The Handless Maiden

Can you imagine having a father who would give you to the Devil in exchange for riches and wealth? The poor girl in our story had to endure not only this but getting her hands cut off as well. Her will was so strong that she decided to not fall victim of the Devil. So she headed out in the woods, wandering around, not having anything, not even food. Surprisingly enough she survived and she became a queen. Her misfortunes did not end with this however. Many more difficulties followed. Because, you know, the Devil does not forget so easily. Children and adults alike, immerse yourselves into Grimm’s world of folktales and legends! Come, discover the little-known tales and treasured classics in this collection of 210 fairy tales. Brothers Grimm are probably the best-known storytellers in the world. Some of their most popular fairy tales are "Cinderella", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Little Red Riding Hood" and there is hardly anybody who has not grown up with the adventures of Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel and Snow White. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s exceptional literature legacy consists of recorded German and European folktales and legends. Their collections have been translated into all European languages in their lifetime and into every living language today.

In the tradition of Annie Dillard and Natalie Goldberg, this resource for writers and non-writers alike shows the act of writing to be a dynamic means of knowing, healing, and creating the body, mind, and spirit.

In 1502, a decade of increasing tension between Muslims and Christians in Spain culminated in a royal decree that Muslims in Castile wanting to remain had to convert to Christianity. Mary Elizabeth Perry uses this event as the starting point for a remarkable exploration of how Moriscos, converted Muslims and their descendants, responded to their increasing disempowerment in sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century Spain. Stepping beyond traditional histories that have emphasized armed conflict from the view of victors, The Handless Maiden focuses on Morisco women. Perry argues that these women's lives offer vital new insights on the experiences of Moriscos in general, and on how the politics of religion both empowers and oppresses. Drawing on archival documents, legends, and literature, Perry shows that the Moriscas carried out active resistance to cultural oppression through everyday rituals and acts. For example, they taught their children Arabic language and Islamic prayers, dietary practices, and the observation of Islamic holy days. Thus the home, not the battlefield, became the major forum for Morisco-Christian interaction. Moriscas' experiences further reveal how the Morisco presence provided a vital counter-identity for a centralizing state in early modern Spain. For readers of the twenty-first century, The Handless Maiden raises urgent questions of how we choose to use difference and historical memory.

The poems in this extraordinary book deal in familiar emotions - love, grief, rage, loneliness - but do so with such a fresh and fierce eye, such lived intensity, that the familiar is given again the force to touch our nerves, to seem raw and new. Some of the poems are based in the territory of home and childhood, others move into that unnerving space where the safe and polite world plunges over a ledge - into anarchic revisions of what is possible or acceptable. They treat myths and fairy stories, or even paintings, not as fictions but as part of our continuing experience. Powerful and sensuous, wry and witty, their clear voice stays in the mind: provoking, questioning, refusing to accept the soft lie. These disturbing and passionate poems demand to be read.

An exploration of the benefits of a fantasy life for victims of childhood abuse combines the works of such author as Charles de Lint, Jane Yolen, and Steven Gould with essays on the transforming powers of fairy tales.

"With potent, lyrical language and a profound knowledge of storytelling, Shaw encourages and illuminates the mythic in our own lives. He is a modern-day bard." – Madeline Miller, author of Circe and The Song of Achilles At a time when we are all confronted by not one, but many crossroads in our modern lives—identity, technology, trust, politics, and a global pandemic—celebrated mythologist and wilderness guide Martin Shaw delivers Smoke Hole: three metaphors to help us understand our world, one that is assailed by the seductive promises of social media and shadowed by a health crisis that has brought loneliness and isolation to an all-time high. Smoke Hole is a passionate call to arms and an invitation to use these stories to face the complexities of contemporary life, from fake news, parenthood, climate crises, addictive technology and more. Shaw urges us to reclaim our imagination and untangle ourselves from modern menace, letting these tales be our guide. More Praise: "I can still remember the first time I heard Martin Shaw tell a story. The tale that emerged was like a living thing, bounding around, throwing itself at us there listening. I had never heard anything like it before." – Paul Kingsnorth, Booker shortlisted author of The Wake "Martin Shaw’s work is so very beautiful. A new animal. His love of images is deep and contagious." – Coleman Barks, author of The Essential Rumi "Through feral tales and poetic exegesis, Martin Shaw makes you re-see the world, as a place of adventure, and of initiation, as perfect home, and as perfectly other. What a gift." – David Keenan, author of Xstabeth "Shaw has so much wisdom and knowledge about the old stories, it emanates from his pores." – John Densmore, The Doors

"Combines a Grimm's fairy tale with two contemporary stories, which begin with a man planning his own wedding and a woman who is made a partner in her law firm before her husband is"--Page 4 of cover.

Robbed of her career as a concert pianist due to a tragic childhood accident, Mariah Standhoffer is compelled to seek alternate means of artistic expression, eventually achieving renown as a composer. Mariah's shattered life turns on a series of complex relationships with others who have suffered damage in their lives -- particularly Doug and Sully, challengers for her love. These vividly realized characters, like Mariah, learn to make opportunity out of accident and ultimately find dignity in compassion.Raw, often heart-wrenching, but also an exhilarating read, " The Handless Maiden" is an audacious and triumphant debut.