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L'Épouse de bois
Maggie Black est écrivain, auteur d’études sur des poètes. Elle apprend qu’un de ses plus anciens correspondants, David Cooper, vient de mourir en lui laissant tous ses biens en héritage. Maggie décide d’aller s’installer dans l’ancienne maison de Cooper, pour enfin s’atteler à la rédaction d’une biographie du grand écrivain. Mais elle n’avait pas prévu que Cooper habitait en plein désert, dans les montagnes de l’Arizona (près de Tucson). Là, la vie n’a pas le même rythme qu’ailleurs. Les choses sont plus pures, les formes plus essentielles, les mystères plus profonds...
Pourquoi Cooper est-il mort noyé dans un lit de rivière asséché ? Pourquoi des coyotes rôdent-ils autour de sa maison ? Qui est l’étrange fille-lapin qui s’abrite sous les grands cactus ? La magie de ces collines désertiques est puissante, Maggie Black devra prendre garde à ne pas y perdre la raison — ou la vie.
Pourquoi Cooper est-il mort noyé dans un lit de rivière asséché ? Pourquoi des coyotes rôdent-ils autour de sa maison ? Qui est l’étrange fille-lapin qui s’abrite sous les grands cactus ? La magie de ces collines désertiques est puissante, Maggie Black devra prendre garde à ne pas y perdre la raison — ou la vie.
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1996
47 people are currently reading
7555 people want to read
About the author
Terri Windling
118 books712 followersTerri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her anthology The Armless Maiden, a fiction collection for adult survivors of child abuse, appeared on the shortlist for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. She was also honored with SFWA's Soltice Award in 2010, a lifetime achievement award for "significant contributions to the speculative fiction field as a writer, editor, artist, educator, and mentor". Windling's work has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Lithuanian, Turkish, Russian, Japanese, and Korean.
In the American publishing field, Windling is one of the primary creative forces behind the mythic fiction resurgence that began in the early 1980s—first through her work as an innovative editor for the Ace and Tor Books fantasy lines; secondly as the creator of the Fairy Tales series of novels (featuring reinterpretations of classic fairy tale themes by Jane Yolen, Steven Brust, Pamela Dean, Patricia C. Wrede, Charles de Lint, and others); and thirdly as the editor of over thirty anthologies of magical fiction. She is also recognized as one of the founders of the urban fantasy genre, having published and promoted the first novels of Charles de Lint, Emma Bull, and other pioneers of the form.
With Ellen Datlow, Windling edited 16 volumes of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (1986–2003), an anthology series that reached beyond the boundaries of genre fantasy to incorporate magic realism, surrealism, poetry, and other forms of magical literature. Datlow and Windling also edited the Snow White, Blood Red series of literary fairy tales for adult readers, as well as many anthologies of myth & fairy tale inspired fiction for younger readers (such as The Green Man, The Faery Reel, and The Wolf at the Door). Windling also created and edited the Borderland series for teenage readers.
As an author, Windling's fiction includes The Wood Wife (winner of the Mythopoeic Award for Novel of the Year) and several children's books: The Raven Queen, The Changeling, A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale, The Winter Child, and The Faeries of Spring Cottage. Her essays on myth, folklore, magical literature and art have been widely published in newsstand magazines, academic journals, art books, and anthologies. She was a contributor to The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, edited by Jack Zipes.
As an artist, Windling specializes in work inspired by myth, folklore, and fairy tales. Her art has been exhibited across the US, as well as in the UK and France.
Windling is the founder of the Endicott Studio, an organization dedicated to myth-inspired arts, and co-editor (with Midori Snyder) of The Journal of Mythic Arts. She also sits on the board of the Mythic Imagination Institute. A former New Yorker, Windling spend many years in Tucson, Arizona, and now lives in Devon, England. She is married to dramatist Howard Gayton, co-director of the Ophaboom Theatre Company.
In the American publishing field, Windling is one of the primary creative forces behind the mythic fiction resurgence that began in the early 1980s—first through her work as an innovative editor for the Ace and Tor Books fantasy lines; secondly as the creator of the Fairy Tales series of novels (featuring reinterpretations of classic fairy tale themes by Jane Yolen, Steven Brust, Pamela Dean, Patricia C. Wrede, Charles de Lint, and others); and thirdly as the editor of over thirty anthologies of magical fiction. She is also recognized as one of the founders of the urban fantasy genre, having published and promoted the first novels of Charles de Lint, Emma Bull, and other pioneers of the form.
With Ellen Datlow, Windling edited 16 volumes of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (1986–2003), an anthology series that reached beyond the boundaries of genre fantasy to incorporate magic realism, surrealism, poetry, and other forms of magical literature. Datlow and Windling also edited the Snow White, Blood Red series of literary fairy tales for adult readers, as well as many anthologies of myth & fairy tale inspired fiction for younger readers (such as The Green Man, The Faery Reel, and The Wolf at the Door). Windling also created and edited the Borderland series for teenage readers.
As an author, Windling's fiction includes The Wood Wife (winner of the Mythopoeic Award for Novel of the Year) and several children's books: The Raven Queen, The Changeling, A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale, The Winter Child, and The Faeries of Spring Cottage. Her essays on myth, folklore, magical literature and art have been widely published in newsstand magazines, academic journals, art books, and anthologies. She was a contributor to The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, edited by Jack Zipes.
As an artist, Windling specializes in work inspired by myth, folklore, and fairy tales. Her art has been exhibited across the US, as well as in the UK and France.
Windling is the founder of the Endicott Studio, an organization dedicated to myth-inspired arts, and co-editor (with Midori Snyder) of The Journal of Mythic Arts. She also sits on the board of the Mythic Imagination Institute. A former New Yorker, Windling spend many years in Tucson, Arizona, and now lives in Devon, England. She is married to dramatist Howard Gayton, co-director of the Ophaboom Theatre Company.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 346 reviews
August 26, 2019
“The night, blue lapis. The mountain, onyx. Saguaro, verdigris with a cooper dish of moon. The wind rustles dry mesquite. A coyote howls. A star falls. And the night cracks me open, with beauty sharp and poignant as grief. The night cracks me open, like a geode, exposing the crystal veins of God.”
I read this story at the very end of August, and in Minnesota that is the beginning of fall. The temperatures are dropping, squirrels are busy hiding their caches, and some trees are starting to drop leaves. Yes, we may still have some Indian summer left, but Fall has arrived, and Winter, that horrible and brutal force is just over the rise. As this story climaxes in the Fall, Allhollows’ eve to be exact, it seemed like the perfect time to read it. It was an unplanned, yet perfectly timed preparation for the change of season.
Terri Windling published this in 1996. It won the Mythopoeic Award for Novel of the Year. Terri herself is considered to play a major part in developing the Urban Fantasy Genre. She was also awarded the SFWA's Soltice Award in 2010, a life achievement award for "significant contributions to the speculative fiction field as a writer, editor, artist, educator, and mentor."
The book itself is both a love letter to the American Southwest and a delicate feminine fantasy of escaping the everyday and touching a world beyond our own. It’s lovingly written, interspersed with poetry, heartfelt letters, and multiple perspectives. I loved the intricate and thoughtful descriptions of the southwest – it’s landscapes, food, music, culture, and people. I’ve walked in the Tuscan desert and climbed scraggly hills in Phoenix and it vividly brought back rich memories. I asked Alexa to play the Eagles on Pandora while I read, and it was a great soundtrack to this novel.
If you’re looking for long forages into a fantasy world, this may not be the book for you. It’s a long, slow striptease and we are at least three-quarters through the story before we really get the slightest glimpse into the magical world beyond. That’s not a bad thing, Windling lays out an interesting set of characters and a storyline filled with little and big mysteries. The journey into the fantasy world is more of an event, than any lengthy part of the plot. This worked for me, as I fell for the characters and the mysterious plot points. What’s behind that locked door? How did Cooper die? What happened to Anna? I want to talk about the ending, but alas, no spoilers here.
A lovingly written spiritual, sensuous fantasy that slowly wanders through the plot like a lazy walk in the desert, admiring all the mysteries and beauty along the way. Not perfect, but Four and a half stars that I will round up to Five.
I read this story at the very end of August, and in Minnesota that is the beginning of fall. The temperatures are dropping, squirrels are busy hiding their caches, and some trees are starting to drop leaves. Yes, we may still have some Indian summer left, but Fall has arrived, and Winter, that horrible and brutal force is just over the rise. As this story climaxes in the Fall, Allhollows’ eve to be exact, it seemed like the perfect time to read it. It was an unplanned, yet perfectly timed preparation for the change of season.
Terri Windling published this in 1996. It won the Mythopoeic Award for Novel of the Year. Terri herself is considered to play a major part in developing the Urban Fantasy Genre. She was also awarded the SFWA's Soltice Award in 2010, a life achievement award for "significant contributions to the speculative fiction field as a writer, editor, artist, educator, and mentor."
The book itself is both a love letter to the American Southwest and a delicate feminine fantasy of escaping the everyday and touching a world beyond our own. It’s lovingly written, interspersed with poetry, heartfelt letters, and multiple perspectives. I loved the intricate and thoughtful descriptions of the southwest – it’s landscapes, food, music, culture, and people. I’ve walked in the Tuscan desert and climbed scraggly hills in Phoenix and it vividly brought back rich memories. I asked Alexa to play the Eagles on Pandora while I read, and it was a great soundtrack to this novel.
If you’re looking for long forages into a fantasy world, this may not be the book for you. It’s a long, slow striptease and we are at least three-quarters through the story before we really get the slightest glimpse into the magical world beyond. That’s not a bad thing, Windling lays out an interesting set of characters and a storyline filled with little and big mysteries. The journey into the fantasy world is more of an event, than any lengthy part of the plot. This worked for me, as I fell for the characters and the mysterious plot points. What’s behind that locked door? How did Cooper die? What happened to Anna? I want to talk about the ending, but alas, no spoilers here.
A lovingly written spiritual, sensuous fantasy that slowly wanders through the plot like a lazy walk in the desert, admiring all the mysteries and beauty along the way. Not perfect, but Four and a half stars that I will round up to Five.
October 10, 2021
Enjoyed it very much. Mystical-based urban fantasy, or rater, rural fantasy, as it largely takes place in a remote area of Arizona. Although this book was enjoyable once I sat down and made some uninterrupted time for it, I found the writing occasionally sermonizing, such as when a character is making a point about wildlife being shot and poisoned under game laws, or bringing suburban housing values to rural settings. It's not that I don't agree with those values--I do--it's that it seemed to interrupt the story flow. I don't know, maybe it was appropriate in the guise of enlightening Maggie about the man-made troubles the desert faced. Aside from that, I savored a book that was clearly in love with artistic expression, chiefly painting, poetry and writing. I wish I knew more about some of the traditions that contextualize Anna's paintings, so I could have a better mental picture of her work. I love the southwest desert, and appreciated the time Windling spent describing it. I felt the structure of the story could have been a little stronger, as the narrative struggled with shifting perspectives (Maggie, Fox, Dora), shifting purposes (escaping an unhappy love, researching Cooper, building a desert life) and then shifting styles (omnipotent narrator, personal reflection, intercepted letters). Nonetheless, the language and imagery is enough to rate this space on a limited personal bookshelf.
A Tor.com post on the genesis of the story and the paintings that took part in it:
https://www.tor.com/2021/10/05/art-my...
A Tor.com post on the genesis of the story and the paintings that took part in it:
https://www.tor.com/2021/10/05/art-my...
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November 21, 2017This is one of those wonderful, contemporary mythic novels that blurs the boundaries between reality and folklore. A writer inherits her favorite poet’s home in the middle of nowhere Arizona after he dies under mysterious circumstances. She discovers his wife’s fantastical artwork in a secret room, but when the landscape starts mirroring the art, the lines between reality and art blur. I loved the mix of folklore and art, and the setting is beautifully depicted.
— Margaret Kingsbury
https://bookriot.com/2017/07/03/riot-...
— Margaret Kingsbury
https://bookriot.com/2017/07/03/riot-...
February 4, 2011
I am very fond of this book, in part because I think it is one of the few urban fantasies that include artists (and a description of their work) that makes me want to see the artwork described. I suspect it is because Windling is a painter as well as a writer, and she genuinely creates those works (even if not materially). I think she does this far better than de Lint, for example, who (though I really, really like his stories and many of his novels) peoples his writing with artists whose work I never find myself wanting, much less needing, to see.
Perhaps it is a cultural thing. Windling's elusive Ana is a bit of a combination between RL artists Remedios Varo and Ana Mendieta, and what we get of her story rings true of a certain generation of Latin American artists (my mother among them) who combined big city sophistication with the profoundly formative (and undeniable) indigenous and folk art visions of countries like Mexico and Guatemala.
I believe the other artists' works too -- Tatiana's and Juan's -- and although I find them less intriguing, I wouldn't mind attending one of their exhibitions. ;-)
If I have a complaint about this work it is that the most interesting characters (for me), Ana and Cooper, are too easily dismissed. The resolution of their lives and relationship, and the mystery of abandonment of Ana's art that had been life-blood until then, is unsatisfying and facile. Windling does better honoring Cooper than Ana and I think it is a missed opportunity.
Despite this, I still wholly recommend the book.
Perhaps it is a cultural thing. Windling's elusive Ana is a bit of a combination between RL artists Remedios Varo and Ana Mendieta, and what we get of her story rings true of a certain generation of Latin American artists (my mother among them) who combined big city sophistication with the profoundly formative (and undeniable) indigenous and folk art visions of countries like Mexico and Guatemala.
I believe the other artists' works too -- Tatiana's and Juan's -- and although I find them less intriguing, I wouldn't mind attending one of their exhibitions. ;-)
If I have a complaint about this work it is that the most interesting characters (for me), Ana and Cooper, are too easily dismissed. The resolution of their lives and relationship, and the mystery of abandonment of Ana's art that had been life-blood until then, is unsatisfying and facile. Windling does better honoring Cooper than Ana and I think it is a missed opportunity.
Despite this, I still wholly recommend the book.
January 29, 2021
Wonderful, imaginative and evocative fantasy. Set mostly in Tucson, it combines many mythologies and characters along with poetry and art into a beautiful, cohesive story. The novel starts with Maggie Black inheriting the property in the desert of her friend, the poet Davis Cooper although they have never met face to face. Straightaway the landscape becomes a character, the plants, the animals, the rocks and other formations. There is some mystery to how Cooper has died and Maggie sets about going through his papers and also those of his wife, Anna, a painter in a Mexican surrealist style. Then Maggie becomes aware of the “spirits of the mountains” or faeries or angels; I really liked the idea that the creatures take on an image that the viewer gives them. Shapeshifters, mages and tricksters; they aren’t human and behave differently. This is a truly special book, and a pleasure to read.
April 1, 2010
Dreamers, cacti, wild pigs. Poets and musicians.
This is the kind of book that I could have really enjoyed as a much younger person. I think in my dreamy teens, it could easily have been my gospel. I can feel that stuff about my Appalachian woods, so I can believe it of someone else's desert. But now cynical old me, it just didn't catch me in my fur, it didn't drag me out onto that star spiral and take me away across time and the canyon sky. Once upon a time I would have lived and dreamed myself into Maggie, probably even bought myself a black man's suit jacket, and imagined myself that kind of sexy. I can imagine how I might have reacted, but it's all one-step removed.
BUT, I loved Thumper. Thumper was excellent. She was the best part of the whole book, the most whole, real, alive. I might be glad I read it just for knowing her. Sometimes that's what books are for - so you can meet someone.
This is the kind of book that I could have really enjoyed as a much younger person. I think in my dreamy teens, it could easily have been my gospel. I can feel that stuff about my Appalachian woods, so I can believe it of someone else's desert. But now cynical old me, it just didn't catch me in my fur, it didn't drag me out onto that star spiral and take me away across time and the canyon sky. Once upon a time I would have lived and dreamed myself into Maggie, probably even bought myself a black man's suit jacket, and imagined myself that kind of sexy. I can imagine how I might have reacted, but it's all one-step removed.
BUT, I loved Thumper. Thumper was excellent. She was the best part of the whole book, the most whole, real, alive. I might be glad I read it just for knowing her. Sometimes that's what books are for - so you can meet someone.
December 26, 2014
Originally slated to be one of the four premier books in the Brian Froud's Faerielands series, when that was scrapped the two books that hadn't been released were published as stand-alone fantasies... and another cover artist was chosen. When the book was such a success it was again given a new cover, but the reprint wasn't nearly as pretty as the original Froud cover or the Boulet painting that was chosen.
The book itself was a delight to read--I like desert of Southern Arizona best of the four locale's that were chosen...
The book itself was a delight to read--I like desert of Southern Arizona best of the four locale's that were chosen...
August 11, 2022
Some lovely musings about creativity in its many forms here, wrapped in a story about moving to the desert and falling in love with its dangerous wonders.
February 18, 2010
Poet Davis Cooper dies, leaving his home in the Tuscon mountains to Maggie Black, his friend and protégé. As she explores his home and the mysteries of his life and death, she begins to suspect that the magic that fills Cooper's poems is not allegory but rather reflects the reality of the desert mountains. Although well written and technically accomplished, exaggerated characters and a predictable plot render the book's magic flat. The Wood Wife may satisfy some readers, but I found it disappointing and don't recommend it.
Windling clearly knows her way around a piece of literature: her characters are well defined (almost to excess), every scene serves a purpose, the plot has a strong conclusionall in all, she knows what she wants to say, says it well, and The Wood Wife is technically accomplished. But technical skill is only one part of a good book, and this novel lacks the other rather more elusive factors which would make it a success. It has no subtlety or passion. The characters are excessively defined, and they too easily accept the magic of their mountain. That magic is a thoughtful spin on some Native American and mythic fantasy tropes, but the plot and writing style that explore it are too straight-forward. Rather than hovering over the land like a mirage, the magic is as flat as the paper it's printed on.
I suspect that some of my apathy of the book is a result of personal preference. The Wood Wife is very similar to Charles de Lint's work and other mythic fantasy novels, which likewise fail to impress me. Readers who are more interested in artistic characters encountering native-styled magical beings on the edges of urban (American) environments, likewise readers which prefer straight-forward storytelling, will have better luck with this book. Regardless, I believe that Windling's technical skill is wasted on this lackluster novel. There is no passion, mystery, or magic herejust attempts at each. As such, I don't recommend The Wood Wife.
Windling clearly knows her way around a piece of literature: her characters are well defined (almost to excess), every scene serves a purpose, the plot has a strong conclusionall in all, she knows what she wants to say, says it well, and The Wood Wife is technically accomplished. But technical skill is only one part of a good book, and this novel lacks the other rather more elusive factors which would make it a success. It has no subtlety or passion. The characters are excessively defined, and they too easily accept the magic of their mountain. That magic is a thoughtful spin on some Native American and mythic fantasy tropes, but the plot and writing style that explore it are too straight-forward. Rather than hovering over the land like a mirage, the magic is as flat as the paper it's printed on.
I suspect that some of my apathy of the book is a result of personal preference. The Wood Wife is very similar to Charles de Lint's work and other mythic fantasy novels, which likewise fail to impress me. Readers who are more interested in artistic characters encountering native-styled magical beings on the edges of urban (American) environments, likewise readers which prefer straight-forward storytelling, will have better luck with this book. Regardless, I believe that Windling's technical skill is wasted on this lackluster novel. There is no passion, mystery, or magic herejust attempts at each. As such, I don't recommend The Wood Wife.
April 9, 2021
Finally got around to reading this Mythopoeic Fantasy Award-winning novel, Windling's debut as a novelist. Here's Jo Walton's review, which is the one you should read: https://www.tor.com/2010/07/23/the-la... She liked the book a lot, and so did I. It's set in the Tucson, Arizona area, my old home town. Windling was living in Tucson part-time when she wrote the book, and caught the flavor of the Southern Arizona desert mountains exceptionally well. The characters are drawn just right, and the fantasy part, Nature elementals in the mountains, is very nicely done too. Really an exceptional book that I'm likely to reread in a few years. If you haven't read it yet, you should, especially if you like the American Southwest. I miss Southern Arizona, and this was a nice reminder of why.
January 27, 2021
**Thank you to Tor for sending me a copy of this book for review**
When I first heard this book was inspired by Brian Froud's paintings and drawings, I was immediately drawn in. I'd first come to know Froud when he worked with Jim Henson, and my love of him grew from there. Now, I am not a big art person, but when it comes to the weird and the mystical, I'm your girl. That's why I jumped at the chance to read this book.
Also, I adore magical realism.
Maggie Black inherits the estate of the deceased poet, Davis Cooper, and moves from the west coast to Arizona where she plans to uncover what really happened to her friend. Upon arriving in the southwest, she quickly finds herself in awe of its beauty and wonder. The house is full of magical paintings, poems, and hints to what happened to Davis. Taking these clues, Maggie navigates the desert, its inhabitants, and her own past as she grows into the person she has always meant to become.
To me, this book made me feel like I was in Arizona. I've only been there once, and it made an impression on me. Reading this felt like visiting again. This book is a love letter to the southwest and everything it embodies. We're grounded in reality, but find ourselves slipping into a fantasy world beyond our own. But we only get glimpses. this is not a walking-through-a-wardrobe- book. I've never walked the desert and climbed its mountains, but by reading this book I feel like I already have.
The aspects of the folklore and mystery kept me engaged. The writing was beautiful; it is pure poetry. This is a perfect novel that will stick with me for a long time.
Recommend for people who want something magical set in a desert and helmed by a strong woman.
When I first heard this book was inspired by Brian Froud's paintings and drawings, I was immediately drawn in. I'd first come to know Froud when he worked with Jim Henson, and my love of him grew from there. Now, I am not a big art person, but when it comes to the weird and the mystical, I'm your girl. That's why I jumped at the chance to read this book.
Also, I adore magical realism.
Maggie Black inherits the estate of the deceased poet, Davis Cooper, and moves from the west coast to Arizona where she plans to uncover what really happened to her friend. Upon arriving in the southwest, she quickly finds herself in awe of its beauty and wonder. The house is full of magical paintings, poems, and hints to what happened to Davis. Taking these clues, Maggie navigates the desert, its inhabitants, and her own past as she grows into the person she has always meant to become.
To me, this book made me feel like I was in Arizona. I've only been there once, and it made an impression on me. Reading this felt like visiting again. This book is a love letter to the southwest and everything it embodies. We're grounded in reality, but find ourselves slipping into a fantasy world beyond our own. But we only get glimpses. this is not a walking-through-a-wardrobe- book. I've never walked the desert and climbed its mountains, but by reading this book I feel like I already have.
The aspects of the folklore and mystery kept me engaged. The writing was beautiful; it is pure poetry. This is a perfect novel that will stick with me for a long time.
Recommend for people who want something magical set in a desert and helmed by a strong woman.
October 13, 2021
I still love this.
October 31, 2016
OK. I liked this fine. Having said that, it felt a little...appropriative. Like, let's have a bunch of (white) transplants move to the desert and fall in love with its magic and beauty. Oh, and a few brown people for "local color" and to help the white people find their way.
The attempts to tie it to a world of existing artists--Henry Miller, Anais Nin, a barely-disguised Frida Kahlo, Brian Froud--didn't really add to the story. It's just name dropping and "realism". As for the argument that fairy tales and magic somehow don't get proper treatment in the academy or the canon of littratoor, that's probably true. But to make that complaint *within* the book seems whiny and petulant--I could be a serious artist; you don't know. It's a page-turner. That's fine. And it has deep respect for the creative arts--especially poetry (quoting famous poets throughout, basing the story on a poetry collection) and painting. But I don't buy that I don't consider it littratoor solely because it has supernatural beings in it.
Spoiler alert: if Cooper's poems ARE in fact based in reality, in describing what he actually saw, as opposed to the previous interpretation that these were all metaphors and symbolic language, does that cheapen or enhance the poetic work? If before people thought that he was creating his own mythology and language to discuss is, and now they see that he was just describing what he saw, to me, that's a step down in terms of the importance of his work, or its originality or intent. I suppose all poetry is descriptive (could be wrong about that, I admit it), but if you're just putting down the various spirits you talk to and what they say and stand for, then how is your work creative or transcendent? This may also be a dumb question coming from a historian who does the exact same thing. But I never claimed to be an artist.
The attempts to tie it to a world of existing artists--Henry Miller, Anais Nin, a barely-disguised Frida Kahlo, Brian Froud--didn't really add to the story. It's just name dropping and "realism". As for the argument that fairy tales and magic somehow don't get proper treatment in the academy or the canon of littratoor, that's probably true. But to make that complaint *within* the book seems whiny and petulant--I could be a serious artist; you don't know. It's a page-turner. That's fine. And it has deep respect for the creative arts--especially poetry (quoting famous poets throughout, basing the story on a poetry collection) and painting. But I don't buy that I don't consider it littratoor solely because it has supernatural beings in it.
Spoiler alert: if Cooper's poems ARE in fact based in reality, in describing what he actually saw, as opposed to the previous interpretation that these were all metaphors and symbolic language, does that cheapen or enhance the poetic work? If before people thought that he was creating his own mythology and language to discuss is, and now they see that he was just describing what he saw, to me, that's a step down in terms of the importance of his work, or its originality or intent. I suppose all poetry is descriptive (could be wrong about that, I admit it), but if you're just putting down the various spirits you talk to and what they say and stand for, then how is your work creative or transcendent? This may also be a dumb question coming from a historian who does the exact same thing. But I never claimed to be an artist.
March 7, 2013
Winner of the Mythopoeic Award.
I really wish I hadn't read this so close to Charles DeLint's 'Memory and Dream'. It was written two years later (in 1996), and DeLint did a blurb for it, so I suppose he deserves credit - but the theme of this story is extremely similar. Both novels deal with the concept of creatures/spirits of myth and legend being given physical form through the work of contemporary artists - and the emotional angst and physical danger that this power can lead to.
However, I liked this book a lot better - I am really a huge fan of Terri Windling in general, and I liked the characters, the setting, and just felt that it flowed really well...
Maggie Black, a sophisticated, successful writer, is unexpectedly named in the will of a famous poet that she had enjoyed a long correspondence with, but never met. Having inherited his house and papers, although this is rendered bittersweet by the fact that the poet appears to have been murdered under mysterious circumstances, she goes to her new property in rural Arizona with the hopes of writing a biography of the man.
In the Sonoran desert, she finds more than she bargained for, not only in the culture shock of the Southwest and the unexpected attraction of a young man she meets there... but going through the poet's papers, she discovers fascinating information about the poet's late wife, the mystical painter Anna Naverra, and begins to uncover a web of secrets. But more than family drama may be involved, as strange visitations and unexplainable phenomena begin to occur...
Originally written as part of a project in tribute to Brian Froud, one might feel that his artwork is mentioned a few too many times... but that's a very minor point in a very enjoyable story...
I really wish I hadn't read this so close to Charles DeLint's 'Memory and Dream'. It was written two years later (in 1996), and DeLint did a blurb for it, so I suppose he deserves credit - but the theme of this story is extremely similar. Both novels deal with the concept of creatures/spirits of myth and legend being given physical form through the work of contemporary artists - and the emotional angst and physical danger that this power can lead to.
However, I liked this book a lot better - I am really a huge fan of Terri Windling in general, and I liked the characters, the setting, and just felt that it flowed really well...
Maggie Black, a sophisticated, successful writer, is unexpectedly named in the will of a famous poet that she had enjoyed a long correspondence with, but never met. Having inherited his house and papers, although this is rendered bittersweet by the fact that the poet appears to have been murdered under mysterious circumstances, she goes to her new property in rural Arizona with the hopes of writing a biography of the man.
In the Sonoran desert, she finds more than she bargained for, not only in the culture shock of the Southwest and the unexpected attraction of a young man she meets there... but going through the poet's papers, she discovers fascinating information about the poet's late wife, the mystical painter Anna Naverra, and begins to uncover a web of secrets. But more than family drama may be involved, as strange visitations and unexplainable phenomena begin to occur...
Originally written as part of a project in tribute to Brian Froud, one might feel that his artwork is mentioned a few too many times... but that's a very minor point in a very enjoyable story...
March 9, 2012
I read this book once a year and get something new out of it each time! For example, this past year I was pregnant & became a new mother, so I was particularly drawn to the stories of Anna Naverra (her paintings, like my poetry, being her children) & Maria Rosa (Fox's mother) this time. I often buy multiple copies to pass out to friends, family, even random strangers on the plane!
January 4, 2010
I picked up this book because I was/am trying to read as much of the early urban/mythic fantasy books as I can get my hands on.
I fell in love with Charles de Lint's Forests of the Heart early on, and after reading more of his works, decided to go for Terri Windling next, hoping for something similar in terms of both the mythic themes and the love of the desert. I was also interested in how much, if any, Windling's and de Lint's friendship may have influenced their writings.
There are may common elements between the two authors. The Wood Wife, to some extent, shares the same idea of consent reality found in de Lints books, and the idea of paintings creating bodies for spirits found in de Lint's Memory and Dream seems to be taken directly from this book. Also, the obvious love for the desert is common between the two authors, as is the discontent with the urbanization of it.
However, where the two authors diverge is their writing style. Windling is much more straightforward and much less lyrical than de Lint. However, she tends to describe things to a much greater extent -- especially the lighting.
When reading de Lint, I always got an impression of poetry, even though his works are strictly prose. With The Wood Wife, my impression (despite the embedded poetry sprinkled throughout) was of light. There were many times while reading this book that I looked up from it to the set of paintings of desert sunsets I have hanging on my wall. She makes me want to go to the desert, just for a while, despite the fact that I've never been that far west in my life.
I fell in love with Charles de Lint's Forests of the Heart early on, and after reading more of his works, decided to go for Terri Windling next, hoping for something similar in terms of both the mythic themes and the love of the desert. I was also interested in how much, if any, Windling's and de Lint's friendship may have influenced their writings.
There are may common elements between the two authors. The Wood Wife, to some extent, shares the same idea of consent reality found in de Lints books, and the idea of paintings creating bodies for spirits found in de Lint's Memory and Dream seems to be taken directly from this book. Also, the obvious love for the desert is common between the two authors, as is the discontent with the urbanization of it.
However, where the two authors diverge is their writing style. Windling is much more straightforward and much less lyrical than de Lint. However, she tends to describe things to a much greater extent -- especially the lighting.
When reading de Lint, I always got an impression of poetry, even though his works are strictly prose. With The Wood Wife, my impression (despite the embedded poetry sprinkled throughout) was of light. There were many times while reading this book that I looked up from it to the set of paintings of desert sunsets I have hanging on my wall. She makes me want to go to the desert, just for a while, despite the fact that I've never been that far west in my life.
January 8, 2017
A poet leaves his Tucson house and all his work to an artist in California. She moves to Arizona, and through subsequent friendships and a romance, begins to discover the poet, his talented and disturbed wife, and the magic of the Arizona desert. Does life imitate art, or art life?
Fantastic and gripping, you can actually feel the heat of the desert sun on the pages.
Fantastic and gripping, you can actually feel the heat of the desert sun on the pages.
October 24, 2017
This is good, but we just didn't connect all the way, me and this book. It probably didn't help that I thought the ex-husband was one of the most interesting characters. I don't think I was supposed to think that.
October 4, 2022
J’ai eu un énorme coup de coeur pour ce petit roman qui m’a autant surpris pour son magnifique style d’écriture que pour son ambiance de folklore amérindien et celtique. 🍃
On va suivre Maggie Black, une écrivaine, qui va se rendre dans les montagnes du Rincon en Arizona, plus précisément dans la petite ville de Tucson. Elle s’y rends pour hériter de la maison du poète Davis Cooper avec qui elle échangeait régulièrement et qui a trouvé la mort dans d’étranges circonstances, noyé dans le lit d’une rivière asséchée…
Ce que j’ai le plus aimé dans ce roman, cela a vraiment été le décor et l’ambiance que celui-ci apportait. En effet on se trouve dans un paysage de montagnes un peu désertiques où il fait très chaud. Il y est fait mention de culture et de folklore amérindien également et j’ai beaucoup apprécié. Et bien-sûr en plus de ce joli décor, on a tout un univers mystérieux dans ces montagnes et ces bois avec des créatures étranges et des animaux à l’intelligence particulière…
On est également plongé dans un univers artistique où les peintres, les poètes et les musiciens ou chanteurs tirent une grande inspiration de ces montagnes et de ce qu’il s’y passe. Certains de ces artistes se perdent eux-mêmes dans cette contemplation et l’on peut presque ressentir la même chose en tant que lecteur tant l’attraction de ce monde mystérieux devient forte.
Ce n’est pas un livre d’action mais un livre de beauté, de mystère et un hymne à la nature ainsi qu’à ses secrets. Le récit se déroule en automne de plus donc c’était parfait pour le lire en ce moment.
Les personnages forment une micro société dans ces montagnes reculées et j’ai apprécié cette solidarité et l’attention qu’ils se portent mutuellement. De plus je me suis rapidement attaché à certains personnages, vivants comme défunts, je pense notamment à Dora, Maggie ou même Cooper…
La fin du livre s’est bien accélérée et cela a été la cerise sur le gâteau pour avoir un aussi grand coup de coeur. ❤️
Vous savez maintenant, il faut foncer les yeux fermés!
On va suivre Maggie Black, une écrivaine, qui va se rendre dans les montagnes du Rincon en Arizona, plus précisément dans la petite ville de Tucson. Elle s’y rends pour hériter de la maison du poète Davis Cooper avec qui elle échangeait régulièrement et qui a trouvé la mort dans d’étranges circonstances, noyé dans le lit d’une rivière asséchée…
Ce que j’ai le plus aimé dans ce roman, cela a vraiment été le décor et l’ambiance que celui-ci apportait. En effet on se trouve dans un paysage de montagnes un peu désertiques où il fait très chaud. Il y est fait mention de culture et de folklore amérindien également et j’ai beaucoup apprécié. Et bien-sûr en plus de ce joli décor, on a tout un univers mystérieux dans ces montagnes et ces bois avec des créatures étranges et des animaux à l’intelligence particulière…
On est également plongé dans un univers artistique où les peintres, les poètes et les musiciens ou chanteurs tirent une grande inspiration de ces montagnes et de ce qu’il s’y passe. Certains de ces artistes se perdent eux-mêmes dans cette contemplation et l’on peut presque ressentir la même chose en tant que lecteur tant l’attraction de ce monde mystérieux devient forte.
Ce n’est pas un livre d’action mais un livre de beauté, de mystère et un hymne à la nature ainsi qu’à ses secrets. Le récit se déroule en automne de plus donc c’était parfait pour le lire en ce moment.
Les personnages forment une micro société dans ces montagnes reculées et j’ai apprécié cette solidarité et l’attention qu’ils se portent mutuellement. De plus je me suis rapidement attaché à certains personnages, vivants comme défunts, je pense notamment à Dora, Maggie ou même Cooper…
La fin du livre s’est bien accélérée et cela a été la cerise sur le gâteau pour avoir un aussi grand coup de coeur. ❤️
Vous savez maintenant, il faut foncer les yeux fermés!
March 28, 2025
Very atmospheric, with lyrical prose, peppered with poetry and imagery. Unfortunately, the plot was also glacial and I wasn't in the right mood for magical realism...
August 24, 2023
A wonderful mythic-fantasy story which I believe was the debut novel from this author, who was very influential in American publishing and helped bring urban fantasy and mythic fantasy into the spotlight.
Out Protagonist, Maggie Black, is everything I want from a main female character. Strong, intelligent... and slightly messes up. She gave up her promising career as a poet to be the breadwinner for her husband, a musician. They are separated now, but she never went back to writing poetry, she has been living an unsettled, semi-nomadic life.
With the death of Cooper, a poet with whom she had corresponded for years, she inherits his house in Arizona and his possessions. Seeing this as an invitation to write the biography she always wanted to, but which he always resisted, she goes to his place.
Once there she is slowly taken in by the beauty of the desert (a beauty, initially, that she does not see) and becomes familiar with his few isolated neighbours. But, slowly she is pulled into the magical, mythical part of the land that consumed both Cooper and his long dead artist wife Anna.
I loved the rich writing, the complex, fascinating characters and the art and poetry scattered through the text which gave it added richness. The complicated mythology which bends and combines myths from more than one tradition makes for a marvellous, intensely satisfying story.
Coming soon to my youtube channel also, though the video is pretty rambling and unfocused.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeSLv...
Out Protagonist, Maggie Black, is everything I want from a main female character. Strong, intelligent... and slightly messes up. She gave up her promising career as a poet to be the breadwinner for her husband, a musician. They are separated now, but she never went back to writing poetry, she has been living an unsettled, semi-nomadic life.
With the death of Cooper, a poet with whom she had corresponded for years, she inherits his house in Arizona and his possessions. Seeing this as an invitation to write the biography she always wanted to, but which he always resisted, she goes to his place.
Once there she is slowly taken in by the beauty of the desert (a beauty, initially, that she does not see) and becomes familiar with his few isolated neighbours. But, slowly she is pulled into the magical, mythical part of the land that consumed both Cooper and his long dead artist wife Anna.
I loved the rich writing, the complex, fascinating characters and the art and poetry scattered through the text which gave it added richness. The complicated mythology which bends and combines myths from more than one tradition makes for a marvellous, intensely satisfying story.
Coming soon to my youtube channel also, though the video is pretty rambling and unfocused.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeSLv...
January 5, 2019
(4.5) Terri Windling's urban-adjacent fantasy set in the desert mountains outside Tucson, Arizona fuses several favorite themes of mine into a compelling whole. The Rincon Mountains are a place where spirits watch over the land and humans may either live in peace or at odds with these timeless beings. Here, the blurry line between mortal life and the spirit world wends itself through the characters' lives in a beguiling, serpentine manner. The natural world is all-encompassing in its wild thriving existence—so much deeper, wider, and longer than any mere human life. But the poets and artists among us are those who hold the keys to connect and communicate with those others who walk unseen or simply unrecognized among us. And it is at that nexus of true art where the novel's power lies. Probably the less said about the particulars of the plot here the better, for there is a mystery at play, woven from many different threads, and its shroud is best lifted ever so slowly by Windling herself. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy subtle contemporary fantasy-mystery of a folkloric nature, and in particular those drawn to the desert lands of the American Southwest.
November 5, 2009
This book started out very well. It was quite interesting and the descriptions of the Southwest are excellent. The main character is well realized. Crow is well done, though the other (human) characters don't seem quite as powerful, and only Tomas is truly interesting, since the others are fairly bland. Sometimes the POV seems a bit sloppy, but them's the breaks with an omniscient narrator.
My main problem with the book was all the hippyesque blabbermouthing about mysticism and art. The poetry is far too prevalent and it is terrifically drab stuff. If you want to write a poetry book, then go for it, but don't write a so-called novel and slather it with line after line of dull poems.
Overall, and despite the goofy feelgood arty crap, I still enjoyed this book. There were plenty of interesting and surprising moments. Interestingly enough, Windling references the story of True Thomas, about whom Ellen Kushner wrote a book that I just happened to check out from the library at the same time. Both are pretty good books.
My main problem with the book was all the hippyesque blabbermouthing about mysticism and art. The poetry is far too prevalent and it is terrifically drab stuff. If you want to write a poetry book, then go for it, but don't write a so-called novel and slather it with line after line of dull poems.
Overall, and despite the goofy feelgood arty crap, I still enjoyed this book. There were plenty of interesting and surprising moments. Interestingly enough, Windling references the story of True Thomas, about whom Ellen Kushner wrote a book that I just happened to check out from the library at the same time. Both are pretty good books.
July 25, 2016
A terrific work of fantasy in a modern setting, drawing on vivid depictions of the landscape of the American southwest, subtly developed characters of real depth, and a dazzling imagination for surrealist art that blends seamlessly into the novel's reality.
I don't want to say too much more than that, really, but speaking of "seamless," I would note that the use of a poet and his poetry in a fictional context is hard to pull off without seeming painfully contrived. That it isn't -- that the poetry is even an appealing component of the story -- could almost be considered as much of an achievement as the rest of this captivating tale and its endearing main characters.
I don't want to say too much more than that, really, but speaking of "seamless," I would note that the use of a poet and his poetry in a fictional context is hard to pull off without seeming painfully contrived. That it isn't -- that the poetry is even an appealing component of the story -- could almost be considered as much of an achievement as the rest of this captivating tale and its endearing main characters.
July 1, 2015
I've always wanted to see the desert and now I feel as if I have actually been there. Terri Windling does a magnificent job of describing the scenery in such detail that I feel I have to sweep desert sand from my toes! Loved this book. So glad I found this at a thrift store for a quarter! Worth so much more!
June 14, 2023
Lecture agréable, le mélange des légendes irlandaise et amérindienne est bien trouvé et original.
Les points communs avec les arts de la poésie et de la peinture sont agréables et rajoutent du charme à cet univers.
Les points communs avec les arts de la poésie et de la peinture sont agréables et rajoutent du charme à cet univers.
January 5, 2025
Al, being the wise mage she is, had been telling me most of 2024 that this would be a 5⭐️ read for me once i got around to it. well i finally did & god damn she couldnt have been more on the money! i read this is in a day & a half it was so good. the power for so much of this novel is in its stark & beautiful poetry of the desert. its a strange place indeed & the writing perfectly captured the mystical nature of the desert landscape. as the fantasical elements slowly began to creep in from the periphery the human characters & relationships get a lot of time to develop until the band starts up & it becomes a full blown otherwordly soireè. this story has a deep spiritual/philosophical/mythic quality to it but it never once felt preachy or overly intellectual. its just a flat out great book & now i want to move to the sonoran desert.
June 15, 2017
This is one of those wonderful, contemporary mythic novels that blurs the boundaries between reality and folklore. I went through a phase where I only wanted my folklore in vaguely historical realms--much like the stories themselves--but lately I've begun preferring them mixed into contemporary life and living. Maybe this mirrors my own self now, a folklore lover that also works 4 jobs at a time, lives in a city, and wants to know there can still be some magic in the day to day.
In The Wood Wife, writer Maggie inherits the remote Arizona home of her favorite poet Cooper, who she's never met but has been corresponding with for a long time. She fell in love with his poetry collection The Wood Wife, and ever since the two have exchanged letters. And can I just say, I want to read all of this poetry collection! Windling gives little snippets, but not enough for me. It reminded me of Songs for Ophelia by Theodora Goss, but with an underlying story to each poem. Maggie is a city-smart cosmopolitan traveler, yet she ends up falling in love with Arizona. In Cooper's house, she finds snippets of poems, and also a room full of the magical paintings of Cooper's long deceased wife, Anna Neverra, whose work is often compared to Leonora Carrington, one of my favorite artists. Anna's paintings and Cooper's poems hint at magical and folkloric creatures that haunt the Arizona wilderness. And a mystery that Maggie must solve.
If you like art and folklore in your fiction, then you're bound to enjoy this. It reminded me a lot of Charles de Lint, particularly Memory and Dream, as well as the newish novel Roses and Rot by Kat Howard.
In The Wood Wife, writer Maggie inherits the remote Arizona home of her favorite poet Cooper, who she's never met but has been corresponding with for a long time. She fell in love with his poetry collection The Wood Wife, and ever since the two have exchanged letters. And can I just say, I want to read all of this poetry collection! Windling gives little snippets, but not enough for me. It reminded me of Songs for Ophelia by Theodora Goss, but with an underlying story to each poem. Maggie is a city-smart cosmopolitan traveler, yet she ends up falling in love with Arizona. In Cooper's house, she finds snippets of poems, and also a room full of the magical paintings of Cooper's long deceased wife, Anna Neverra, whose work is often compared to Leonora Carrington, one of my favorite artists. Anna's paintings and Cooper's poems hint at magical and folkloric creatures that haunt the Arizona wilderness. And a mystery that Maggie must solve.
If you like art and folklore in your fiction, then you're bound to enjoy this. It reminded me a lot of Charles de Lint, particularly Memory and Dream, as well as the newish novel Roses and Rot by Kat Howard.
March 20, 2020
I know this is a beloved book, and a bit of a classic for urban fantasy. The writing is lush, the story well-developed. Strong characters, too. But the issues with appropriation overwhelm the whole of it for me. Lots of spiritual/cultural tourism here. There’s no doubt Windling got to have her Native American wish fulfilled with this story.
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