Tangleweed and Brine

by Deirdre Sullivan, Karen Vaughan (Illustrator)

Tangled tales of earth, salty tales of water

Bewitched retellings of thirteen classic fairy-tales with brave and resilient heroines. Tales of blood and intrigue, betrayal and enchantment from a leading Irish YA author.

With 13 stunning black and white illustrations by new Irish illustrator Karen Vaughan.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Retellings, Fairy Tales, Young Adult, Fiction, Feminism

164 pages, Hardcover

First published September 7, 2017

About the author

Deirdre Sullivan is a writer from Galway.

Reviews

[Dannii Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tangleweed and Brine is an anthology of thirteen tales of darkness and disorder featuring the gorgeously eerie illustrations of Karen Vaughan. Based on the writings of the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, these fantastical re-imaginings transcend the conventional image of the female, immortalised in these early, traditional fairy tales.

Fairy tales were traditionally used as a moralistic warning for its young readers, but here they warn, instead, against overlooking the females they focus on. Instead of fainting damsels awaiting a young knight to rescue them, these princesses are saving themselves!

"Words are not truth", so begins one of the tales in this anthology. And the author has proven this. Tangleweed and Brine reworks the thirteen original stories focused on and transgresses the boundaries of the image of the hapless heroine whose destiny lies in the hands of another, to one who would look internally for saviour. This feminist vision of the female condition and a scathing insight into a society that would see it silenced is both profoundly complex and easily accessible.

Retellings are popular and numerous, but with so many already available how does this one begin to compare and compete?

Well, the answer is: with ease!

[Auntie Terror · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - somewhat disappointing as I was expecting a less miserable and pity-laden collection of stories, and stronger heroines who dwell less upon their short-comings in the eyes of others. Some were that, but only a minority. [prtf]

[Gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy short story collections and I enjoy fairytales so this book seemed right up my street. What's not to love about fairytale retellings however, although there were some stories in here that I did enjoy the writing style wasn't really for me.

This whole collection is full of reimagined fairytales. All of them centred around a female and with several stories having a bit of a feminist twist which was nice. Lots of these stories were also quite dark and a little twisted which also appealed to me. The thing that didn't quite work for me was the writing. It was very poetic and, don't get me wrong, I'm sure many people will think the writing was beautiful but it was just too poetic for me. All of the stories were also written using lots of short sentences and this made the writing feel a bit disjointed. It was such a shame because there were a couple of stories I really enjoyed and I wanted to love the whole collection.

Here are the stories I enjoyed the most.

Ash Pale
This one was a retelling of Snow White. I was able to follow this one without too many problems and I enjoyed the way Snow White was depicted. It was a bit of a spin on the evil step mother vs princess trope and it had quite a dark ending which I liked.

Doing Well
This one was a retelling of The Frog Prince which I'm familiar with but I don't think I've ever read the original. This had quite a tragic ending and I think it did a great job of depicting the way woman can be treated and the hardships they can sometimes face.

Beauty and the Board
This one was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and it was a bit of a strange one. In the beginning I was wondering what was going on but halfway through I picked up the plot and I thought it was a really interesting and sightly disturbing twist on the idea of the 'Beast' in this fairytale.

Overall I really enjoyed a few stories in this collection and liked a couple others but I just couldn't gel with the writing style, which was a shame as I thought I was going to love this one.

[Rhian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just...

Wanted it to be better. I wanted it to be interesting feminism. Fairy Tales are so rife for exploration, and in many ways this was a very original collection. It's just... if you're going to modernise fairy tales, don't keep the 'all men will rape you if you look them in the eye, what we're most afraid of as a society is the deep dark beast in the weeds' bits. It doesn't work with taking such a modern tone. The poetry (which was, sadly, not great) and the originality of the retelling (a Ouija board features? okay) grated SO HARD with how archaic the morals felt. Fairy Tales ARE moral tales, you can't escape that. They're essentially cultural horror stories to scare kids into behaving and to teach them what the world does and does not accept. If you're not going to update that and THEN you fall into the trap of 'ooh look women can be violent too that's #feminism' and THEN you write an explicit rape scene (which... why? still not sure what point it served except shock factor and quite frankly DO FUCKING BETTER), then I'm sorry, but no. There's a difference between the fun dark women characters who murder people and making all your women murdery or wronged because they're women and they're wallowing in power and sexuality. There's gotta be some feminist theory out there that puts that more eloquently and coherently.

Look, Angela Carter did it already and she did it better. Which is a shame, because Perfectly Preventable Deaths was absolutely incredible and if you'd asked me I wouldn't have realised they were the same writer.

[Szaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jest w tych opowiadaniach to, czego najbardziej nie lubię we współczesnych, feministycznych retellingach. Bo niby mają stawiać na pierwszym miejscu kobiety, mają opowiadać coś z ich perspektywy, no i super, tylko to "oddanie głosu" z reguły się kończy tym, że te dziewczyny i kobiety wciąż w większości są miotane przez historię, wciąż są przedmiotowo traktowane, wciąż ich los leży tylko w czyichś rękach (tych okropnych mężczyzn ofc). One patrzą, one znoszą, one pochylają głowy, one milczą, ale to nie jest milczenie wymowne, większość treści jest, przykro trochę, ale wręcz prostacka w swojej wymowie (serio zacznę liczyć niedługo książki, gdzie autorki zniechęcają do postaci męskich pisząc, że przy jedzeniu sok czy sos spływał im po brodzie). Przy kolejnych zdaniach w stylu "zaczęła dorastać i zaczęli na nią patrzeć a ona patrzyła w ziemię, żeby nie prowokować" zaczęłam przewracać oczami. I żeby nie było - ja wcale nie neguję, że tak nie było w prawdziwym świecie. Było i wciąż jest. Tylko tu mówimy o opowieści, a opowiadanie historii rządzi się nieco innymi prawami niż życie. Oddanie głosu kobietom nie powinno się sprowadzać li jedynie do opisywania ich krzywdy, na litość, to nie reportaż, to nie dokumentowanie przeszłości czy terazniejszości, to opowieść.

Miały to być retellingi, czyli, no właśnie baśnie opowiedziane na nowo, ale wciąż baśnie. Baśnie jak i mity, nie mają być tylko historią o czymś, ale niosą coś ze sobą, jakiś morał, wyjaśnienie, zasady, a tutaj nie było nic takiego, serio. I jeszcze spoko, jeśli w samej historii było coś, co złapało moją uwagę - z reguły bohaterka, która miała wolę, miała chęć działania - tylko że takich opowiadań było niewiele, bo często tym działaniem było ukrycie się. Jak ma to być feministyczne to nie wystarczy powiedzieć: chłopy to złe som, dziewczyny, złe, nic złego ze spotkań z nimi nie przyjdzie, bo patrzą tylko i obłapiają i chcą wykorzystać, bracia to wasi, ojcowie, ludzie na targu, nie warto, NIE PATRZ IM W OCZY, bo zrobią ci krzywdę. To książka YA i jedyne, co można z tej historii wynieść to strach przed mężczyznami, a to raczej nie o to chodzi.

Wyróżniały się te opowieści, gdzie było coś więcej, albo coś zupełnie innego i o czymś innym niż kobiety krzywdzone przez mężczyzn i ważne tylko wtedy, kiedy są w ciąży. Podobały mi się 4, niech będzie że 4.5 na 13. A to za mało, żeby ocenić całość lepiej.

No i język, bardzo mnie drażnił. Zbyt na siłę miał być poetycki, dziwny, klimatyczny, z tymi króciutkimi zdaniami i powtarzanymi co chwilę frazami. Nie polecam generalnie całośc, ale honorable mentiones to: Slippershod (Kopciuszek), Ash Pale (Śnieżka - i to było naprawę dobre), The Tender Weight (Sinobrody - też bardzo dobre), Beauty and The Board (Piękna i Bestia) . I zasługuje na wspomnienie też Riverbed (Ośla skórka) - tutaj pół, bo zaczęło się dokładnie takim samym motywem jak reszta i po prostu byłam już poirytowana.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

1st read - September 2017
2nd read - January 2018
3rd read - October 2018 - I read the new paperback edition that contains an extra shot story you can read my review here

Tangleweed and Brine is a collection of thirteen feminist fairytale retellings written by Deirdre Sullivan and beautifully illustrated by Karen Vaughan. Even as an ebook it's a gorgeous book but I really think I'm going to have to invest in a hardback copy for my library.

These stories aren't always easy to read, just like traditional fairytales they're dark and sometimes disturbing, they definitely don't have the Disney happy endings we've grown so used to these days! In fact you'll probably find some of these stories are now even darker than the original versions but they're very reflective of the way women were treated at the time the originals were written and they feel very true because of that. These stories don't all have happy endings for the female characters but some of the girls manage to find their own path and take revenge on the people who wronged them which I loved.

In case you're interested here's a list of the stories included (and the original tale they're based on):
1. Slippershod (Cinderella)
2. The Woodcutter's Bride (Little Red Riding Hood)
3. Come Live Here and be Loved (Rapunzel)
4. You Shall Not Suffer... (Hansel and Gretel)
5. Meet the Nameless Thing and call it Friend (Rumplestiltskin)
6. Sister Fair (Fair, Brown and Trembling)
7. Ash Pale (Snow White)
8. Consume or be Consumed (A Little Mermaid)
9. Doing Well (The Frog Prince)
10. The Tender Weight (Bluebeard)
11. Riverbed (Donkeyskin)
12. The Little Gift (The Goose Girl)
13. Beauty and the Board (Beauty and the Beast)

It's hard to pick a favourite story but I think it would probably have to be either Riverbed for sheer creep factor and the brilliant ending or The Little Gift which adds a lesbian romance to the tale of The Goose Girl.


Just one of the gorgeous illustrations you'll find in this book, this one is from The Little Gift.

[Aoife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tangleweed and Brine is a fascinating retelling of the childhood fairytales we all know and love, in which the female characters are stronger, darker and more complex than ever before.

I really enjoyed the majority of the stories and how the characters got a different kind of voice than I’ve seen previously. Each character is dealing with issues that that many other women can relate with (mostly).

I loved the twist on a lot of these fairy tales - the way Rapunzel looked at her mother’s reasons for giving her to the witch, and in Hansel and Gretel we saw the story of the ‘witch’ in the gingerbread house.

My favourites were probably Snow White for the really twisted, dark road that one took and a type of Snow White I’ve never seen before. The Frog Prince story was also wonderful and I would genuinely love a whole book set in the world.

I loved that the Bluebeard story was pretty much the only one that seemed to be an actual love story. I also liked Fair, Brown and Trembling mostly because I didn’t know much about the fairy tale at all so it was going into a brand new story altogether.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disruptive Feminist Retellings of Classic Fairy Tales

I picked up Deirdre Sullivan’s two books for a change of genre and due to the intrigue of what her work promised. In 2020 I read Savage Her Reply a retelling of The Children of Lir, a fairy tale I wasn’t familiar with, but thoroughly enjoyed, not just the storytelling but the use of calligrams, poems and the language of Ogham, morsels on the side but subjects that a reader can get quite carried away with, inspiring one’s own creativity, as I found out, collecting small branches, twigs and leaves to adorn the word poems.

Tangleweed and Brine

While Savage Her Reply was a long version of just one tale, in Tangleweed and Brine, we have an entire collection, cleverly separated into seven tangled tales of earth, and six salty tales of water. They can be dipped in and out of and are best read over a period of time, because they demand our attention, require reflection and strip the old tales of their illusory inclinations, suggesting quite frankly what really was going on with Red Riding Hood and her fellow heroines.

It helps to be familiar with the tales before reading, because they aren’t told as they might be to a child. These stories are narrated by the author, often in the second person “you” voice, acknowledging and bearing witness to our heroine, recounting what she experienced back to her and to us, the reader – we who thought we knew, because you know, we read those stories or had them read to us – we now sit back and read in shock, the harsh reality of these women’s lives. Sullivan is paying homage, setting the record straight, we must not turn away. No longer.

So which tales are twisted, those that glorified these heroines lives and made us believe in Prince Charming, bad witches and vicious wolves or these tales that tell of brave and resilient heroines, surviving betrayals, neglect, judgement, cruelty, abandonment and finally have their stories told by the courageous, intuitive teacher, seer, Ms Sullivan.

Part One – Tangleweed

Slippershod (Cinderella)

Cast thoughts aside of which slipper she wears and what she dreams of, Cinderella has a different destiny and the memory of a truer love, she is resourceful and retains her inner self-worth; She is patient and knows when to act.

“Stretching on the bed, with soft bread in your mouth, the taste of butter, you wonder what they are doing at the ball. Who the prince will dance with. The love he’ll choose, the girls he will discard. There’s nothing gentle in that kind of power. You close your eyes. There is a different world. Where people do things, make things. Carve them out. You breathe the thick, soft air. It smells of hops. You smile and square your shoulders. Sometimes love is something more like rage. It makes you fight. You feel the future, wide and bright around you, kicking in your gut as though a child. The night spread wide and you have flown, you’ve flown.”

The Woodcutter’s Bride (Red Riding Hood)

This tale can be told by the title and beautiful illustration by Karen Vaughan. There is one picture for every story and within them often lurk clues. As I read the opening paragraphs and saw the illustration, the reality of who really was the wolf, the colour of that cape, hit me like a punch. The horror of those trophies.

“When I was a small girl something happened to me in the forest. I can’t recall exactly what it was. It’s hard to trust tales from the lips of grandmothers; they come out wrong, too dirty or too clean. Since then I have not felt the same about the forest, I liked it once I think or I think I think. It’s beautiful but on its inky edges something stirs to fidget with my gut. It’s getting dark; my husband will be home soon. I bite down on my lips to make them red."

Come Live Here and Be Loved (Rapunzel)

“Your husband’s face afraid when you inform him. A happy sort of fear. To grow a person is no little thing. It isn’t like a turnip or a spud. It’s not so simple, weaving vein and bone. Your sense of smell wolf-sharp and, oh, the hunger. You ache with it. It gnaws at you, untrammelled through your gut. The pang of it so sharp, like teeth, like fury. A starving ache that cannot be suppressed.”

You Shall Not Suffer (Hansel and Gretel)

She lives in a world that discards the weak easily, she prefers to save lives, to nurture, or at least try to save them. She doesn’t fit the mould of what is expected, so she chooses another way, another life, a way to be herself, a house in the woods. When they abandon their litters now, they blame the witch in the woods, yet still they come to her for help, seek her healing powers.

“You grew up soft, but still you learned to hide it. Piece by piece. The world’s not built for soft and sturdy things. It likes its soft thing small and white, defenceless. Princesses in castles. Maidens waiting for the perfect sword. You grew up soft, and piece by wounded piece you built a carapace around your body. Humans are peculiar little things.

Sister Fair (Fair, Brown and Trembling)

This is an Irish fairy tale of three sisters, that was unknown to me, one of jealousy, betrayal and redemption.

“It’s not about being sensible, or strong. It’s not about being kind. It’s not about the soft touch and the kind heart. Beauty and a womb. That’s all you are.”

Ash Pale (Snow White)

This story turns the classic tale on its head and Snow White uses skills Her mother taught her to ensure she isn’t dispossessed of her place, when her father remarries.

“You look at her the same way you always did. Perhaps a little kinder. Now that she’s disappearing. Not a threat. You can see her folding into herself like crumpled parchment. Changing who she is to please him.”

Part Two – Brine

Consume Or Be Consumed (A Little Mermaid)

This was actually the first tale I read, especially after finishing Jan Carson’s The Fire Starters in which we are led to believe that one of the protagonists is seduced by a siren. Here the mermaid spends time among humans and sees what it is to be a woman, the sacrifice.

“These things with half of you on pairs of legs. They don’t look right. There’s something off about it. You often stare. Sometimes you close your eyes. So many of them. So much of this world.

On land, a woman doesn’t matter much. You miss it. Or you used to. Your skin is slightly tinged with subtle blue. They think that makes you lady-like. The colour of a person matters here. Who were you once, and what was done to you. They speculate. A quiet thing is often seen as docile. They say their secrets, spew out all their bile as you sit silently beside the window. Staring at the waters, lapping out. Everything is still here, always, always. And it should move. You long for it to move.”

Doing Well (The Frog Prince)

A terrible tale of a princess born into bondage, to a frog, she has no choice, no say, no rights. She belongs to this slimy amphibian and must do his bidding, worse than a slave.

“You have been marked from birth for just this purpose. Cloistered with the others. Secret spaces deep within this space where girls are trained. But there are passageways to keep you safe.”

The Tender Weight (Bluebeard)
Originally a French folktale, this story is given a different twist, though the inevitability of its outcome remains. A story of repetitions, of a curse, of an attempt to break it, of an unfounded reputation, a desire to break free.

“You do not have to ask him what he did. You know that it was nothing. There doesn’t have to be a reason here The world will steal what little crumbs you grasp. The loves you have can die and be reborn.The memory of pain will cling. Will cling. And you will never let yourself forget. That this has happened.”

Riverbed (Donkeyskin)

Another French fairytale originally from 1695, in which a daughter has to resort to extremes to protect herself from her father’s indecorous intentions. In this retelling,rather than hide and wait for him to come to his senses and she retain her good virtue, the young woman is uncompromising, will time her strike, will be as effective and more virtuous in her rule. And pay homage to the innocnet hard-working, long-suffering donkey.

“There is a soft rebellion to a donkey. It is a working thing. But it resents. I am fond of this. When I am cold or lonely in the castle. When I’m afraid, I often find myself around the stables, stroking them as long as they permit. Which is a goodly time. They trust me now. I earned it. Growing up, and being gentle, kind.”

The Little Gift (The Goose Girl)
Another from the Brothers Grimm collection, originally this story tells the tale of a maid servant who turns on her princess when they are travelling and forces her to swap places, making an oath never to tell. The princess becomes the maid who cares for the geese, until the prince learns of what took place and tricks the false princess into choosing her punishment. In the retelling, we learn whose idea it was to change places, the reneging on a promise, betrayal. What some will do for love, the selfishness of the entitled.

A goose can try its best to be a swan. Conceal the ruddy beak, the grating honk. But swans as geese? The air cries out to them. It’s not enough. They want clean sheets and gold. The softer life. And when I visit and stroke her face, I see her clear blue eyes upon my jewels. She does not see their weight, only their lustre. She knows they should be hers. She wants them back.”

Beauty and the Board (Beauty and the Beast)
The death of the mother leaves Beauty vulnerable, but there is a presence she can contact through the board, invite in for her protection, to deal with the ever present danger. She becomes they.

“You are a thing. A beast without a home. I know that, how it feels. And I would have you share a place in me.”

As the book closes, Deirdre Sullivan touchingly makes her acknowledgements and give thanks, placing names under an array of colours and what they symbolise:

Candle-magic: bright lights that made me braver

“Writing a book is scary, if you mean it. These people made the earth solid and the water gentle. I light candles for you all. I thank you.” Deirdre Sullivan

*******

Tangleweed and Brine is a book about women within fairy-tales. And their internal lives, as they realise their place in the world. How trapped they are. Some of them rebel, and some retreat. I wanted to write about different sorts of women, quiet ones and strong ones, women with different shaped bodies, different shaped brains. I wanted to take the stories of my childhood, and put the things we learn early on into a world where marrying a stranger is seen as a happy ending, and pride is something women shouldn’t feel.

What Will Build and Break a Girl: Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've already posted a review of the Hardback edition of this fairytale collection (you can read that review here) but the new paperback edition releases today and it contains a brand new short story that hasn't been seen before.

The extra story in this edition is called Waking Beauty and is based on the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. It was surprising to see that this story was from a male POV (I believe all the others are from the women's POV) but that made so much sense once the story gets going. An interesting look at some men's sense of entitlement when it comes to what women owe them and particularly relevant today when we're talking more and more about Me Too and rape culture. I think that was possibly my new favourite story in the collection!

In case you're interested here's a list of all fourteen stories included (and the original tale they're based on):
1. Slippershod (Cinderella)
2. The Woodcutter's Bride (Little Red Riding Hood)
3. Come Live Here and be Loved (Rapunzel)
4. You Shall Not Suffer... (Hansel and Gretel)
5. Meet the Nameless Thing and call it Friend (Rumplestiltskin)
6. Sister Fair (Fair, Brown and Trembling)
7. Ash Pale (Snow White)
8. Consume or be Consumed (A Little Mermaid)
9. Doing Well (The Frog Prince)
10. The Tender Weight (Bluebeard)
11. Riverbed (Donkeyskin)
12. The Little Gift (The Goose Girl)
13. Beauty and the Board (Beauty and the Beast)
14. Waking Beauty (Sleeping Beauty) - this new story is in the paperback edition only!

[Alyson Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without a doubt, this is one of the most beautifully written anthologies I have ever read.

Based upon fairytales, this book gives you feminist retellings that somewhat took me by surprise, making me think I knew the plot, yet it turned in a different direction.

Each tale differed enough so that it held my attention. I do feel that had I read this (I listened to it instead), this may have been different. But, at very enjoyable read.

[Belinda Carvalho · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a deliciously dark collection that I will keep, re-read and cherish. I am glad I have a hard-back edition. These feminist subversions of traditional fairytales are a densely poetic feast to read, an absolute must for literature lovers and for feminists. Each story is it's own self-contained world of women and unusual words...women's issues, past and present are woven into magical tales and these tales examine age old stereotypes.
There is very interesting writing here on puberty, child-bearing, birth, rape, incest, murder, ownership of women's bodies, loss of virginity....no taboo is left untouched! The best stories for me were Ash Pale (Snow White), Consume or be Consumed (A Little Mermaid) and The Tender Weight (Bluebeard). Obviously this book owes a debt to Angela Carter's legendary feminist fairytale re-writings but Deirdre Sullivan's work is fresh, artistic and really adds to what is going on right now in the dialogue about women's rights. I hope it receives the accolades it deserves.
The only thing I would say about this was that I'm not sure about this book as a YA collection. It felt more fitting for an adult audience to me but maybe this is what the (older) teens are into these days. I will definitely be telling English teaching colleagues and Sixth formers about it.

[kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m so sad that I didn’t love this as much as I’d hoped I would. There were a few stories I liked above the others, The Tender Weight being my stand out favourite but overall, this collection wasn’t for me unfortunately.

[Bee Tay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Upgrading my rating to 4.5 stars - I loved putting the review together and it's made me realise that, despite my extremely minor quibble, I really enjoyed reading this!

Uuuugggh, this anthology of feminist fairy-tale retellings was awesome!

It told me so long to read it, because, like some other reviewers have said, the language used is so beautiful that it's really worth savouring. I thought it would maybe take me a couple of lazy afternoons to finish it, but they sure were right: this book is like a rich, detectable (and somewhat tangy with sharp truths about how the world treats women) twisted dark chocolate bar that you simply can't gobble up all at once!

I really took my time to read each story, writing a brief synopsis and my favourite quotes in a little notebook before reading the story again. The only reason this doesn't get a full 5-star review from me is that sometimes, I found I had to be in the mood for the author's style of writing. When you're in that mood, though, the stories hit you so hard and enthuse your being so much more and I really did enjoy them all immensely on the second read!

Below, I've summarised each story and totally given the game away about the twist within each one - this is why I've hidden it all with a spoiler tag! Please only read on if you've already read the book/don't mind getting spoiled/are too freaking excited to read this wonderful book 'just give me all the deets already, damn it.'

The book is split into two halves, 'Tangleweed' and 'Brine' and is dotted with the most amazing illustrations which add so much charm to an already super-charming and bookshelf-worthy tome!



TANGLEWEED

Slippershod (Cinderella) - she runs away to make a life for herself - you go, tiny Cinder! So kickass!

"You like your legs that take you different places. You like your arms that make things, grow things, mend... Women are a lot of different things."

The Woodcutter's Bride (Red Riding Hood) - an older RRH lives in the woods with her woodcutter husband. She keeps the house neat and he keeps her warm with his 'skillful sausage fingers' (LOL) and by bringing in wood for the fire. He also keeps the wolf's pelt under the floorboards and, whilst he's out in the woods, she likes to wear it...

[about the forest by their cottage] "It's beautiful but on its inky edges something stirs to fidget with my gut."

[talking about feminine fragility] "To have always just alighted on mantelpieces but never flown anywhere, for fear of crumbling."

"It is not a good idea to notice things too much here. Slitted eyes that lead to slitted bellies."

"Hoods are funny things. Mostly dark, evoking executioners."

Come Live Here and be Loved (Rapunzel) - a somewhat odd pre-telling of Rapunzel's parents and the deal they made with the thrice-born witch, who took her as a baby and imprisoned her in her tower.

"Come take your place. And make me sure of mine."

"Women die so many little deaths. Each time a hope is fisted like a butterfly to powder."

"Campanula Rapunculus" - the star-shaped herb the baby inside her encourages her to eat that puts a curse on...the baby Rapunzel. Oops. The mother must obey the baby's hunger or be killed by the witch for trespassing!

You Shall Not Suffer... (Hansel and Gretel) - the witch's story! Scolded and beaten as a child for enjoying food 'too much', she is also punished for taking in sick animals, forced to cook them in a stew and eat them. Sob. Lured into the woods by a turtle and a hare (magic, ofc), she builds a house of currant buns, gingerbread and candies, luring animals for her cursed 'care'. Hansel and Gretel arrive outside and she turns on her oven...

"People weave a kindness to their cruelty."

Meet the Nameless Thing and Call it Friend (Rumpelstiltskin) - MC gets locked in a room and ordered to spin straw into gold to earn the prince's hand. If unsuccessful, both her and her father will hang. She makes a deal with the Friend (Mr Rumps) to save herself and in return, he'll have her firstborn child...to eat.

"The Friend would come. And it would want her child... She called the woodsman. She only did what anyone would do."

Sister Fair (Fair, Brown and Trembling) - I'd never heard of the original story! Three sisters are due to be wed and Fair (the eldest) sees marrying in order of age as the just thing. The handsome 'snake man' comes calling, looking for a wife (charming) and chooses Fair first but is then enraptured by the youngest sister Trembling's beauty. She is the most vulnerable of the three and Fair knows that she would not survive the horrors of being married off, so she is, indeed, Fair and seduces the snake man to save her sister. LOL I've just twigged that she then drowns him in the river! Ha.

"Could push him in. Underneath the deep. It moves so wildly, foaming like a cauldron. You are not a witch. You're just a girl... Your name is Fair."

Ash Pale (Snow White) - I got a bit confused whether this was the Wicked Queen's story or Snow White's? Someone enlighten me if you know... Anyway, our girl creates seven beings (hiii-hoooo) out of once-living things to turn her father's new wife and child into ash.

"You were really pretty as a child. But, as a woman, you are something else. You've never felt desire for a man. For power, yes, but never for a man. You look in mirrors and fall in love." (See...Mirror, Mirror, On the wall...?)

BRINE

Consume or be Consumed (The Little Mermaid) - Love this!! Ariel (I guess?) has done her deal with the sea-witch and given up her tail and her tongue to be with the land-man (...a.k.a. The Man) she loves. Only, it turns out that he doesn't truly want her after all his chasing and is planning to marry someone else, so she shanks him in his sleep. A-hole deserved it.

"The world is harsh beneath the waves sometimes. Not as harsh, though, as the world above."

"He walks you to your chamber. He doesn't want you... You are not a thing that sits and waits. You try again. And that makes you a whore."

"Half of you was once for eating here. Women are consumed in other ways."

"You did not think that you would have to dance for him to look. And yet you did and still it made no difference."

"There is a girl who wants to be a fish again. She didn't know what land was like before... An exotic place... And it is lonely here. The girl is lonely...with her legs, her stump of tongue...her broken heart."

"Your sisters' faces... Their hair is gone. They gave it to the witch. They want you home."

"You are not a gift. You're not a thing. You slide the cold blade in... You are a precious thing. You're going home."

<3 <3 <3 <3


Doing Well (The Frog Prince) - In this story, women are kept hidden and raised with chains locked around their necks and given strict rules of ladylike etiquette to abide by when meeting the frog prince. If he becomes human during your meeting with him, you are condemned as a witch and burned.

"He may camouflage his skin to match your dress. This is not a good sign. It means he feels threatened by you. This will end the process - and your life."

The Tender Weight (Bluebeard) - I didn't know this retelling would be so sad! Bluebeard is cursed with witch-blood and finds true love in every life, only to be murdered and then reborn in a room filled with his previous corpses. :( The MC's journey involves her dealing with impressing her new husband, finding that she does actually love him and then that she will lose him in a horrible way. Will he still remember her when he comes back to his next life?

"Princesses are bred to feel things more. To fear the ways in which the world can hurt them. To close their eyes. To listen. To say yes. To bruise."

"How is it you've come to love a corpse?"

Riverbed (Donkeyskin) - The King loses his wife and vows he will only remarry someone as beautiful as her...and turns his attentions towards his own daughter (ew)!

"He is greedy for beautiful things."

"The child's small hands will hold you here. You need to go."

"My blanket is replaced. My donkey's skin... My donkey was alive. They took his skin."

"My ringless hands hold all their futures now... The things I could enact... I get to ruling. Taxes. Bargains. Peace. I bid them make my donkey-skin a cloak. I wear it on the throne. I do a man's job with a woman's face. A witch's heart. A witch can burn. A witch can flake to ash. Can drown a king."

The Little Gift (The Goose Girl) - A maid is protecting her beautiful princess and lifelong friend en route to meet the prince, her betrothed. They stop along their journey and end up kissing/professing their love for one another (yay!). They decide to swap places, so the other will have the life they have always wanted - the princess would have freedom to do as she pleased and not be constantly pawed at and the maid would be able to lift her head up high, wear the finest silks and be admired. The maid ensures that the princess gets a job working with the geese to keep her beloved safe (thus becoming the goose girl), but she becomes resentful of the maid's wonderful life and tells the king everything. The maid is sent to her death to drown in the river.

"There is no end of hurts that can be visited on the powerless."

"She shines too hard to look at."

"The love in me is welling up like water."

"Her hands upon my waist and I am lost. I do not know my place."

"I see her clear blue eyes upon my jewels. She does not see their weight, only their lustre. She knows they should be hers. She wants them back."

"She combs her hair. Tells stories to the walls. She saves herself."

OH PRINCESS, WHYYYY.

Beauty and the Board (Beauty and the Beast) - OMG MY FAVE. Beauty lives in a castle and is very lonely after her witch (read: spirit talker) mother is entombed in the walls and left to die. The King has commanded her to marry, but she doesn't want that life. She has a ouija board through which she communicates with the spirit of... The Beast! Ahh so awesome! She summons him and asks him to possess her so that their living/dead souls combine. This way, she will always have his protection and together they 'live' and Fuck Shit Up. Yesss. This was so creepy and cool, I loved it!

"She grows up pretty, so the people tell her. A compliment. A threat. She doesn't know."

"She wants to float through life unnoticed always. She wants to be a ghost."

[Her mother]: "They use their god to warp you to their ways. But if there is above, there is below. And you can use the things that live there. They were angels once before they fell."

"No one knows exactly the location. The girl has spent years knocking at the walls."

"I have felt your hungry mouth on me. Since childhood, I have felt the chill of you. You are a thing. A beast without a home. I know that, how it feels. And I would have you share a place in me."

"Come live in me. A lodger in my body and my brain. And, if the man they've sold me like a pig to lays a hand on me, then venture to the surface. Come and play. Teach him the things the world teaches women. Ensure he learns his lessons very well."

"They smooth their hands over their new face, and it pleases them... They venture out into the moonlit halls, walking naked through the dangerous places unafraid and wild with cold, bright beauty... poised for battle... the two together. Tale as old as time. And they are ready.

Thank you so much, Deirdre Sullivan! I'm over the moon to have read this <3

[Kaya Dimitrova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too much feminism. But beautiful and poetic language and absolutely incredible and unique illustrations.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

INCREDIBLE. Poetry. I want to tell you everything and I don't want to tell you anything.

You must read this.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are retellings of largely the Grimm and Andersen fairytales, of a world where castles and forests and witches, or accusations of witchcraft, dominate.
The stories are all told up close and personal from a female viewpoint in present tense. Immediate and sensuous though this is, I did get tired of it, because it felt as though we were reading the same character in every story.
Some of the women are witches, some are not but blamed as witches. This doesn't bring them any good and women often do unpleasant deeds or have them done to them. The Goose Girl story is told as a female romance but the others often feature more standard romance.
The pen drawings are detailed and stylistic, not necessarily recognisable as the fairytales but adding fillips from the retellings.
This isn't a YA read, though I found it on the YA shelf, and I have read Ride on Rapunzel: Fairytales for Feminists, by Irish authors, which I much preferred because we got to see women in better control of their lives, and we got to think about why the original tales were told and repeated with women being kept down by control freaks. I don't like to see women depicted as victims. However, this author has put a lot of work in and is entitled to tell the stories in her own way.
I read this book from Raheny Library. This is an unbiased review.

[Sigourney · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The future isn’t written, till you write it.’ – Riverbed

I’m not sure I can express how incredible a collection this is. Tangelweed and Brine is a feminist masterpiece, Sullivan has taken the fairy tales we know and love and turned them on their heads, subverting what we have always known to be the message of those tales and creating a rhetoric that screams empowerment. The stories within are powerful, magical, dark, poetic, and filled with strong female characters – there are no damsels in distress or princesses waiting for their princes who have no substance or humanity, instead we have women of all kinds, we have real people filled with love, lust, hate, and a great need for more from life, not objects or pieces of meat or pretty pieces of decoration.

I found myself filled overwhelmingly with anger and hope as I devoured these stories. Anger that women have been, and are still, treated like this – as commodities, pieces of meat, something to take and consume by men, people who had no agency, no rights, no vote. But hope as well. Hope, because women are and always have been powerful, even if we have been burned, and drowned, imprisoned, executed for it. Hope that the world is changing and people are too – that someday everyone will realise that people are people, no matter what they identify as, flesh and blood, worthy of equality and freedom and a life without fear.

TANGLEWEED

Slippershod – 5/5 stars. So powerful – love and kindness, freedom, breaking away, bravery.

‘People like their women lovely. Women are a lot of different things.’
‘…be ignored and still retain your value.’
‘What breaks a person builds another person.’
‘The night spreads wide and you have flown, you’ve flown.’

The Woodcutter’s Bride – 4/5 stars. Strange and unsettling.

Come Live Here and be Loved – 4/5 stars

You Shall Not Suffer… – 5/5 stars

‘The world’s not built for soft and sturdy things. It likes its soft things small and white, defenceless.’
‘Your body has become a cut of meat.’
‘You are a woman. Women must be trained.’

This story hit home hard – when you don’t conform to the traditional image of girl, growing up can still be difficult, being expected to be tough, to not hurt or feel, just because you’re so much taller and outwardly confident than others, than boys especially. And suddenly puberty hits and boys and men are told it’s acceptable to stare, to catcall, to harass – when did this become a norm? How did this even happen? The expectations that are placed on women and what we should be like – small, soft, delicate, weak – and how if you aren’t like that, you aren’t seen as womanly or feminine, it’s total rubbish, but it can still hurt and take a long time to come to terms with. I felt like I was coming home reading this story – the witch is beautiful and powerful, both sturdy and soft.

Meet the Nameless Thing and Call it Friend – 4/5 stars

Sister Fair – 4/5 stars

Ash Pale – 4.5/5 stars. Subverting the story of Snow White in spectacular fashion – Snow is the witch and the tale is powerful, dark, and magical. Whilst Snow seems deranged and evil in some of her methods, she’s free, she’s not being told what she can and cannot do by a man who wants to own everything about her.

‘Women aren’t allowed to do this here. To wield the power and to say the words.’
‘A soft life in a pretty cage with windows. A coffin for a woman when she lives.’

BRINE

Consume or be Consumed – 4/5 stars

‘You are not a gift. You’re not a thing. You slide the cold blade in.’

Doing Well – 4/5 stars

‘In every castle there are hidden rooms.
For hidden women.’
‘You need to hide to keep your body safe.’

The Tender Weight – 4/5 stars. Showing the ludicrous idea of a woman’s value being places on her virginity and then her ability to have children – commodities rather than people. The ending was wonderfully unexpected and a brilliant twist on the Bluebeard story.

Riverbed – 4.5/5 stars. Taking back power and control.

‘All witches burn.’
‘Witches can burn, and sometimes men can catch fire.’
‘They cannot bind my brain.’

The Little Gift – 4/5 stars. Odd, but powerful all the same.

‘I hold my head up high.
I am a person and I have value.’

Beauty and the Board – 5/5 stars

‘I am a woman grown. And I am angry.’
‘They venture out into the moonlit halls, walking naked through the dangerous places unafraid and wild with cold, bright beauty.’

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had never really planned on writing a review before but this book was very frustrating and upsetting that I felt it was important to speak out on the issues it contains so that I may hopefully prevent future readers from disappointment and discomfort with the harmful content in this book.

I went into this book excited for some feminist retellings of my favourite fairtytales. I had also heard there was a queer character which is always something I want in a book. But unfortunately, this book was quite a let down.

The stories tend to have some repetitive themes and often seemed very similar to one another. From harmful tropes to heteronormativity, there is a whole heap of issues in this book:
- I heard there was a lead queer character in one of the stories and was pretty excited about it, but unfortunately, I could not have been more disappointed after reading. Because of course, it just had to include the Bury Your Gays trope. Seriously, not a single main character dies in any of the stories except for the queer character.
- It was very heteronormative, heavily centered on cis straight woman and frequently related womanhood to pregnancy.
- A girl having pale skin and golden hair is described as being the perfect thing
- One of the few plus-sized characters was described as a freak and as having an inhuman appearance.

While the book does focus on the societal pressures of forcing women into marriage which is, of course, important, as many women are affected by it. It would have been nice to see women in some non-conforming storylines also.

I was extremely disappointed with this book and would definitely not recommend it to anyone.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful illustrations, and with a blurb like that I couldn't resist! Perhaps that is why I found myself ever so slightly disappointed; I always enjoy reading/seeing people's interpretations of classic stories, but whilst I liked the atmosphere and tone I found some of the stories too open-ended and vague. The stilted, stuttering sentences didn't help with following that; the writing style seemed whimsical at first, fitting with the tone, but quickly grew slightly irritating, and made it harder to follow and therefore harder to really get into the spirit of the stories. I really like some of the ideas though, and the unusual view given on these mostly familiar tales, but I did sometimes feel that they were only ideas rather than full stories.

[Booklepuff · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn’t actually what I expected so sadly I found it quite disappointing! The book is advertised as 13 retellings of classic fairytales, however I wouldn’t say this is necessarily correct! The book has very lose connections to some fairytales, however most of the stories seemed to revolve around the characters and nothing more!

I found their to be very little plot, not a lot of links to the fairytales, the language to be very complicated and the book to be written in a non flowing style! A couple of stories were interesting and this redeemed this series slightly but ultimately I wouldn’t read it again!

[Luce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I AM YELLING! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!

It set such a high standard for itself with the Cinderella retelling and then continued to just smash the ball out of the park. Some retellings went exactly the way I expected them to (The Little Mermaid) and others I never could have predicted (The Beauty and the Beast).

Each story was an absolute treat and I’ve said this a lot but this is a fairytale retelling collection that actually DESERVES to be called feminist. And not in the way that “feminist” often means “the female protagonist is sassy.”

Bluebeard is the standout story in this collection and the one that really solidified the above opinion. Feminism isn’t just about women being rightfully treated as humans, it’s also about men having the space to be humans.

Please read this one, it’s so worth it.


Rep, from memory: an autistic side character and a black side character in the Fair, Brown and Trembling retelling, a black main character in the Donkeyskin retelling, an ff relationship in the The Goose Girl retelling.

CW, from memory: animal death, parental death, threat of rape, threat of incest, description of corpses, pretty much all CWs you’d expect from traditional fairytales.

Disclaimer: I read this collection over a fairly long period of time and cannot remember rep and CW details from every story, for which I apologise. When I reread this I will amend this review to include anything I’ve missed.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This book is full of twisted variations on popular fairy tales. I liked that most stories found a surprising new angle to well-known material. The language often read like poetry which made it beautiful and fit the fair tale atmosphere, but at times also hard to understand. With some stories I had difficulties following all the references or get the full nuance. Some stories drew me right in while other remained strangely distant.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes slightly darker stories.

[Gabbie Pop · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5
I already knew that anything marketed as a modern,twisted collection of dark feminist fairytale retellings coming from Deirdre could be nothing short of enchanting.Having seen her moderate a bunch of events in the past as well as having read one previous book of hers,I knew going in that there was going to be an awful lot of stuff to unpack in these stories and somehow I was very far off in that speculation because it's SO MUCH MORE THAN I COULD EVER HAVE ANTICIPATED.
I feel like all of these stories would be a mine of gold for anyone who wanted to go full on literary analysis on them because there is,once more, so much to unpack and there is so,so much symbolism behind each and every one of the stories and so many thing you could compare and contrast with the original stories.This is most definitely the kind of book that you want to take your time with just to make sure you are taking as much of it in as possible.You could easily reread each and every one of these stories countless time and still have new things to come across.Additionally, the artwork accompanying the stories is STUNNING good job Karen Vaughan!
While the source/inspiration material comes across easily through the stories,Deirdre does a fantastic job in making each and every single story fresh,new and her own.It is incredible to see all these characters take agency inside their own story and not conform to the norms imposed by society.It is equally thrilling to see some background to other characters and be proven that,unlike traditional fairytales have the tendency to make one believe,people are not just black and white,but rather different shades of gray.
It is also worth noting that there is a recurring analysis of themes usually associated with womanhood: childbearing/pregnancy,food/eating and the way it influences society's perception of women who love it,different bodies and what it's like to be a woman inhabiting said bodies,motherhood as well as mother daughter connections (and lackthereof),rape culture and the patriarchy,etc.
SO SMART,FOLKS,SO SMART.
I could quite honestly spend ages and ages talking about this book.
This particular stories were split between Tangleweed - earth - and Brine - water - and I would LOVE to get another collection focused on fire and air.
DEIRDRE IS THE SMARTEST,MOST TALENTED LADY,THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love re-imagined (dark) fairy tales, get excited about stories with strong female leads and am a sucker for bad-ass witches. This book had all the right ingredients but... it just didn't deliver.

The book was filled with a sense of bitterness. The women only evaluated themselves and their value by their looks (and associated power) and their ability to reproduce. The men were almost all rapey, exploitative and incompetent. The only ways out (if any): murder, escape or witchcraft. I wouldn't have minded if one or two stories were like that, because they do address real issues- BUT these characters ALL had similar cookie cutter patriarchal nightmare fuel worldviews, relations and issues. Combined with the book's culmination into an explicit rape scene, it left me disappointed and wondering what message the author ultimately wanted us to take away from these tales.

Yes we women ARE more than our looks and reproductive powers- so why fixate on these aspects of womanhood in such a bitter way? Celebrate our strength and diversity! For a supposedly feminist short story collection, this book is wanting.

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was SO excited to read this collection! Great title, great cover (I'm a sucker for a great title and pretty art in equal measure), illustrations for each tale, female author, feminist retelling of classic fairytales - what's not to love?

Answer: so much. Alas, the writing style, though poetic, was clipped, choppy, and painfully fragmented throughout. Yet, by the end, I couldn't really tell the stories apart because they all had the same "Yellow Wallpaper"-esque tone. And while I get that these are fairytales, they were SO dark and amazingly depressing. The message "men/people in power treat women/the weak terribly" is well established and disheartening to have to swallow over and over again.

The only redeeming thing I took away was an introduction to the fairytale entitled "Bluebeard," not to be confused with the pirate of the same name. Interestingly creepy, I'd call it.

[Rhianydd Cooke - Cambourne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was weird…. It being an anthology made it a bit difficult to rate.
I LOVED some of the retelling tales and hated others so…. 🤷‍♀️
Probably the same for everyone.
I did however, love how STRONG most of the characters come out in these.
Most people know the “originals” or the Disney versions of the originals of these… some people may never have even heard of half of these tales and after reading these may go and find them 🤷‍♀️ this anthology has told them in another completely different way again and focuses on the WOMEN that these tales happened to! Their points of view and feelings on what was happening to them…. Being sold, being forced to marry, loving the “wrong” person etc.

[iz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t finish this book, I didn’t get past the third story. I felt disconnected from the story, like the writer was telling it from a thousand miles away and you couldn’t quite make out what is happening. The writing was poetic ish, but the stories told don’t replicate the original stories.
The thing that drew me to this book was the ‘feminist’ retelling of the stories with dark twists, but aside from female voices, it didn’t deliver. What a waste of a Christmas present and minutes of my life.

[Dity · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bleak and prosaic. Not gritty enough to surpass mere 'vulgar'. The language flows but doesn't fly. Heroines being identified or identifying themselves with witches was its main merit.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's now over an hour ago that I closed and finished this book and my mind is still trying to grasp everything it has read. I love fairytales, I live fairytales and I breathe fairytales. They are the heart of my soul and the soul of my heart. But mostly because they can be used to get across messages, to say meaningful things, to provoke thoughts, to ask questions, to point out flaws in the system and strengths in the flaws.

And that is exactly what this book is doing. It's challenging and thought provoking and it's not easy to chew on. I think I will have to read those stories again and again and again and then I still think that with each re-read I will discover something new, realise something new and understand something new. Because maybe in these stories it's not so much about what's been said, but about what's not been said, about what's between the lines, hidden from plain sight.

The twists on the fairytales are original. Some fairytales are easier to recognise than others, but it's not about telling the stories as we already know them. It's about using the elements to tell different stories. And wow, what amazing and impressive stories are told. Some made me sick, some made me sad, some made me proud. All made me think. And think some more.

And even if you can't enjoy the stories, you can at least enjoy and appreciate the writing style. It's poetic and lyrical, emotional and pure. It's not a book you can read with a 100 pages an hour. It wouldn't do the book and writing justice. Even more, it's a book to read aloud to grown up daughters or elder mothers. Because I'm sure that read aloud, the words will start to sing even more.

[Becky (Blogs of a Bookaholic) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Had rather mixed thoughts on this one. At the start this felt like it was going to be a 4-5 star powerhouse or a read but my enjoyment diluted as the tales went on. I feel like this would have been more punchy and impactful with either half the number of short stories or more or a mix of content because they became very similar in terms of characters and themes. Some of the writing even became quite reparative (such a repeating the phrase ‘the meat or it/him/her’ in multiple stories). It’s difficult in terms of rating because fairytales in themselves have many similar themes and feel repetitive in bulk anyway, so the repetitiveness wasn’t totally unexpected, but as these were retellings I suppose I was hoping for a little more.

I also found this book left me feeling quite negative as it focussed more on desperation, hopelessness and rage of women in the fairytales rather than feeling empowering. Again this take initially felt very raw and unique but due to the repetition by the end it left me with a very different feeling.