A review by redheadreading
Gossip from the Forest: The Tangled Roots of Our Forests and Fairytales by Sara Maitland

2.0

It baffles me that, having chosen to visit solely English and Scottish woods, Maitland exclusively focuses on Grimm's fairytales and apparently disregards any tales actually from the British Isles. I wanted to love this book because in theory it is exactly my cup of tea, but I've actually found it to be an infuriating read! Rambling and unfocused, so much of this was just the author making sweeping statements, sometimes acknowledging that they are "based on no real evidence beyond anecdote" but stating them unyieldingly nonetheless. There were a number of spelling mistakes and factual errors, which then made me suspicious of everything she was saying in case it too was inaccurate. On the whole I'm very disappointed in this one!