A review by foggy_rosamund
Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan

4.0

Sullivan's prose is so precise, rich and complex that these short stories could be described as prose poems. Each story retells a familiar fairytale, exploring the trauma and emotional reality of women who have been forced into situations outside of their control. Each story is told in luminous language, often full of not only precisely chosen images, but also assonance and internal rhythms. Sometimes they are almost in iambic pentameter. These stories beg to be read aloud. The beautiful language means it pays to read these slowly, only one or two an evening, though they are so compelling that it's hard not to swallow them all in one sitting. My only caveats are that sometimes the heroines don't feel distinct enough from one another, and that I feel the final story, added to the paperback version of the collection, doesn't add enough to really earn its place. Otherwise, I am so impressed by these, and recommend them highly.