As I’ve mentioned many times, I’m a lover of mythology and folklore. I always have been. I’ve loved fairytales and tales of strange myths since I was a young child and there’s no doubt that reading was both a cause and exploration of this interest for me. Books provided a place for me to explore this interest in the most exciting, magical way and the more folkloric books I read, the more I wanted.
As I’ve grown older, my interest in mythology and folklore has grown along with me, shifting into something that I want to express in more than just my reading choices but my writing, too. My interest in folkloric books has become a lot more defined. While I still adore more fantastical, epic fantasy novels that are loaded with obvious mythological inspiration and magic, I’ve found myself on the hunt for a different sort of story based in folklore lately. Stories grounded in fantastic, evocative writing but told with a quieter tone that’s atmospheric and delivers the darkness and oddities so many dust jacket quotes have promised. I’ve been intrigued and made hopeful by too many of those dust jacket quotes only to be let down by average stories completely lacking in atmosphere.
I have high hopes for these next five books. Let’s hope they live up to the praise.
5 Must Read Folkloric Books
The Good People
by Hannah Kent
County Kerry, Ireland, 1825. The fires on the hills smouldered orange as the women left, pockets charged with ashes to guard them from the night. Watching them fade into the grey fall of snow, Nance thought she could hear Maggie’s voice. A whisper in the dark. “Some folk are born different, Nance. They are born on the outside of things, with a skin a little thinner, eyes a little keener to what goes unnoticed by most. Their hearts swallow more blood than ordinary hearts; the river runs differently for them.” Nóra Leahy has lost her daughter and her husband in the same year, and is now burdened with the care of her four-year-old grandson, Micheál. The boy cannot walk, or speak, and Nora, mistrustful of the tongues of gossips, has kept the child hidden from those who might see in his deformity evidence of otherworldly interference. Unable to care for the child alone, Nóra hires a fourteen-year-old servant girl, Mary, who soon hears the whispers in the valley about the blasted creature causing grief to fall upon the widow’s house. Alone, hedged in by rumour, Mary and her mistress seek out the only person in the valley who might be able to help Micheál. For although her neighbours are wary of her, it is said that old Nance Roche has the knowledge. That she consorts with Them, the Good People. And that only she can return those whom they have taken…
Hannah Kent is a name I was unfamiliar with until I came across this novel, however she certainly hasn’t been flying under the radar of the literary world. Her debut novel, Burial Rites, was a huge success upon its release in 2013 and won many awards. While she’s now on my radar, it’s The Good People that has my interest. This novel sounds like exactly the type of story I’m looking for. A quiet setting perfect to build atmosphere upon and rich with folkloric history that I’m sure will seep into the story. I’m eager to experience Kent’s writing and am hopeful that The Good People will be the novel I want it to be.
The Essex Serpent
by Sarah Perry
London, 1893. When Cora Seaborne’s controlling husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness. Along with her son Francis – a curious, obsessive boy – she leaves town for Essex, in the hope that fresh air and open space will provide refuge. On arrival, rumours reach them that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming lives, has returned to the coastal parish of Aldwinter. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist with no patience for superstition, is enthralled, convinced that what the local people think is a magical beast may be a yet-undiscovered species. As she sets out on its trail, she is introduced to William Ransome, Aldwinter’s vicar, who is also deeply suspicious of the rumours, but thinks they are a distraction from true faith. As he tries to calm his parishioners, Will and Cora strike up an intense relationship, and although they agree on absolutely nothing, they find themselves at once drawn together and torn apart, affecting each other in ways that surprise them both.
Another award winning novel, The Essex Serpent revolves around a myth I’m not familiar with but am curious about— and made even more so by the fact that I can’t seem to find any information about it at all. I’m terribly intrigued by this novel and its potential for greatness. It’s described as a Victorian novel, gothic and fantastical with the strange science and superstition of the time. Based on snippets of reviews I’ve seen for this folkloric book, Perry’s writing, which is described as evocative and lush, is not to be missed. I’m quite looking forward to this novel.
Fen
by Daisy Johnson
Daisy Johnson’s Fen is a liminal land. Real people live their lives here. They wrestle with familiar instincts, with sex and desire, with everyday routine. But the wild is always close at hand, ready to erupt. This is a place where animals and people commingle and fuse, where curious metamorphoses take place, where myth and dark magic still linger. So here a teenager may starve herself into the shape of an eel. A house might fall in love with a girl. A woman might give birth to a – well what?
Daisy Johnson is an author I’ve had my eye on lately. I haven’t read any of her novels yet, but I did include her latest release, Sisters, in my 5 Can’t Miss Late Summer Book Releases post. Fen, however, is the book that I’m most eager to read from Johnson. It’s not a novel, but a collection of short stories that take place in England’s fenlands and are steeped in a “rich, brooding atmosphere,” as it’s been described. While I’m unsure if any of these stories are based on existing myths, there’s no denying there’s something strange and folkloric about them nonetheless.
Deathless
by Catherynne M. Valente
Koschei the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to European culture: a menacing, evil figure; the villain of countless stories which have been passed on through story and text for generations. But Koschei has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne Valente, whose modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the twentieth century. Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power. All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation.
I’m not familiar with the myth of Koschei the Deathless, but this novel sounds like an interesting blend of mythology and twentieth century Russian history, including oddities such as Stalinist house elves. While some of what I’ve heard about Deathless sounds just plain strange and not so appealing to me, I’d like to give this novel a chance. Valente’s writing has been described as haunting, lyrical, and more than memorable so I’m hopeful Deathless could be a story I enjoy.
The Bloody Chamber
by Angela Carter
Discover Angela Carter’s classic feminist retelling of favourite fairy tales interwoven by a master of seductive, luminous storytelling. From familiar fairy tales and legends – Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, Beauty and the Beast, vampires and werewolves – Angela Carter has created an absorbing collection of dark, sensual, fantastic stories.
While the other inclusions in this list are certainly inspired by folklore, they seem to be written with a more muted approach, whereas the stories within The Bloody Chamber seem to be a little more direct in their approach to folklore and fairytales. They’re retellings, but from what I’ve gathered, Carter’s take on them is unlike most other fairytale retellings. I’ve read that she manages to find the heart of the stories and intensifies them, twisting them into dark, unexpected stories. Carter has been called a “storytelling sorceress,” and these stories have been called dark, feminist, horror retellings of classic fairytales. I couldn’t be more intrigued.
Did any of these folkloric books make your TBR? Let me know what you think of them in the comments!
Thanks for reading,
Madison