Feminist Folktales from Around the World by Ethel Johnston Phelps

Rating: WORTHY!

This is an ebook compendium of four individually published books of collected tales (Tatterhood, Kamala, Sea Girl, and The Hunter Maiden. It was great! I have to say it felt like it fell off a bit toward the end, but I don't know if that was because the later stories were not as entertaining, or because it was too many to listen to in one long string over a few days as I did. But I commend it nonetheless for having strong, smart, and even sneaky female characters throughout, lots of stories, and for being amusing as hell.

While all fairytales and folktales have common elements, I have to say that save two, I think, I had not heard any of these particular stories before, and they do come from all over. The first book, Tatterhood, contains a baker's dozen stories from places as diverse as Norway and Scotland to the Sudan and Japan and the others are similarly diverse.

I particularly liked the Sudan story, perhaps in part because it reminded me of a story about a Sudanese woman I had listened to in another audiobook (Footprints in the Dust) very recently, that was not fiction and which made a strong impression on me and gave me the makings of a story idea. My favorite of all, though, was the eponymous Tatterhood, which amused me the most, but I have to say a great deal of my enjoyment came not only from the ebullient way the tale was told, but also from the enthusiastic reading by Leslie Howard (not the British actor and film-maker!)

I liked Howard as a reader, but I can't commend her on her accents. Her Irish was off and she couldn't do Cornwall to save her life. That aside though, I liked her voice and her enthusiasm. As far as the stories go, these were as follows:

Tatterhood

1. Tatterhood
2. Unanana and the Elephant
3. The Hedley Kow
4. The Prince and the Three Fates
5. Janet and Tamlin
6. What Happened to the Six Wives Who Ate Onions
7. Kate Crackernuts
8. Three Strong Women
9. The Black Bull of Norroway
10. The Giant Caterpillar
11. The Laird's Lass and the Dobha's Son
12. The Hunted Hare
13. Clever Manka

Kamala

1. Kamala and the Seven Thieves
2. The Young Head of the family
3. The Legend of Knockmany
4. Kupti and Imani
5. The Lute Player
6. The Shepherd of Myddvai and the Lake Maiden
7. The Search for the Magic Lake
8. The Squire's Bride
9. The Stars in the Sky
10. Bucca Dhu and Bucca Gwiden
11. The Enchanted Buck
12. Mastermaid

Sea Girl

1. The Maid of the North
2. Fair Exchange
3. Wild Goose Lake
4. Gawain and the Lady Ragnell
5. The Monkey's Heart
6. The Twelve Huntsmen
7. The Tiger and the Jackal
8. East of the Sun, West of the Moon
9. The Giant's daughter
10. The Summer Quuen

The Hunter Maiden

1. Mulha
2. The Hunter Maiden
3. Elsa and the Evil Wizard
4. Maria Morevna
5. Duffy and the Devil
6. Lanval and the Lady Triamor
7. Bending Willow
8. Finn Magic
9. The Old Woman and the Rice Cakes
10. The Husband Who Stayed at Home
11. Scheherazade Retold

So plenty of entertainment there, plenty of ideas if you're looking for a topic for a novel. One of these, East of the Sun, West of the Moon has already been turned into a full-length novel by Julia Gregson. I reviewed that one favorably in January of 2017. Overall I commend this as a great source of entertainment and amusement.