk tales, celebrating the wisdom and power of women in midlife and beyond, from the award-winning author of Hagitude 'An extra­ordinary selection of stories ... beautifully and vividly retold' TLS 'Genius' Irish Times 'Treasure it!' Shahrukh Husain 'Wonderful' Victoria Smith 'The book I've been longing for' Jill Dawson 'Thrilling' Stella Duffy This dazzling array of not-to-be-messed-with characters from a lost tradition of European myth and folklore - from ungainly giantesses and sequin-strewn fairy godmothers to misunderstood witches and craggy crones - provides inspiration for how women can walk boldly and live authentically in the second half of life. 'Features an exuberant cast ... The collection is precious, because it's the first time that these rare, patriarchy-surviving remnants of powerful elder female folk stories have been deliberately anthologised' Irish Times 'A fascinating collection of female myths and legends' Sara Sheridan 'I adored Wise Women ' Eleanor Mills, author of Much More to Come: Lessons on the mayhem and magnificence of midlife 'Wondrously wise, clever and insightful as well as slyly funny' AG Slatter, author of The Briar Book of the Dead

An unforgettable collection of retold myths and folk tales, celebrating the wisdom and power of women in midlife and beyond, from the award-winning author of Hagitude 'An extra­ordinary selection of stories ... beautifully and vividly retold' TLS 'Genius' Irish Times 'Treasure it!' Shahrukh Husain 'Wonderful' Victoria Smith 'The book I've been longing for' Jill Dawson 'Thrilling' Stella Duffy This dazzling array of not-to-be-messed-with characters from a lost tradition of European myth and folklore - from ungainly giantesses and sequin-strewn fairy godmothers to misunderstood witches and craggy crones - provides inspiration for how women can walk boldly and live authentically in the second half of life. 'Features an exuberant cast ... The collection is precious, because it's the first time that these rare, patriarchy-surviving remnants of powerful elder female folk stories have been deliberately anthologised' Irish Times 'A fascinating collection of female myths and legends' Sara Sheridan 'I adored Wise Women ' Eleanor Mills, author of Much More to Come: Lessons on the mayhem and magnificence of midlife 'Wondrously wise, clever and insightful as well as slyly funny' AG Slatter, author of The Briar Book of the Dead

An unforgettable collection of retold myths and folk tales celebrating the wisdom and power of women in midlife and beyond, from the award-winning author of Hagitude 'An extra­ordinary selection of stories ... beautifully and vividly retold' TLS 'Features an exuberant cast ... The collection is precious ... Genius' IRISH TIMES 'A fascinating collection of female myths and legends ' SARA SHERIDAN, author of The Fair Botanists From early childhood, we learn about the world and its possibilities through myths and fairy tales. The heroines, though, tend to be golden-haired princesses, and the evil-doers often older women. But women today are searching for positive versions of themselves from midlife onwards, and this dazzling array of not-to-be-messed-with characters - from ungainly giantesses and sequin-strewn fairy godmothers to misunderstood witches and craggy crones - provides them. They outwit monsters, test and mentor younger heroines, embody the cycles and seasons of the earth, weave the world into being - and almost always have the last laugh. These women manifest their wisdom in different ways, and so offer us inspiration for how we too can walk boldly and live authentically in the second half of life. 'Read it, absorb it, treasure it!' SHAHRUKH HUSAIN, author of The Virago Book of Witches 'Wonderful, both comforting and inspiring' VICTORIA SMITH, author of Hags 'The book I've been longing for' JILL DAWSON, author of The Bewitching 'I adored Wise Women - this is the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle when it comes to reframing the narrative in our culture about the role of older females' ELEANOR MILLS, author of Much More to Come: Lessons on the mayhem and magnificence of midlife 'Reading it quenched a thirst I didn't know I had. Oh for a world where stories of the power and joy of women's elder years are celebrated everywhere' DOREEN CUNNINGHAM, author of Soundings 'Revisits our old stories, making them thrilling for us now' STELLA DUFFY OBE

An unforgettable collection of retold myths and folk tales celebrating the wisdom and power of women in midlife and beyond, from the award-winning author of Hagitude 'An extra­ordinary selection of stories ... beautifully and vividly retold' TLS 'Features an exuberant cast ... The collection is precious ... Genius' IRISH TIMES 'A fascinating collection of female myths and legends ' SARA SHERIDAN, author of The Fair Botanists From early childhood, we learn about the world and its possibilities through myths and fairy tales. The heroines, though, tend to be golden-haired princesses, and the evil-doers often older women. But women today are searching for positive versions of themselves from midlife onwards, and this dazzling array of not-to-be-messed-with characters - from ungainly giantesses and sequin-strewn fairy godmothers to misunderstood witches and craggy crones - provides them. They outwit monsters, test and mentor younger heroines, embody the cycles and seasons of the earth, weave the world into being - and almost always have the last laugh. These women manifest their wisdom in different ways, and so offer us inspiration for how we too can walk boldly and live authentically in the second half of life. 'Read it, absorb it, treasure it!' SHAHRUKH HUSAIN, author of The Virago Book of Witches 'Wonderful, both comforting and inspiring' VICTORIA SMITH, author of Hags 'The book I've been longing for' JILL DAWSON, author of The Bewitching 'I adored Wise Women - this is the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle when it comes to reframing the narrative in our culture about the role of older females' ELEANOR MILLS, author of Much More to Come: Lessons on the mayhem and magnificence of midlife 'Reading it quenched a thirst I didn't know I had. Oh for a world where stories of the power and joy of women's elder years are celebrated everywhere' DOREEN CUNNINGHAM, author of Soundings 'Revisits our old stories, making them thrilling for us now' STELLA DUFFY OBE