Green Witch
by Alice Hoffman, 2010
Reviewed by Donna Quattrone

Green Witch is the sequel to Green Angel, Hoffman’s spellbinding foray into the land of post-apocalyptic fairy tale. Both of these books detail a lyrical and deeply memorable exploration of love intertwined with loss, but either of the pair may be read on its own.

Green Witch begins one year after the cataclysmic event that reshaped Green’s life. She has finally taken off the outward … Read entire article »

James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon
By Julie Phillips, 2006
Reviewed by Tanya B. Avakian

Before she died, James Tiptree, Jr. was a secret shared between a few obsessed readers. Many of us were pointed in her direction—she was a woman by then—after reading Ursula K. Le Guin’s introduction to Tiptree’s short story collection, Star Songs of an Old Primate. Those who went on to read Tiptree’s stories may also have learned … Read entire article »

Neverland: J.M. Barrie, The Du Mauriers, and the Dark Side of Peter Pan
By Piers Dudgeon, 2009
Reviewed by Tanya B. Avakian

Fairies are found the world over, but the fairy folk we think of when we hear the word are quintessentially British. Several things are true of the British fairies in particular, and are worth remembering in case one should happen to encounter them. The fairies have trouble reproducing: their greatest delight is in stealing … Read entire article »

The Fairy Tale Tarot
by Lisa Hunt, Llewellyn, 2009.
Reviewed by Erzebet YellowBoy

The Fairy Tale Tarot by Lisa Hunt comes neatly packaged with the book Once Upon a Time in which Hunt briefly touches on the history of the fairy tale before expansively describing the major and minor arcana, each of which comes with a fairy tale of its own. Tarot such as this aren’t so much divinatory tools as they are guideposts through … Read entire article »

Fairy Tales
Terry Jones, 1981.
Reviewed by Erzebet YellowBoy

Terry Jones’ Fairy Tales leapt out at me from the shelf of a used book shop in one of those happy moments when two of your beloved worlds collide. The stories were written for Sally Jones in the summer of 1978, according to the dedication, and even though this book was first published in 1981, it wouldn’t do to have a site devoted to fairy tales that … Read entire article »

by Nancy Werlin, 2008.
Reviewed by Donna Quattrone

One curse, two people in love, three impossible tasks.



This tale is shaped around an old folk ballad, sprinkled liberally with traditional fairy tale motifs, and served up with a strong female heroine. It merges the classic with the thoroughly contemporary, fantasy with reality, and it sings.

At 17, Lucy Scarborough is about to face the most challenging year of her life. Her certifiably … Read entire article »

by Ali Shaw, 2009
reviewed by Erzebet YellowBoy

St. Hauda’s Land is a remote island tucked away behind commercial whaling ships, where poverty has led to an exodus of its traditional sea-faring families. Midas has lived there for all of his life and prefers his solitude; he is happiest when he is capturing light from behind the lens of a camera. Ida is a tourist who has returned to the island in search of a stranger—the … Read entire article »

by Carolyn Turgeon, 2009
Reviewed by Erzebet YellowBoy

It was a beautiful, lazy afternoon. The sun was shining, the bees were zipping from flower to flower and I was preparing to lie back on a lounge chair with Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon. It was one of those days that couldn’t possibly get any better and then, as I opened the book, into my lap fell two glass slippers as though my fairy … Read entire article »

by Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev, 2006
Reviewed by Tanya B. Avakian

In 1962, Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes were looking for a tenant. Their second child had arrived and made their London flat too cramped for them to stay the full three years of their lease. They ended up subletting the flat to a very handsome, very self-centered young woman named Assia Wevill. She was a German Jew who had spent much of her … Read entire article »