Wise Women

An inspiring and beautifully told collection of retellings of ancient stories from European myth and folklore which celebrate women in midlife and beyond, from the award-winning author of Hagitude.

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An unforgettable collection of retold myths and folk tales celebrating the wisdom and power of women in midlife and beyond

'The book I've been longing for' JILL DAWSON, author of The Bewitching

'Fascinating' SARA SHERIDAN, author of The Fair Botanists

'Read it, absorb it, treasure it!' SHAHRUKH HUSAIN, author of The Virago Book of Witches

Ungainly giantesses. Sequin-strewn fairy godmothers. Misunderstood witches. Fierce grandmothers. Hairy-chinned hags. Craggy crones.

From early childhood, we learn about the world and its possibilities through myths and fairy tales. The heroines, though, tend to be golden-haired princesses, and the evil-doers often older women.

But women today are searching for positive versions of themselves from midlife onwards, and this dazzling array of not-to-be-messed-with characters provides them. They outwit monsters, test and mentor younger heroines, embody the cycles and seasons of the earth, weave the world into being - and almost always have the last laugh.

These women manifest their wisdom in different ways, and so offer us inspiration for how we too can walk boldly and live authentically in the second half of life.

'I adored Wise Women - this is the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle when it comes to reframing the narrative in our culture about the role of older females' Eleanor Mills, author of Much More to Come: Lessons on the mayhem and magnificence of midlife

Praise for Sharon Blackie:

'Hagitude is already becoming a beloved cult classic, as a myth-infused manifesto for the possibilities for life from middle age onwards' Katherine May

'Engaging and inspiring, Sharon Blackie's beautiful book will empower people to find wonder in everyday life' Clover Stroud

'Fascinating, packed with stories and bursting with lovely descriptions of the natural world. There's plenty in Hagitude to inspire women of every age' Christina Patterson, Sunday Times

'The glorious possibility that we might age and ripen, age and grow greater, age and be-come, while also accepting that we will age and die - this is what I have come to expect from Sharon Blackie's expansive work, and why I am especially excited by this collection with Angharad Wynne that revisits our old stories, making them thrilling for us now, as the midlife and older wise women we are be-coming' Stella Duffy OBE