Warriors, Witches, Women

Kate Hodges

From Shelf: Witchy Reads

An inspiring new analysis of females from perennially popular myth and legend, as well as uncovering previously overlooked characters. This contemporary feminist approach speaks directly to the empowering rhetoric of recent women-focused publishing.

Meet mythology's fifty fiercest females in this modern retelling of the world's greatest legends. From feminist fairies to bloodsucking temptresses, half-human harpies and protective Vodou goddesses, these are women who go beyond long-haired, smiling stereotypes. Their stories are so powerful, so entrancing, that they have survived for millennia. Lovingly retold and updated, Kate Hodges places each heroine, rebel and provocateur fimly at the centre of their own narrative. Players include:

Bewitching, banished Circe, an introvert famed and feared for her transfigurative powers. The righteous Furies, defiantly unrepentant about their dedication to justice. Fun-loving Ame-no-Uzume who makes quarrelling friends laugh and terrifies monsters by flashing at them.The fateful Morai sisters who spin a complex web of birth, life and death.

Find your tribe, fire your imagination and be empowered by this essential anthology of notorious, demonised and overlooked women.