Will I love The Wood Wife?

Much of Windling’s work as an editor has revolved around fairy tales and the power of story. The Wood Wife combines those with poetry and a tremendous love for the American Southwest (near Tucson, Arizona).

I love this book for the way it brings all those threads together and weaves them into something new, but something with long sturdy roots that anchor it in place, in time and history, and in both the personal and the mythical. 

This book was so brilliant and creative it made me want to be a writer. It’s set in Tucson, Arizona, and is steeped in a deep love and understanding of the Sonoran desert. But unlike the Arizona I grew up in, these dry arroyos are full of dark gods and faeries. Not your typical overdone Irish fey either, where they look like Tolkien elves and everyone dresses in fetish gear. No, Windling does faeries like Guilerrmo del Toro does faeries. These twisted godlings can unmake reality or grant powers in equal measure. It’s dark, but it’s not death and bloodshed… show more.