{"id":375,"date":"2007-05-04T19:36:30","date_gmt":"2007-05-04T23:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=375"},"modified":"2021-05-30T21:36:05","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T01:36:05","slug":"the-wood-wife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/375","title":{"rendered":"The Wood Wife"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wood Wife<\/em> (1996) Terri Windling<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>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<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

If you’re a fan of Charles de Lint, then I think you’ll enjoy Terri WIndling’s The Wood Wife<\/em>,
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,291],"tags":[249],"class_list":["post-375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-paper","tag-terri-windling"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-63","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":229,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/229","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":0},"title":"Snow White Blood Red","author":"Michelle","date":"April 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Snow White Blood Red (1993) Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling I often have a hard time putting down interesting books. Which means that if I'm reading a book I real like before bed, I end up staying up past my bed time instead of falling asleep. One solution is to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/04\/Snow-White-Blood-Red.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":580,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/580","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":1},"title":"The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales","author":"Michelle","date":"May 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (2007) Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling I love short stories. Aside from collections by Charles de Lint, I best love anthologies by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling best. Their books are like comfort food, and I save them up for when I'm sick or feeling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/Coyote-Road.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":293,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/293","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":2},"title":"Swan Sister","author":"Michelle","date":"August 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Swan Sister (2003) Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling I don't think I've come across a short story collection put together by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling that I didn't like, and Swan Sister is no exception to the rule. The stories are fairy tales retold, by a variety of authors--many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/swan-sister.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/41","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":3},"title":"The Faery Reel","author":"Michelle","date":"November 7, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"The Faery Reel edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling Any time I see a fantasy anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, I'll often as not pick it up, because I know that it's going to be good. Usually very good. This volume however, has the added bonus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/11\/Faery-Reel.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/68","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":4},"title":"A Wolf at the Door","author":"Michelle","date":"April 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"A Wolf at the Door (2000) edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling I love folk tales and fairy tales, and I love the idea of stories that have been told and retold, and then finally captured on paper. The problem of course, is finding an author who is good\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/04\/a-wolf-at-the-door.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3287,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3287","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":5},"title":"Black Thorn, White Rose: A Modern Book of Adult Fairytales","author":"Michelle","date":"November 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Black Thorn, White Rose: A Modern Book of Adult Fairytales (1994) edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling There were several of these collections in the 90s--and I had the first two if I remember correctly. These are fairy tales retold--some with a change in the point of view, some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Black-Thorn-White-Rose.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}