Ripening: Why Women Need Fairy Tales Now

by Sharon Blackie

‘Fairy tales matter because at the heart of every one of them is transformation.’


In this world in which all our old certainties seem to be crumbling, many women feel lost. In Ripening, Sharon Blackie insists that fairy tales are precisely the stories we need for such times.


Long before they became bywords for people-pleasing princesses, these old stories – passed down to us through generations by our peasant ancestors – told us everything that women need to learn about the world. They might be set in difficult and dangerous times, but they insist that their heroines face the unfaceable and dig deep for previously unimagined inner resources. They teach us to be savvy, inspire us to grow in confidence, show us how to be bold and claim the future we dream of. 


More than anything, fairy tales are soul-food. They show us how to take hold of our own personal narratives and transform them into stories that might begin with trauma, but end with empowerment. They offer us images of startling resonance and beauty, while showing us how to recognise and make use of the possibilities that rise to the surface when broken systems are cracked open.


____________


PRAISE FOR RIPENING:


'Ripening show us how we can move through life with vision and sensitivity. A fascinating, thought-provoking and authoritative read' Katherine May, author of  Wintering  and  Enchantment


'Sharon Blackie ventures further than most of us have the courage for, and then comes back with a map' Melissa Harrison, author of  The Stubborn Lights of Things

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Mythology, Audiobook, Psychology, Fairy Tales, Irish Literature

312 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 14, 2026

Reviews

[Coco Sanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every word of this book. Very inspiring❤️

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

Interesting idea, though quickly becomes repetitive

[Amy]

dnf at around 60%

as a lover of fairytales, i picked this up finding the concept very compelling. i appreciated the blend of folklore and psychological theory, and it's written beautifully as well. i also enjoyed learning about fairytales i'd never heard of before, such as the norway's tatterhood and scotland's black bull of norroway.

the book is quite repetitive, though, and could've been edited down. it just isn't grabbing me and i don't have the motivation to continue. i already have a few other books on the go that i'm more inclined to reach for and other books i want to start, so i just need to move on

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was a hot mess. Full review and rating to come at some point. It didn't break my brain like Percy Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, but it sure tried.

[Geeske · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik las ‘Ripening’ van Sharon Blackie, waarin de schrijfster vertelt waarom vrouwen nu sprookjes nodig hebben en wat we van deze verhalen kunnen leren.
Sharon Blackie is één van mijn favoriete auteurs op het gebied van vrouwelijke archetypes, sprookjes en (eco-)feminisme. In haar nieuwste boek ‘Ripening‘ vertelt ze waarom sprookjes juist nu belangrijk zijn. Ze verweeft verschillende verhalen met elkaar, wat het boek heel rijk maakt. Je moet wel je hoofd erbij houden bij dit boek.

Van een moeilijke situatie naar thuiskomen bij jezelf

Een sprookje gaat nooit alleen maar over hoe alles goed gaat en komt. De vrouwelijke hoofdpersoon begint meestal vanuit een moeilijke situatie waarin ze in armoede leeft of mishandelt wordt door haar vader of stiefmoeder. De heldin is daarom verplicht om het huis te ontvluchten. Tijdens haar reis beleeft ze veel avonturen, die er altijd voor zorgen dat ze aan het einde juist weer bij zichzelf thuiskomt.

Sharon Blackie vertelt dat iedereen een persoonlijk verhaal heeft en dat het uitmaakt hoe je dat verhaal vertelt. Je kunt er de nadruk op leggen dat je een slachtoffer bent van je omgeving of je omstandigheden, maar je kunt er ook een ander verhaal van maken. Een soort sprookje waarin jij de heldin bent en tegenslag meemaakt waar je sterker uit bent gekomen.

In elk sprookje is het belangrijk dat de heldin zichzelf vindt en een authentiek leven opbouwt. Ze hoeft dit vrijwel nooit alleen te doen, maar krijgt hulp van andere mensen, dieren, planten of bovennatuurlijke wezens. De verbinding met anderen is vaak wat het belangrijkste in het verhaal is. Ook zijn er veel sprookjesheldinnen die zelf niet gered worden, maar die anderen juist redden, zoals broers of zussen. De heldin komt er altijd sterker uit.

Mini-cursus sprookjes schrijven

Aan het einde van het boek deelt Sharon Blackie een soort mini-cursus hoe je je eigen leven kunt beschrijven alsof het een sprookje is. Daarin kun je bijvoorbeeld vertellen dat je opgroeide in een land in het noorden bij een zorgzame moeder en een minstreel die aan het hof verbleef. De heldin – in dit geval ik – ging van huis weg om het avontuur op te zoeken, maar kwam allerlei demonen tegen onderweg. Uiteindelijk leert de heldin zichzelf beter kennen en zet ze haar wijsheid in om anderen te helpen.

De symboliek en de creativiteit die je in sprookjes kunt vinden hebben mij altijd al geïnspireerd. Ook vrouwelijke archetypes hebben mij veel geleerd over hoe ik een leven kon opbouwen dat bij mij paste. Ik schreef er uitgebreid over in ‘Godin in je eigen lichaam‘. Ik vond ‘Ripening’ heel interessant om te lezen, maar wel iets minder praktisch toepasbaar als sommige anderen boeken van Sharon Blackie. Ik geef het 4 sterren.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably a great book for some people, but just not for me. I was unaware that it was a self help book when I started reading. I really struggled with the personal exercises and tasks the author sets for the reader throughout and had I known these were going to be included I probably wouldn’t have bought it, the self help style is just not something I’ve ever clicked with or enjoyed.

The book was definitely well researched in terms of psychology but I felt that the historical contexts of the fairytales were lacking so we couldn’t really get a sense of them as sources or mediums. There were also times where fairytales, folklore and myths are conflated even though these exist as very different things so I wish we could’ve spent more time looking at and understanding the sources themselves. The psychology was quite interesting but I was disappointed by the fact that most of the phycologists cited in the book are men, even though the whole premise of the book is women’s issues.

Overall this wasn’t an unpleasant read and I feel like it’s probably a great book for someone out there, but just not for me.

[RomantasyQueenUK · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was free on Audible and the cover drew me in with the "why women need fairytale now" as a fantasy reader I thought it might be of interest. I fully wasnt expecting it to be a personal development book, and i did find it incredibly interesting. Not just the snippets of old tales but what the meaning is behind them.
I knew i had a father wound. My father isnt a particularly nice man. Was shocked to discover I also have a mother wound. The author literally listed off alot of my traits and insecurities and the penny dropped for me. I spent the majority of my life blaming my father for how I am, when in reality my mother should have took equal blame. This was not how i planned on spending my monday but here we are.

Pleasantly surprised, entertained, and i found out a little but more about myself that I didnt know.

[Karis · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook, but I really wished I could have taken notes and highlighted throughout.
This book is what I wanted Martin Shaw‘s book to be. A perfect blend of psychoanalysis, narrative, image and symbol— & feminist through and through. It’s clear that Blackie focuses on midlife — that chapter was the most successful of the life chronology chapters. I wish the girlhood chapters had more structure and clarity of vision to them as the midlife chapter did, but it does make me excited to read Wise Woman.

[Victoria Catherine Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ripening by Sharon Blackie explores the power of fairy tales and the wisdom they might offer modern women looking for guidance on how to live well.

📚

As human beings, we tend towards meaning-making and organising events into stories. We don't, however, often give much thought to how the way in which we frame our own stories alters how we experience them. Blackie argues that fairy tales offer an archetypal lens through which to view our own lives, providing both a way in which to make sense of the senseless and a map to navigate troubled times.

📚

This is a difficult book to review because the exercises it includes ask for personal reflection, meaning that this book will land differently for different readers. Personally, I was really intrigued by its premise. I have always enjoyed stories, and instinctively turn towards fiction to make sense of my own difficult life experiences. I don't think it is a coincidence that the years in which I read the most were the years in which I was experiencing adultery, divorce and other challenging domestic circumstances. I may not have had family to turn to or friends who had experience of the same things (a hazard of getting married at 19), but I did have countless books detailing other people's misery and their path through it, something that was both instructive and a comfort.

📚

Blackie's analysis is impassioned and thorough, analysing the passing down of conventional female wisdom and providing tools to help the reader apply a fairytale lens to their own life circumstances as a way of framing and making sense of difficult times. Her work as a psychologist makes for interesting anecdotes about her experiences of applying fairy tales in a therapeutic context in order to achieve breakthroughs in the lives of her patients, and I can see how this book would be genuinely transformative in the hands of the right reader.

📚

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This just isn't holding my attention--got through the first section and decided it's not for me. I'd rather just dig up the old fairy tales! That's what i mistook this book to majority be about.

[Ella-Mae Campling · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something reverential about how Sharon Blackie seemingly releases an erudite delight right when we in society seemingly need them most. Following on from the success of Wise Women, If Women Rose Rooted and Hagitude, and MORE it’s hard to believe that I could end up finding another book surrounding fairytales and mythologies intrinsic links to our modern psyche so inherently fascinating. But oh how I did. A fascinating foray into certain archetypes and their capturing hold on society lays before you when you pick this one up (because you should). It glided into publication right as I personally needed this collection; featuring sections on the beginning of a girl, the transitions of girls into womanhood, and following through on how finding a center of self, always returning to yourself and community, this is a beautiful ode to the connections of others we can often find by turning to earlier tales, as well as examining their pollution and transformation across time and societies. Written with such a care and passion for her subject, a non-fiction that has such warmth is a treat to read. My copy is littered in notes, and as someone with a deep fascination behind the relationship between fairytales, mythologies, ancient tales and modern societies- this book was another absolute wonder to read.

[Sehar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf
How many ways can you say the same thing over and over again?

[Natalie Fagan-Brown · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Turns Out the Princess Was Supposed to Save Herself All Along

I went into Ripening: Why Women Need Fairy Tales Now by Sharon Blackie expecting an interesting exploration of fairy tales. What I got was something much more thought-provoking, and occasionally a gentle reminder that perhaps I've been looking at some of these old stories all wrong.

Blackie takes us back to the fairy tales that existed long before they were polished up, prettified and turned into stories about beautiful princesses waiting patiently for a handsome prince to sort everything out.

And goodness me, haven't we been sold a rather limited version of womanhood?

Through familiar tales such as Rapunzel and Snow White and Rose Red, alongside lesser-known stories, Blackie explores what these tales can teach us about growing up, facing hardship, finding our voices and navigating the different stages of a woman's life.

What fascinated me most was the idea that these women weren't necessarily waiting to be rescued. Many were frightened, abandoned, betrayed or facing circumstances completely beyond their control, yet somehow they found the resourcefulness to keep going.

No magical makeover required. No prince necessary. Just a woman looking at the absolute mess before her and thinking, well, I'd better find a way through this then.

Sounds rather familiar, doesn't it?

I particularly appreciated Blackie's exploration of how women change throughout their lives. We're so often encouraged to cling desperately to youth, as though everything worthwhile happens before a certain age and the rest is simply a gradual disappearance into sensible shoes and invisibility.

Excuse me? I beg your pardon.

I loved the suggestion that growing older isn't necessarily about losing ourselves. It can be about becoming more fully ourselves, recognising what matters, questioning what we've been taught and finally giving ourselves permission to live differently.

There's something wonderfully reassuring about that.

I also enjoyed the connection Blackie makes between women, nature and community. Her heroines don't always succeed through strength or cleverness alone. Sometimes it's kindness, relationships, patience or recognising when they need help that makes the difference.

And isn't that a lesson in itself? We spend so much time celebrating independence that we sometimes forget there's strength in allowing ourselves to depend on one another.

My one reservation is that Blackie occasionally seems so determined to convince us of the importance of fairy tales that the central message becomes a little repetitive. There were moments when I found myself thinking, Sharon, love, you've convinced me. I'm already in the forest. Where are we going next?

I also think there's room to question whether every fairy tale carries the wisdom we want to find in it. Some of these stories reflect the limitations and prejudices of their times, and not every old tale deserves to be treated as a guide to living. Sometimes we need to challenge the story rather than reclaim it.

But perhaps that's part of the point. We don't have to accept every story exactly as it was handed down to us.

What stayed with me most was the idea of ripening itself. Not becoming perfect, not finally having all the answers, but growing into ourselves through experience, disappointment, courage and change.

And I rather like that.

There's something deeply comforting about the thought that we aren't finished becoming who we're meant to be simply because we've reached a particular age. There are still stories to tell, choices to make and versions of ourselves we haven't yet discovered.

I finished this book thinking that perhaps the greatest gift of these old fairy tales isn't the promise of a happy ending.

It's the reminder that even when the path disappears, we might still have what we need to find our way through the woods.

And frankly, if I've survived this much of life already, I'm certainly not about to sit in a tower waiting for somebody to let down my hair.

[Tatiana Goded · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sharon Blackie’s books have always arrived when I most needed them. “Ripening” was no exception. I devoured all her other non-fiction books after finding “Wise women” in my favourite bookshop in Wellington. “Hagitude”, “The enchanted life” and “If women rose rooted” moved me to my core, and provided that deep need for meaning through the deep essence of fairy tales and our connection to the land. They helped me feel rooted and connected to myself in a way I hadn’t experienced in a long time. I have them near me to reread them again in times of need. In a moment when I am making a big move in my life at 50, one that most consider crazy but that feels right from my deepest core, I needed something to reinforce my deep intuition. And one day I received an email from Sharon’s substack account, announcing the release of “Ripening”. It was as of life had heard my needs. I knew last year she was writing her next book, but life got on the way and I hadn’t kept on the loop. Just reading about its contents made me cry, how it helped us connect to ourselves via fairy tales, how they could help you make difficult decisions and take leaps of faith. I hadn’t realised how much I missed Sharon’s deep ancestral wisdom. I ordered the book that same day, and it has been food for my soul in the last days. Yesterday I finished it with tears in my eyes. So many women and girls should read it, to see the value we bring to the world, to understand our wisdom and our resilience. This book was a bit different in the sense that she didn’t tell the entire stories, but summarised them to dig deep into their meaning and purpose. There were stories I hadn’t heard of before that I would have loved to know more about. But this was not the purpose of this book: she’s managed to dig deep into the meaning of fairy tales from many different countries and connect them, giving us wings to fly and roots to feel grounded. Thank you, Sharon, for feeding my soul in such a beautiful way, for bringing so much hope and strength to women who have lost it. I can’t wait till your next book

[Cold · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ezra Klein once asked "what would the Jordan Peterson of the left look like?". This could be an answer: a self-help book aimed at finding a purpose in life rooted in a blend of personal experience, therapeutic work, scientific knowledge, and a Jungian reading of old stories, with writing as the solution to re-orienting your life. But that's where it ends. Blackie is a temu Peterson.

Blackie uses fairy tales instrumentally to frame what she learned about her own life, suggesting reading fairy tales sooner would've avoided wasting time. She had an over bearing mother, hated corporate life, and loved her life after she quit and became a writer/therapist. I just don't buy that this book contains any wisdom about how to live life, it was way too centred on the author. By contrast, Peterson tries to distill how to live by applying a Jungian lens to old stories. His wrestling with the truth is why he's so successful.

[cypher · Rating 2 out of 5]

fairytales teach women how to be in a relationship?! (from the beginning of the book)
what?! no, they do not...in this regard they really don't, quite the opposite, fairytales might teach people unrealistic "standards".
do women need fairytales more than men? seriously?! no, not really.
this was so incredibly melodramatic.
do women need fairytales now? no. did women need fairytales in the past? no. any person, woman or man, needs a bit more non-fiction now (some politics, climate, some economics, some science...), and maybe some science-fiction (the good ones, with perspective) before they need fairytales...or fantasy books (the "modern" fairytales, some say).
just being honest, fairytales are probably breaking things more than fixing in the current world. non-fiction is what we all need. this, in my opinion, was a silly book (even if this, specifically counts at non-fiction...i should have picked some science maybe...i understand if you wanna go and do an analysis on fairytales...but implying, or stating directly, that "women need fairytales now" is just incorrect...this does not support the right kind of feminism, a feminism of strong and knowledgeable women who know a lot about a lot, make informed decisions in politics and the economy, and dominate through logic in the world...taking time for a fairytale book instead of a book on the economy now, for example, will most likely be time lost in a woman's development towards that strong knowledgeable and logical person she could become...women do not need fairytales now before they need many other things).


...at some point in the book the author says she has never met a woman who does not identify with the shapeshifting magical creatures from european fairy tales...aham...that was a bit stupid, definitely untrue...and definitely very melodramatic. give me a break. every woman identifies with a magical creature these days...just because...because they can?
and then she starts talking about God, and the divine feminine (whatever that is) that women crave...definitely very melodramatic.
not so non-fiction, factual analysis on european fairy tales, after all.

[Becky Lee Warburton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved some parts of this book and found its reframing of fairy tales as stories about agency, rather than simply stories of rescue, genuinely fascinating.

That said, I wouldn't say the book held my attention throughout. At times, I found the discussion a little repetitive, and I felt that the section on writing your own story was somewhat oddly placed within the book.

I also found the title Why Women Need Fairy Tales a little too strong. I think the book makes a compelling case for why fairy tales are important to reflect on through a feminist lens, but I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying women need them.

[Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

It did make a few good points, but I didn't agree with a lot of what she was saying, or couldn't understand how she'd made the connections she had, or how she could see an analogy between particular elements of a fairytale & real life. It was weird, & a bit dark & twisty. I'd pretty much decided this after an hour into the audiobook, then I put it on a sleep timer to give it more a chance. Unfortunately, the sleep timer didn't engage, so it played for hours & hours & hours next to my head. I drifted in & out of sleep & it fed me nightmares of young teen princesses having their hands cut off being raped. Not cool.

[Emmie · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF at about 80%. More of a 2.5/5.

It's clear that Blackie knows her stuff; she writes eloquently and passionately. This just didn't grab me, though. I found it repetitive, a little too self-helpy, and quite light on the actual psychology. That said, it's probably (partially) on me for assuming that it would be more of the latter than the former.

I'm sure this is a great book for someone who has never heard of the self and the persona, or the mother and father wound (and I mean that with full sincerity), but for me, personally, the whole thing started to feel a bit like one long preface by about the halfway mark. The last 20% was a summary of the ideas repeated throughout the course of the book and a few activity suggestions I didn't want to sift through.

[Julie Thomason · Rating 1.75 out of 5]

Having read other books on this subject, this was disappointing. Too personal, a lot read like a memoir of how fairy stories helped her, references to clients, her sub stack and references to same stories over and over. I bought the book prior to hear her lecture online as part of the package. The talk was Ok but this was a slog to read, the tone monotonous. There are journal self help questions and how to write your life as a fairy story. Too personal for my tastes read Pinkola Estes or Jordan Bucay far better on the topic.

[Lottie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

Yes, we really do. We really need fairytales. Unfortunately that’s pretty unrealistic in late-stage capitalism. This book provided great insight into various topics, like folklore and fairy tales links to feminism, and how to survive the current state of the world. I wasn’t sure how it all linked together, and it was getting somewhat repetitive by the end, but this was still a solid read overall

[Heather Samson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don’t have the language of doing that inner work you might find this book Hard to get through. I really enjoyed it as I’ve been part of a women’s circle for many years now and love reading the insights from various writers who do the work. I especially liked all the journal prompts/reflections after chapters/sections. I also really like when a writer is narrating their book.

[Lorelei · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. I bought it after listening to the audiobook so I could highlight it and save the passages that held so much meaning for me. The parallels to modern life are startling and Blackie does a wonderful job of sharing her psychologist's experience and point of view to help women navigate their own path. I have also read "When Women Rose Rooted". Highly recommend.

[Molly Worth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting read, and has made me want to go back and re read all the old Fairy Tales that I half remember from childhood with the new perspectives and observations from this book. Particularly enjoyed the inclusion of philosophical ideas too, added an extra level of depth to the conclusions

[Alice Ashton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started out strong but I found myself getting increasingly bored. Not my bag re non fiction. It was more ‘self help’ than I expected which is not my preference. I was hoping for a really empowering text, but just didn’t get that feeling.

[Clarissa Casagrande · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do really appreciate and enjoy the points in this story, and I do think it's worth a read for a lot of women in their 30s who have lost the magic in their lives... But for me personally, the same things become very repetitive. Don't let my two star review stop you from reading!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the approach of this book - it pulls together diverse ideas from psychological theory and beautifully illustrates the power of traditional story telling and particularly fairy stories. I really like the resources for reflection / writing included and will return to these.

[Mahayana Dugast · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an entertaining take on fairy tales, but I could only read half.

[Marialena Prapa · Rating 5 out of 5]

So inspiring!!

[Bleu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sep 2026