Wise Women

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What to expect

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

Critics Review

An extra­ordinary selection of stories ... beautifully and vividly retold, elaborating the bare-bones structures of folk tales into delightful literary short stories that will be enjoyed by a wider readership than the wise older women for whom the book is intended
Carolyne Larrington, Times Literary Supplement
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 ... Genius
Irish Times
A fascinating collection of female myths and legends that read like both dreams and nightmares
Sara Sheridan, author of The Fair Botanists
The book I've been longing for. I immediately want to give it to all my woman friends. It is so important and Sharon Blackie is exactly the right inspirational person to bring this topic and these new stories of old women to the culture
Jill Dawson, author of The Bewitching
A wonderful collection of tales casting light on older women's desires and roles. Blackie's careful analysis of myth and fairy tale awakens a powerful sense of connection with our most difficult and our most nurturing selves. In a world that often struggles to acknowledge the richness and complexity of this stage of women's lives, I found these stories of carers, peacemakers, tricksters and more both comforting and inspiring. I will be recommending this to all the wise women I know!
Victoria Smith, author of Hags
This scrumptious new collection took me into much-loved tales from evergreen folklorists and story-gatherers and gifted me the bonus of meeting marvellous new beings. Nestled in insightful notes, this collection turns the spotlight on older women, celebrating their perspicacity and clout with the flair of a seasoned Broadway performance. This will be a smash-hit of a show starring mature and canny women in its second and third acts! Read it, absorb it, treasure it!
Shahrukh Husain, author of The Virago Book of Witches
A MUST read for women in mid life. A beautiful weave of global myths that tell a story that speaks to us deeply. This is less a book and more a manifesto for mid life, from the mouths of the wise women who came before us. I devoured it!
Jasmine Elmer, author of GODDESS OF A THOUSAND FACES
The glorious possibility that we might age and ripen, age and grow greater, age and be-come, while also accepting that we will age and die - this is what I have come to expect from Sharon Blackie's expansive work, and why I am especially excited by this collection with Angharad Wynne that revisits our old stories, making them thrilling for us now, as the midlife and older wise women we are be-coming
Stella Duffy OBE
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. Sharon Blackie has unearthed the tales we Queenagers need to see what we can be and become as we age. Essential reading. So important to reclaim these inspirational tales of what older women are for and the crucial roles that they play
Eleanor Mills, Founder of Noon.org.uk – home of the Queenager, and author of Much More to Come: Lessons on the mayhem and magnificence of midlife
This book populated my head with older women who stride, trick, battle, guide and outwit their way through the pages. The giant who forged Scotland's landscape with clay and her great hammer, the legendary warrior who trained the Irish hero Cuchullain in arts of combat and a mother who stood between armies and bared her breasts to prevent war between her sons. 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
Wondrously wise, clever and insightful as well as slyly funny. Wise Women maps a new path made of old stories, offering an alternative for women in the second half of life - a reframing as a harvest season of experience rather than a dying off
Dr Angela (A.G.) Slatter, award-winning author of The Briar Book of the Dead
This rich curation re-iterates the truth that women in midlife - and beyond - are a vital source of wisdom. Reading them ignited a fire in my belly!
Julia Bueno, author of Everyone's a Critic

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