Why read Gossip from the Forest?

Book cover of Gossip from the Forest: The Tangled Roots of Our Forests and Fairytales

Book description

Fairytales are one of our earliest and most vital cultural forms, and forests one of our most ancient landscapes. Both evoke a similar sensation in us - we find them beautiful and magical, but also spooky, sometimes horrifying.

In this fascinating book, Maitland argues that the two forms are intimately…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Gossip from the Forest as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Ashland Pym

Author

Folklore and nature conservation is a subjects close to my heart. When I met my husband, an ecologist, many of our first conversations were on the importance of narrative to get people interested in conservation efforts. Folklore is the perfect tool.

This book does that job beautifully. As a piece of narrative nonfiction, it collects fairy tales, personal memoirs, and natural history in a lyrical journey through the forests of England. Maitland centers each chapter on an English woodland and the stories associated with it, be they fairy tales or history. More importantly, she discusses not only how myth shapes…

From Ashland's list on The best books that capture the power of myth.