Eddie Lenihan

Not my usual kind of book, but this was a gift from some great friends of mine who went to Ireland, and how I wish I were with them! I’d love to visit that wonderful country so steeped in folklore.

Fortunately they had a mind to gift me with a book, and what better choice than a book about strong female figures? The author collected stories from the Irish lore, but the fact that the first edition of this collection was named “ferocious” instead of “defiant” might tell it all: there is little redemption here, or female heroines: as a XXI century reader I have some difficulties to accept such flat depictions, but it’s still history (probably written by men) so it was a slow but nice read.

Rumors are ugly creatures at any time, since no one knows where they may begin or end, but when mention of witchcraft entwines itself with rumor, they unite to become dangerous and sinister.… (altro)

Oh. My. The only reason that I did not give this book one star is because it is probably one of the first books written in Ireland about Irish women. These were five women I had never read about; Biddy Early is the woman most histories cover. Otherwise, stories abound of fictional Irish women in relation to their Irishmen, but few accounts exist of individual women in Ireland.

But this coverage of 5 women's stories is shameful. The stories are written with more detail about the men in the stories (the exception being "Lady Betty") than about the women, and the pictures! Good St. Patrick and Brigid and all the Saints!! If you cannot include any drawings but those by a child, where all the women's faces are those of monsters, just leave the pictures out!

I don't know much about the pulling together of these stories: how difficult it was, what sources Lenihan used, why he chose these stories. They could have been good in the hands of a good storyteller. And there are several books that he cites at the end for children, but if this book was intended for children I would be appalled at the quality of the others.

However, for all the authors of Irish historical fiction out there: please grab a story from this book and turn it into something decent. These women lived troubled and sometimes desperate lives, and they certainly need something better than this book.… (altro)

A selection of oral tales collected by the great Eddie Lenihan, all from a geographical area familiar to me - Ferenka gets a mention, and Doon, and Kilaloe, so yay for familiarity. It's a cracking set of stories, though variable. Some are masterfully crafted, absolutely perfect exemplars of the form. Others are a bit more ragged and fragmented, and if you're in it purely for the craft it's a let down, but they all build up to a satisfying survey of folkloric beliefs and tales associated with the Good Folk. My favourite was the laugh-out-loud Skeptic's Tale, which isn't even a fairy story proper. The most arresting was one of the opening tales which came off at moments like a Wim Winders film, and the whole thing is rounded off with a gruesome tale of bloodcurdling horror, just in case you were getting in any way complacent.… (altro)