A review by doriastories
Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World by Kathleen Ragan

4.0

I took several months to leisurely read this book, which continues a fascinating and diverse assemblage of tales, drawn from every continent of the world except for Antarctica. The theme of the collection is that of strong female protagonists, and it was well worth the time it took to read this extensive collection. Ragan clearly put a great deal of effort into organizing and researching the stories, and even took the time to add her own personal "reaction" at the end of each tale, in italics, perhaps in an effort to situate the stories in a broader context of shared female experience. In all honesty, I could have done without most of these, as they served mainly to distract me from individual merits and interest of the stories themselves, constantly reminding the reader of the editor's presence and significance. The collection of stories itself stands as tribute to the hard work and dedication of the person who took such pains to share them with the general public. Enough said.