Looks for books featuring women + folk tale/myth retelling
June 30, 2020 1:58 PM Subscribe
I've found a formula that really works for me in fiction: strong women characters + a retelling of mythology or folk tales. Some good examples include Circe by Madeline Miller and Spinning Silver and Uprooted by Naomi Novik. What else should I try? Other elements I'm into but are of secondary importance to what I listed above:
witchcraft (women coming into their power), a story that weaves together separate narrative threads mid-way through the book, and longitudinal looks at people's lives. I'm not into hetero romance so much, but I'll put up with a little bit of it if I must. I don't want it to be the main event. Whatcha got?
Have you tried The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden? As someone who loved the three books you mentioned, this series scratches much the same itch. The first book is The Bear and the Nightingale, and it only gets better from there.
Vassa in the Night is another good one along the same lines. Looking forward to seeing what others have to suggest!
posted by DingoMutt at 2:03 PM on June 30, 2020 [6 favorites]
Vassa in the Night is another good one along the same lines. Looking forward to seeing what others have to suggest!
posted by DingoMutt at 2:03 PM on June 30, 2020 [6 favorites]
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis sort of fits the bill for what you’re describing - it retells the story of Cupid and Psyche, but from the points of view of Psyche and her sister.
posted by jquinby at 2:09 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by jquinby at 2:09 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
Women Who Run with the Wolves has a lot of short myths from many cultures about women coming into their own power.
posted by ananci at 2:16 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by ananci at 2:16 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
Have you read The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker? Similar sort of vein to Circe but imo much better (and I liked Circe).
posted by BlueNorther at 2:23 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by BlueNorther at 2:23 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
two novels by Helen Oyeyemi - "Boy, Snow, Bird," and "Gingerbread" - fit your description.
posted by entropone at 2:26 PM on June 30, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by entropone at 2:26 PM on June 30, 2020 [4 favorites]
Other possibilities that come to mind; The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea, and maybe the Romanitas trilogy by Sophia Macdougall. (The character of Una in that last one is what makes me think it might work for you).
posted by BlueNorther at 2:30 PM on June 30, 2020
posted by BlueNorther at 2:30 PM on June 30, 2020
Hild is exactly what you want to read!
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:40 PM on June 30, 2020 [10 favorites]
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:40 PM on June 30, 2020 [10 favorites]
Browse through these books from Tor's Fairytale Series and see if any interest you? They're all from the early 90s, and they vary in quality but many of them are really good. (I recommend Tam Lin a lot, but many of the others are really enjoyable.)
This list doesn't include Steven Brust's The Sun, the Moon, nand the Stars (a fun, but very quirky book and not with a lead female character) and Charles De Lint's Jack of Kinrowan, a combo of two books with a female heroine. I had understood that they were both part of the series, but perhaps not - at least the De Lint has a Thomas Canty cover, which I appreciate.
posted by PussKillian at 2:46 PM on June 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
This list doesn't include Steven Brust's The Sun, the Moon, nand the Stars (a fun, but very quirky book and not with a lead female character) and Charles De Lint's Jack of Kinrowan, a combo of two books with a female heroine. I had understood that they were both part of the series, but perhaps not - at least the De Lint has a Thomas Canty cover, which I appreciate.
posted by PussKillian at 2:46 PM on June 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
Hild! Yeah!
Also, if you’re looking for something that trades in the bleak horror of traditional fairy tales, try Deerskin by Robin McKinkley. CW: rape/incest. Trauma and healing and the moon. It’s het, ymmv.
Do you like graphic novels? Nimona is pretty rad.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 2:48 PM on June 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
Also, if you’re looking for something that trades in the bleak horror of traditional fairy tales, try Deerskin by Robin McKinkley. CW: rape/incest. Trauma and healing and the moon. It’s het, ymmv.
Do you like graphic novels? Nimona is pretty rad.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 2:48 PM on June 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
Assuming that fairy tales are a subset of folklore/mythology, I'd recommend T Kingfisher's fairy tale retellings (maybe start with The Raven & The Reindeer) and Melissa Bashardoust's Girls Made of Snow and Glass. The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, by Genevieve Valentine.
posted by jeather at 2:50 PM on June 30, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by jeather at 2:50 PM on June 30, 2020 [7 favorites]
Immediately thought of Gingerbread, mentioned above.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 2:50 PM on June 30, 2020
posted by Sweetie Darling at 2:50 PM on June 30, 2020
Seconding Vassa in the Night and The Bear and the Nightingale.
This is a bit different, because it's more a retelling of children's fantasy as a genre than mythology or folk talkes, but I suspect you would like Catherynne Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. You'd definitely like Six-Gun Snow White.
The Beast That Never Was by Caren J. Werlinger is the only valid and not-gross Beauty and the Beast retelling that I've read. It's romance-y and not stellar writing, but it's queer and I enjoyed it a lot.
You might also like The Folk Keeper.
posted by brook horse at 2:58 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
This is a bit different, because it's more a retelling of children's fantasy as a genre than mythology or folk talkes, but I suspect you would like Catherynne Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. You'd definitely like Six-Gun Snow White.
The Beast That Never Was by Caren J. Werlinger is the only valid and not-gross Beauty and the Beast retelling that I've read. It's romance-y and not stellar writing, but it's queer and I enjoyed it a lot.
You might also like The Folk Keeper.
posted by brook horse at 2:58 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
I think Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry might work for you. Also maybe her early novel, Boating for Beginners (the two books are not very alike at all, apart from both having Winterson's fizzing style; she's fairly candid about BfB in that link).
And, if short stories work, Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber and Emma Donoghue's Kissing the Witch.
posted by paduasoy at 2:59 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
And, if short stories work, Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber and Emma Donoghue's Kissing the Witch.
posted by paduasoy at 2:59 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
You ABSOLUTELY want The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge, which won the Hugo in 1980. It's inspired by the Anderson fairy tale but it's got both fantasy and sci-fi elements. I read it immediately after Spinning Silver and it is a wonderful companion piece for it, same snowy landscape vibes and young-girl-finds-her-power narrative. It has everything you're looking for!
posted by showbiz_liz at 3:02 PM on June 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 3:02 PM on June 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh. Doesnt have a female lead but its a beautifully lyrical queer fairy tale.
The City in the Lake by Rachel Neumeier ticks many of your boxes: folkloric, female lead learning to be a mage, similar to Uprooted and Spinning Silver.
Neither is specifically a retelling of a known story, but have that feeling.
posted by Illusory contour at 3:08 PM on June 30, 2020
The City in the Lake by Rachel Neumeier ticks many of your boxes: folkloric, female lead learning to be a mage, similar to Uprooted and Spinning Silver.
Neither is specifically a retelling of a known story, but have that feeling.
posted by Illusory contour at 3:08 PM on June 30, 2020
I think you want a lot of Tanith Lee, particulary the short story collections Forests of The Night and Women as Demons
posted by runincircles at 3:18 PM on June 30, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by runincircles at 3:18 PM on June 30, 2020 [5 favorites]
You might enjoy The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker.
posted by brookeb at 3:44 PM on June 30, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by brookeb at 3:44 PM on June 30, 2020 [5 favorites]
Irish and Celtic stories are full of heroines like that! You may enjoy some of the compilations of stories from Charles Squire and Lady Gregory. Also not to be missed is The Mabingion, a Welsh collection of legendary tales. All of these legends and myths may give you some inspiration to draw up some interesting new threads of your own. Happy writing!
posted by chatelaine at 3:54 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by chatelaine at 3:54 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
Bone Swans by C.S.E. Cooney is an excellent collection of short stories.
posted by moonmilk at 4:21 PM on June 30, 2020
posted by moonmilk at 4:21 PM on June 30, 2020
Here to add Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge, which is a truly excellent spin on Beauty and the Beast and hits most of the elements you're looking for. Do not be put off by the fact that it's in the YA section; the writing is lyrical. (And also, many libraries also put Uprooted in the YA section.)
I loved Patricia Wrede's Snow White Rose Red but it's been a while since I read it.
Also seconding The Golem and the Jinni (OMG so good) and The Bear and the Nightingale.
posted by rednikki at 4:33 PM on June 30, 2020
I loved Patricia Wrede's Snow White Rose Red but it's been a while since I read it.
Also seconding The Golem and the Jinni (OMG so good) and The Bear and the Nightingale.
posted by rednikki at 4:33 PM on June 30, 2020
Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopead. Part of the Canongate Myth Series.
posted by coevals at 4:36 PM on June 30, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by coevals at 4:36 PM on June 30, 2020 [6 favorites]
You might like The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood.
posted by abeja bicicleta at 4:37 PM on June 30, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by abeja bicicleta at 4:37 PM on June 30, 2020 [5 favorites]
I would still recommend Marion Zimmer Bradley's the Mists of Avalon despite the clumsy made for TV movie, the extremely bad sequels, and the very unpleasant stuff that's come out about the author and her husband in the years since its publication. I just loved that book so much when I read it.
posted by fingersandtoes at 5:16 PM on June 30, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by fingersandtoes at 5:16 PM on June 30, 2020 [8 favorites]
I might suggest Naomi Mitchison's fairy tale Travel Light. It's the story of a girl raised by dragons, who does not know how women are "supposed" to be, so she travels the wilds of Europe independently and without fear. It's a bit of a twist on Norse mythology. The author's life story is an interesting one as well.
posted by lhauser at 5:18 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by lhauser at 5:18 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
The Hollows series by Kim Harrison.
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
posted by willnot at 6:08 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
posted by willnot at 6:08 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
I absolutely adored Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth and think you may too-it's a really beautiful, dark but ultimately hopeful retelling of Rapunzel interwoven with the story of the woman who first wrote the fairy tale in French (she lived at the court of Louis XIV and was a fascinating figure!) CW for one rape though, definitely.
posted by LadyNibbler at 6:32 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by LadyNibbler at 6:32 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
I loved Genevieve Valentine’s The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, a retelling/reimagining of the Grimm’s fairy tale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” set in New York City in the Roaring Twenties.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 6:43 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 6:43 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
2nd ing The Mists of Avalon which I just re-read and found just as compelling as when I was a teenager (30 years ago). I haven't followed the stuff that fingersandtoes refers to. It's just solid female-centered mythmaking, and I loved re-reading it..
posted by nkknkk at 6:52 PM on June 30, 2020
posted by nkknkk at 6:52 PM on June 30, 2020
I've just recently started Malinda Lo's Ash, a retelling of Cinderella (not a hetero-romance) - so far, really good.
I would absolutely second Jack of Kinrowan - I read the first half years ago as Jack the Giant Killer and the combination of the prosaic setting and de Lint's poetic language is terrific.
Beauty by Robin McKinley is a YA classic (and some claim the inspiration for Disney's bookish Belle); apparently she's added to that world. Her Deerskin is much more searing, as is Beauty by Sherri S. Tepper (I don't know if Tepper does anything other than searing).
As you can see from this list, there are a many, many retellings of fairy tales - and almost all the retellings I have read definitely up the agency of the female characters. I went searching for the series that was edited by one person in the 90s - who was that editor? - but instead I found this: 100 Must-Read Fairytale Retellings For Adults And YA Readers. Not all of these will have the same strong characters you are looking for or the epic qualities of Novik's books, but worth a place to start.
In terms of books that I've read that have most felt like Novik's - I would also second the Katherine Arden series that starts with The Bear and the Nightingale.
posted by jb at 8:09 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
I would absolutely second Jack of Kinrowan - I read the first half years ago as Jack the Giant Killer and the combination of the prosaic setting and de Lint's poetic language is terrific.
Beauty by Robin McKinley is a YA classic (and some claim the inspiration for Disney's bookish Belle); apparently she's added to that world. Her Deerskin is much more searing, as is Beauty by Sherri S. Tepper (I don't know if Tepper does anything other than searing).
As you can see from this list, there are a many, many retellings of fairy tales - and almost all the retellings I have read definitely up the agency of the female characters. I went searching for the series that was edited by one person in the 90s - who was that editor? - but instead I found this: 100 Must-Read Fairytale Retellings For Adults And YA Readers. Not all of these will have the same strong characters you are looking for or the epic qualities of Novik's books, but worth a place to start.
In terms of books that I've read that have most felt like Novik's - I would also second the Katherine Arden series that starts with The Bear and the Nightingale.
posted by jb at 8:09 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest and Wildwood Dancing are both fantastic, immaginative interpretations of recognizable fairytales. However, they both have a thread of romance running through. Seconding the recommendations for Robin McKinley's books. Even ones like Chalice, which didn't match any fairy tale I heard while growing up, feel like what you're describing. And Patricia McKillip's work (thinking particularly of Alphabet of Thorns and the Riddlemaster trilogy) might be worth a look too.
posted by copacetic at 8:29 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by copacetic at 8:29 PM on June 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
Catherynne Valente’s Deathless is an amazing example of this particular genre. Like, "haunting" is too soft a word for how it affected me.
Echoing the recommendations for all of Helen Oyeyemi’s work. And Kelly Link has some deeply creepy, funny, and satisfying fairy tale retellings.
Oh! and if you do poetry (you should definitely do poetry), Anne Sexton’s Transformations is entirely this, and Marie Howe has a few poems that channel this mood.
posted by MsMacbeth at 10:24 PM on June 30, 2020
Echoing the recommendations for all of Helen Oyeyemi’s work. And Kelly Link has some deeply creepy, funny, and satisfying fairy tale retellings.
Oh! and if you do poetry (you should definitely do poetry), Anne Sexton’s Transformations is entirely this, and Marie Howe has a few poems that channel this mood.
posted by MsMacbeth at 10:24 PM on June 30, 2020
Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley. Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt. Dark Shimmer by Donna Jo Napoli. (These are all YA.)
posted by bluebird at 2:09 AM on July 1, 2020
posted by bluebird at 2:09 AM on July 1, 2020
Children's fiction, but I'm waiting eagerly for the next (due out in October): The House with Chicken Legs and The Girl Who Speaks Bear, by Sophie Anderson. Inspired by Russian folk tales, with strong female protagonists growing into their skills and their selves.
Strongly seconding T. Kingfisher and Katherine Arden.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 2:53 AM on July 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
Strongly seconding T. Kingfisher and Katherine Arden.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 2:53 AM on July 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
T. Kingfisher's The Seventh Bride is kind of a riff on the Bluebeard fairy tale, and it's a story of sisterhood and solidarity when the odds are stacked in favor of a very powerful, very bad man, which seems relevant to our times. Actually, all of her books that I've ever read feature very practical female protagonists; Clockwork Boys and its sequel The Wonder Engine are both fantastic.
posted by octothorp at 9:40 AM on July 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by octothorp at 9:40 AM on July 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
Terry Pratchett's Lancre Witches and Tiffany Aching arcs of books within the Discworld.
posted by k3ninho at 10:00 AM on July 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by k3ninho at 10:00 AM on July 1, 2020 [4 favorites]
Several of the books by T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) are fairytale or folktale retellings. As mentioned, The Seventh Bride is based on Bluebeard. The Raven and the Reindeer is based on the Snow Queen, and Bryony and Roses is based on Beauty and the Beast.
Incidentally, all her books are worth reading. Toad Words and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. The title story makes me ugly-cry (for reasons of beauty and hope) every time I read it. (There are tears prickling my eyes right now just from quickly looking at the page to copy the URL.)
posted by Lexica at 11:25 AM on July 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
Incidentally, all her books are worth reading. Toad Words and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. The title story makes me ugly-cry (for reasons of beauty and hope) every time I read it. (There are tears prickling my eyes right now just from quickly looking at the page to copy the URL.)
posted by Lexica at 11:25 AM on July 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
If you enjoyed Circe, you may well enjoy the work of Natalie Haynes—in particular her books A Thousand Ships and The Children of Jocasta.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 1:08 PM on July 1, 2020
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 1:08 PM on July 1, 2020
I *ran* in here to recommend Juliet Marillier and Robin McKinley, but others have beat me to it. Thanks, others! <3
You might like Jane Steele, which bills itself as "a Gothic retelling of Jane Eyre." But sorta-spoiler-ish warning, re: your note regarding het romance, it is the reason I have a Goodreads shelf titled "could've been gayer."
posted by wintersonata9 at 9:22 PM on July 1, 2020
You might like Jane Steele, which bills itself as "a Gothic retelling of Jane Eyre." But sorta-spoiler-ish warning, re: your note regarding het romance, it is the reason I have a Goodreads shelf titled "could've been gayer."
posted by wintersonata9 at 9:22 PM on July 1, 2020
Yet anther recommendation for T Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon (if you're shopping for yonder folks, her YA stuff is amazing too). If you want to see what her writing is like before buying, Summer in Orcus is still up as are a bunch of her short stories. (Bluebeard's Wife, The Wolf and the Woodsman, and the Dryad's Shoe are all variations to one degree our another on Bluebeard, Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella and are all incredible.)
posted by Hactar at 7:51 AM on July 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Hactar at 7:51 AM on July 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
Going rather meta, Seanan McGuire's Indexing series (which is clearly two books of a planned trilogy that the publisher hasn't committed to ending) is about folklore as an independent force, still active in the modern world, and the people who battle against it working for a shadowy law enforcement agency.
posted by JawnBigboote at 9:50 AM on July 2, 2020
posted by JawnBigboote at 9:50 AM on July 2, 2020
Pandava Quintet (AKA the Aru Shah books) by Roshani Chokshi. They are YA novels but feature a strong female protagonist and based on characters from the Mahabharata and Indian myths.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:34 AM on July 4, 2020
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:34 AM on July 4, 2020
Another Seanan McGuire recommendation -- The Wayward Children series. It's centered around a boarding school for the kids who have fairy tale adventures and can't adjust to the "real" world when they come back. The stories revolve around them trying to return to their fairy tale worlds and/or having adventures in other worlds. Most of the central characters are female and/or not-cis-male.
posted by natabat at 8:34 PM on July 5, 2020
posted by natabat at 8:34 PM on July 5, 2020
Response by poster: Oh wow. I'm so excited to spend the next five years working through all of these recommendations (only one of which I've already read--Nimona. Loved it)! Thank you so much!
posted by sugarbomb at 9:59 AM on July 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by sugarbomb at 9:59 AM on July 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
No folklore retelling, but "Jane, Unlimited" by Kristin Cashore is a little witchy, a little thread-y, a and little queer. It's a fun, quick read.
posted by girlstyle at 9:35 PM on July 18, 2020
posted by girlstyle at 9:35 PM on July 18, 2020
Anything by N.K. Jemisin, especially her Hugo-winning recent Broken Earth trilogy.
posted by squasher at 2:57 PM on October 21, 2020
posted by squasher at 2:57 PM on October 21, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by vincebowdren at 2:03 PM on June 30, 2020 [7 favorites]