Banshee: Mythological Irish Women Retold <\/p>\n
Author: Edited by Ailbhe Malone <\/p>\n
ISBN-13: 978-1408749357 <\/p>\n
Publisher: John Murray<\/p>\n
Guideline Price: \u00a322<\/p>\n
The editor\u2019s passion for Irish folklore and mythology is the magic ingredient in this enthralling short story anthology. With Banshee: Mythological Irish Women Retold, Ailbhe Malone stimulates renewed homage for the rich legacy of Irish storytelling that pours down to us through the millenniums. <\/p>\n
At the same time, in summoning a contemporary team of writerly adepts to breathe their modern perspectives through these ancient tales, Malone rekindles for future generations the living, ever-evolving nature of the Irish storytelling tradition. And so, alongside stories than maintain an ancient cosmic, archetypal or folkloric feel, we have well-known characters \u2013 Deirdre of the Sorrows, Aoife who cursed the Children of Lir, the horse goddess, Macha \u2013 transplanted into, for example, 21st-century scenes of urban struggle, or the hell of a mother and baby home ruled by a paedophile priest. <\/p>\n
The resulting variety is breathtaking; in one moment, you\u2019re guffawing at surreal satire or tripping on poetic beauty and shaking a righteous fist or recoiling in horror in the next. <\/p>\n
What a fun and fascinating commission for the extraordinarily talented word witches who\u2019ve been \u201ccoven-ed\u201d in this beautiful book. Jane Casey, Naoise Dolan, Salma El-Wardany, Wendy Erskine, Nikita Gill, Anne Griffin, Sarah Maria Griffin, Jess Kidd, Megan Nolan and Sheila O\u2019Flanagan each took an ancient Irish tale as launch pads for their own storytelling skills, carte blanche but for the editorial brief, described in Malone\u2019s introduction: \u201cRewrite these legends so that women are the fulcrums of the stories rather than the levers.\u201d The writers have asked themselves, what might these traditional stories become if \u2013 instead of having neither agency nor interior lives \u2013 the women characters lead? <\/p>\n
Judging by the quality of the writing, Malone\u2019s guidelines unleashed powerful creative energy. Each story delivers a killer last line: one of the hallmarks of brilliance in the short story form. Authorial relish and exuberance are apparent on every page. <\/p>\n