Abstract

Love and Other Fairytales , is a collection of four short stories that explore the lives of several women and girls as they struggle to make sense of their identities. The stories are informed by fairytale and folklore motifs but focus more on transliteration rather than holistic interpretation of the tales. 'When I Awaken' is the story of a young girl who has awoken from childhood and must deal with the harsh realities of her world--her father, whose words had the power to turn her into a princess, has abandoned her and her mother blames her for the loss. 'your dreams rifting through a dark sea to me' is a reworking of the familiar story 'Little Mermaid' and, influenced strongly by Newfoundland folklore, is set in the outports of that sea-driven province. 'As White as Snow' introduces a character who has been raised in a traveling carnival and follows her as she embraces her own constructed mythical identity, defies her mother and falls in love with a mysterious stranger. 'Of the Weird and the Wild' is a dramatic retelling of the fairytale 'Hansel and Gretel' in which brother and sister struggle against their father's wish to leave the magical house where they were raised by their witch-mother and end their incestuous love for one another.