Fiction, 1979

Series of short stories in which erotic subjects and themes are woven in and bring new perspectives to old fairy tales. The appeal of the project may also put some readers off – while there’s much to admire in the narration and gender power shifts, the use of the fairy tale form can lead to the text feeling quite slow and almost over-balanced and over-flavoured. Stories which might work better read aloud, so that a skilled voice can give the language – much of it beautiful – the sort of space it really needs to stretch out so that it can make its full impression. Old fashioned and bold, but quite stodgy and hard to get through in places.