January was full of wonderful books, many with a faery tale bent. I became obsessed with faery tale author Helena Nyblom after reading Holly Ringland’s The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding, and tracked down a few of her out-of-print collections of magical stories. I also loved the enchanting The Emporium of Imagination, by Aussie author Tabitha Bird, and Sarah Winman’s compelling novel Still Life, plus two touching memoirs.

01 of 80 – Still Life by Sarah Winman
Spanning four decades and shifting between London, England and Florence, Italy, Sarah Winman’s Still Life is a beautifully written story of love and joy, friendship and war, art and history, loss and pain, hope and kindness, good food and absent mothers, and the families you choose to make your life with. I loved that it’s about how one chance meeting can completely change the course of your life – and of those around you – and the incredible impact you can have on someone and never even know. I also loved that most of the men are wise and kind, and that it’s shown as a strength, not a weakness.
It did take me a little while to get into, and it’s pretty long, but I slowly fell in love with the characters and the story and the city itself. Sarah narrates the book herself (she was an actor long before she became an award-winning writer) at the perfect tempo, so I couldn’t speed it up, lol, but I cared about all the characters more with every chapter, and became more compelled by the story as it progressed too – and was disappointed when it ended. I loved the serendipity, and the missed moments, and the way people were given the space, and the grace, to become who they truly were, and I was further endeared to Cressy with every Vyvyan-from-The-Young-Ones-accented line of dialogue, and his beautiful conversations with a cherry tree, a citrus, and a talking parrot. It’s a love letter to Italy – written in response to Brexit and the sorrow of England cutting itself off from Europe and all its wonders – and to friendship, love and longing, and I’m looking forward to reading Sarah’s other three books soon.

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02 of 80 – The Witch of the Woods by Helena Nyblom
One of my favourite December reads was Holly Ringland’s The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding. Set between Lutruwita/Tasmania, Denmark’s Copenhagen and the Faroe Islands, it’s a beautiful story of love and loss, grief and anger, sisters and ancestors, regret, remorse and redemption (or the possibility of it anyway), and what a family must endure before they can reach for forgiveness. The mystery at the heart of the book – an older sister who returned, broken, from her dream life overseas, then disappeared into the sea – was compelling, and the selkies and swan maidens woven throughout had my heart from the first moment.
It also fuelled my obsession with Danish author Helena Nyblom, who wrote more than eighty faery tales, many of them with feminist messages, and all with such a deep love for nature and connection, but who has always been overshadowed by the *other* Danish faery tale writer. So I spent a few late nights trying to track down her faery tales and books, many of them out of print – only to discover after I’d finished reading Esther Wilding (and ordered a couple of Helena’s books) that Holly had very thoughtfully posted the three she writes about on her website. 
But I love Helena Nyblom’s The Witch of the Woods collection, illustrated by Nils Christian Hald (many of her others were illustrated by acclaimed artist John Bauer). It’s not in quite as good condition as indicated – but it’s the first US edition from 1965, so I’m very grateful that it still exists! And I loved some of the stories so much, especially The Queen’s Necklace, The Princess Who Hid Her Slippers, Aunt Karin’s Chest, The Girl Who Met the Witch of the Woods and, well, all of them really! And while none of these are in Esther Wilding, I’m grateful to Holly for bringing Helena back to the world.

ETA: The three stories that are woven through Holly’s book are Svanhamnen, Agneta and the Lake King, and All the Wild Waves of the Sea, which are all wonderful, magical stories.
* Agneta and the Sea King (or Lake King) is full of the magic of nature and the underwater world, and sadness and longing, and pain and joy, and abduction, forgetting, and the power and importance of memory. There’s a gorgeous underwater sculpture in Copenhagen of the Lake King and his children, reaching out for their wife and mumma, and the story was illustrated by John Bauer.
You can read it here or here.
* Svanhamnen (or Swan Suit, Swan Maiden Swan Skin or Swan Harbour) is the most beautiful of the selkie and swan maiden stories I’ve read, full of yearning and joy, sadness and love, friendship and wild freedom – without the abduction (such a lovely twist!), or the abandoned children, and with a happy ending for humans and swans. It’s set in Sweden, for Helena married a Swedish academic, and the story was illustrated by John Bauer. 
You can read it here, with thanks to Holly.
* And I love All the Wild Waves of the Sea, about longing and adventure and quests and trials, and freedom, despite its tragic ending – or is it a happy one? It’s always so hard to tell in faery tales! It’s in Helena Nyblom’s book Jolly Calle and Other Swedish Fairy Tales, illustrated by Charles Folkard, but you can read it here or here.
(After reading Esther Wilding, you might also be inspired to check out the art of Hilma af Klint, listen to the music of the ethereal Eivor, especially the song Trollabundin, and get more tattoos!)

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03 of 80 – Jolly Calle and Other Swedish Fairy Tales by Helena Nyblom
Lol, last post about my Helena Nyblom obsession! Jolly Calle and Other Swedish Fairy Tales is an enchanting collection of seven stories, illustrated by Charles Folkard, and set in the wild beauty of Sweden, where the Danish author spent much of her life after marrying a Swedish academic. Jolly Calle (called Happy Hans in her The Witch of the Woods collection) is a sweet story of joy, purpose and contentment, All the Wild Waves of the Sea is one of the three Helena stories Holly Ringland references in her novel The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding, and I love it for its longing for adventure and quest for freedom, despite its tragic ending, and I also adore the gorgeous tale The Princess Who Hid Her Shoes, where two quirky people find each other and get to love each other for their true selves, The Queen’s Necklace, where kindness is rewarded and miserliness is punished, and the sweet but tragic story of friendship and love of The Bubbly Boy. I bought a physical copy of this book, but had to return it because it wasn’t legible – much of the text was invisible as it’s just a poor duplication of the out-of-print version you can read here.

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04 of 80 – Tell Me Again by Amy Thunig
I loved Amy Thunig’s memoir Tell Me Again. It’s heartbreaking, but so honest and gracious and pragmatic and moving – and more forgiving than I can fathom. Amy’s parents struggled with addiction, incarceration and systemic racism, which impacted her childhood in devastating, traumatic ways, yet she has so much compassion, understanding and love for them, and has woven a new relationship with them today. The book could have been bleak, but instead Amy chooses to focus on the light – her connection with her grandparents as a kid, and with Country today. The joy and strength she found in education (she’s an academic with a masters and a doctorate, a director of Sydney’s Story Factory, as well as a podcast host, activist, writer and commentator). As she grew up and into herself, the beauty, depth and mutual support of her close friendships. And throughout it all, her determination to understand her parents rather than condemn them. To acknowledge the intergenerational trauma they were suffering, not as an excuse for how they treated her, but as an explanation, and to work so hard to be the one who would break that chain for her own children.
I went to Amy’s book launch, where she spoke so beautifully and so powerfully about love, resilience and healing, so it was a pleasure to listen to her narrate the audiobook of her remarkable life.

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05 of 80 – The Emporium of Imagination by Tabitha Bird
Tabitha Bird’s novel The Emporium of Imagination is gorgeous. Sad but sweet, and heartbreaking, touching and joyful all at once. In a little country town in Queensland, a magical shop appears out of thin air, which will – eventually – bring people together, connect the community, and gift those who have lost loved ones peace and healing, courtesy of the wondrous phones that offer one last conversation with a loved one you’ve lost. For others, there is an object that reminds them of the life they once dreamed of, which nudges them to embrace a second chance. There are mysteries at the heart of the story, from a woman scared that she killed the love of her life, and determined to suffer in penance, to the enigmatic custodian of the emporium, who has to find someone to take his place, and a guilt-stricken young boy being driven to despair because he can hear everyone’s sad thoughts. All three must somehow find the courage to share their deepest secrets, and deal with the shame they’re drowning in. A magical, uplifting and wonder-filled read, this book offers comfort, hope and enchantment, and the most beautiful, healing world to get lost in.

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06 of 80 – Different, Not Less by Chloe Hayden
I wish everyone would read Chloe Hayden’s wonderful book Different, Not Less: A Neurodivergent’s Guide to Embracing Your True Self and Finding Your Happily Ever After, or listen to the audiobook that she so passionately narrates. It’s a wonderful resource for anyone who is autistic, offering such reassurance, comfort and inspiration, with practical advice as well as a beautifully written and personal sharing of her own life. But it’s also a vitally important read for everyone else. She shares about her belated diagnosis, and what a positive thing it was to finally understand such an important part of herself. She describes the horrific bullying she suffered at school, and how when she speaks at schools today, sadly not much has changed, as well as explaining why no one should ever use the term Asperger’s, and how wrong so much of the information and beliefs about neurodivergence is, especially in regards to women and girls. But she also shares about finding her people, her place and her self. How after growing up convinced she would never have her own happily ever after, she discovered her sidekicks, her supporters and her own strengths, and thrived when she understood herself and what she needed. There are faery tale tropes and pop culture reference, as well as lots of serious information and helpful resources, and above all, a plea for kindness and acceptance and understanding – and a recognition of the brilliance of autistic people.
She says: “My mind is absolutely magical. I don’t see the world the way a typical person does, and I think that’s brilliant. Autistic people are the makers, the do-ers, the creators… See us for who we are, not for who we’re not. Unlearn your bias, your expectation, your stigmas, and instead learn from the community, from us. We are not your stigmas.”
Chloe is a motivational speaker, actor, performer, author, influencer, content creator and disability rights activist and advocate, and currently stars as one of the world’s first autistic characters, Quinni in Netflix’s Heartbreak High reboot.