The Wood Wife

The Wood Wife (1996) Terri Windling

It took me a long time to read this book, however, you shouldn’t necessarily see this as a reflection on the quality of the book. I picked up The Wood Wife used, and it was a relatively slim novel, so it was perfect for sticking in my jacket pocket, which means that it only got read a few pages at a time as I rode the PRT or sat in the doctor’s office.

Maggie Black has been a poet and a journalist and a wife, but now that she has inherited the home and property of Davis Cooper, a pulitzer prize winning poet with whom she has corresponded for years, she has headed out to the Arizona dessert ostensibly to write a biography of Davis Cooper. What she ends up doing is learning about the land he loved, the mystery of his death, and the loss of his wife.

I liked Maggie. It was lovely to read a fantasy about a competent grown woman who had interesting, but not unreasonable life experiences, and although it sounds really boring when put it that way, she discovers herself and how she relates to her friends and the world. It was nice that nothing really horrific happened to Maggie. Sure she has an ex-husband, but her biggest problem with him is that he is too nice to her–always checking on her and wanting to remain in her life as a friend and recognize all the did for him when he was a struggling musician.

Nigel came down the street toward her, his face shadowed with annoyance. Her heart, that traitorous organ, still leapt when she saw her ex-husband through the window glass. She knew then why she’d run back to Los Angeles, away from nice man up north who said he loved her; Nigel was a hard act to follow. He entered the cafe, his irritation and his energy like a cloud that entered with him, changing the weather of the entire room. And reminding her why she’d once run away from Nigel, too.

I also liked the other characters, especially Johnny Foxxe and Dora. I particularly like the relationship between Dora and her husband. Their relationship and what happens between them isn’t something that is often covered in a lot in the books I read, and it gave me a bit to think about.

But mostly I liked the way that she combined North American mythology with European mythology. Are the ethereal beings of North American mythology the same as the ethereal beings of European mythology? It makes an interesting kind of sense.

If you’re a fan of Charles de Lint, then I think you’ll enjoy Terri WIndling’s The Wood Wife,
Rating: 8/10

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