Jersey Legends

by Erren Michaels

With fairies and dragons, witches and werewolves, the picturesque island of Jersey boasts legends as varied and powerful as any within the British Isles. From its golden beaches to its treacherous cliffs, Jersey is alive with mysterious stories as strange and fascinating as the beings which inhabit them. This unique anthology contains the most famous of Jersey's fables, such as the Houge Bie Dragon, the Witches of Rocqueberg, and the demon of Bonne Nuit. It also contains original tales of ancient monsters such as The Vioge of Crack Ankle Lane, the Crooked Fairy, and the Sirens of Sorel Point. These stories had been almost lost to the shadows of the past, but are brought to life here once more.

Genres: Short Stories

194 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 2, 2015

Reviews

[Anita Deacon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really glad to have stumbled across a bit of Jersey folklore. It’s made the island feel alive in a new way. 100% will be using the stories to scare my kids. I also greatly appreciate how passionate Michaels is about Jersey monsters, and how much research she’s done. Very cool hobby.

The writing itself suffered from some easily-fixed amateur mistakes, like too many dialogue adverbs, and pacing issues which made it difficult to focus. Short stories are hard to do well.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erren Michaels’ wonderful book suffers from one major flaw: It ends too soon! I want to read more and immerse myself in this fun, scary world she’s described. Not that I think Ms. Michaels is talking requests, but if there were more stories featuring Madelaine and Hubert, I would be very happy.

I’ve gotten ahead of myself. Jersey Legends, by Erren Michaels, is a pleasure. I am NOT a fan of wizards and fairies and dragons and the like, but I thoroughly enjoyed these 11 stories of the folklore from Jersey. I tried to analyze why I enjoyed these stories so much while I can’t seem to work my way through a Tolkien chapter without nodding off. It comes down, I think, to the voice Ms. Michaels has used in her writing: she’s assured and confident and presents her stories as slice-of-life accounts that just happened.

The stories are incredibly diverse so there’s no chance of falling into a rut. Some are spooky (The Vioge actually gave me chills down my spine) some are sad, some are funny and some are a little of each. My two favorites, as I mentioned in my opening, were those that featured Madelaine and Hubert (a pre-industrial Nick and Nora Charles in my mind), Witches’ Rock and Goblin Gold.

I have to mention the illustrations as well – they’re subtle and evocative, managing to be both whimsical and terrifying, as fits the story.

All in all, this was a thoroughly enjoyable book. I can’t wait to read what comes next!

[Kate MacRitchie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful treasure of a book which I picked up on a recent holiday in Jersey. The author takes inspiration from various pieces of island folklore and creates original tales which range from fantastical to gothic. I appreciated the humour in this collection (many fairytale retellings err on the serious side) and how the author skilfully weaved characters in and out of the various tales. The original illustrations add something special to the book too and the map at the beginning helpfully locates the roots of these Jersey legends.

I also bought the author's other book on Jersey ghost tales, which I'm saving as an autumn treat.

[Nay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up on a recent holiday to Jersey and thought it would be lovely to familiarise myself with some of the local folklore. This would have been lovely if Michaels had written the legends in a way that was engaging; while the first couple were enjoyable, the style got stale very quickly and it felt a little like wading through treacle to finish it. Would have also loved some more context about the stories alongside each one, rather than just a tiny bit of vague information at the back.

[Vicky Quenault · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this collection of retold folk tales and legends from Jersey.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been written much better. However a valiant first book from this new and up coming author. I will be following with great interest.

[Dawn Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written with clearly a great deal of research, this is a wonderful book for lovers of fairytales legend, the wee folk and of course Jersey.

[Noah Goats · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Ms. Michaels has given us a number of gripping, scary, and amusing tales from the Island of Jersey. There is a reason that these stories have been told and retold for hundreds of years: they are very entertaining. And this particular author has a wonderful way of taking an old myth or legend and making it fresh and new, appealing to the modern reader without losing any of that sense of the ancient that makes reading these kinds of stories so much fun. This is a book for grown ups, but I read a couple of these stories to my daughters and they enjoyed them every bit as much as I did.

[J.S. Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must-have for Jersey residents and those who enjoy good ghost stories....

I thought the stories could have been pushed a little more, and there were a few repetitive themes (particularly betrothed young men!) however, as the author wrote this to maintain jersey tradition, I understand why the stories weren’t jammed up more.

Overall enjoyable and worth a read!

[Paula Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmm book ok just found it a bit weird... Maybe just me...