On Becoming a Fairy Godmother: Sara Maitland Nell at 08:49 on 15 December 2004
This collection of short stories begins with a quotation by Dorothy Sayers:
‘Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force’ and should be prescribed reading for all women of ‘a certain age’, maybe all women.
Sara Maitland has produced a scintillating array of adult fairy tales – here are Helen of Troy, Guinevere, Maid Marion and Eve herself all revealed as we could never have imagined them, and modern women discovering that magic hides in the least likely places. Keats said ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty…’ and like all good fairy tales there is a truth to be discovered in each that will leave the reader feeling empowered. Sara Maitland’s prose is sublime, her breadth of vision and insight staggering, I’m lost in admiration for her skills. If you hadn’t already guessed it, I loved this book.
Nell