Old Wives' Tales
Five exclusive new stories about women in the second half of life
Thank you all for your enthusiastic response to the publication of Wise Women: Myths and Stories for Midlife and Beyond, which has been out in the world now for just over a week.* As you’ll be aware, this book was the culmination of a project I embarked on over five years ago, to research the stories and other folklore of older women in European myth and folklore. The stories that I wrote about in my previous book, Hagitude: Reimagining the Second Half of Life, along with many others that I’d collected since its publication in 2022, were included in full in Wise Women.
But of course, my research project didn’t stop when I handed the manuscript in, in January of this year – and nor will it. And so, to celebrate publication, I’ve produced a booklet which contains five additional stories that I’ve uncovered over the past few months, along with a commentary on each. These stories both complement and extend the stories in Wise Women. I’m delighted to offer this booklet, which I’ve called Old Wives’ Tales, to paid subscribers; you can download it below. And to the extent that new stories and folklore fragments emerge as a result of my ongoing research, you can be sure that I’ll expand the booklet for you from time to time, right here on Substack.
A reminder for members of The Hearth (i.e. founding members): on Saturday 2 November from 16.00 – 17.30 (UK time) we’ll be taking a deeper dive into the archetype of the Wise Woman, having a conversation about the nature of women’s wisdom, and the ways it shows up in these old stories.
And if any of you happen to be in London on Saturday November 22, I’ll be offering a daylong workshop on reimagining the second half of life at Regent’s University, hosted by the lovely people at Alternatives. All details and bookings at this link.
