Prithee look back ...

The Bloody Chamber
Angela Carter
Penguin Books

When I was in the third grade, my best friend's name was Janice Slack. I can't remember if Janice and I met in gymnastics or at school, but for a little while there, the two of us were inseperable. We'd walk Bunny (her dog), have sleepovers in the tent trailer that was parked in my driveway, and play dress up in the crawl space of her basement. Like me, Janice was kind of nerdy-- she liked to read almost as much as I did -- and one year for Christmas, her Grandma gave us both a copy of Grimm's fairy tales. We each had our favourites and it shouldn't surprise anyone to learn that I liked the gory ones best.

The Bloody Chamber, by Angela Carter, is a collection of short stories that rework traditional folk stories, legends and fairy tales. While I can't say I enjoyed all her work, I did appreciate how she tries to turn legend on its ear and recast the female figures as active heroines instead of passive victims. Her writing is very sensual and often, borders on the erotic. I also enjoyed the smartness of her narrative -- her work is full of allusion and subtle homage -- quite a lot of fun for someone who likes to play guess the reference. Three blood-curdling screams out of five.