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graceve's review
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
silverliningsandpages's review against another edition
3.0
The Woman of the Wolf is an enjoyable collection of short stories, which is subversive and fierce in combining myths, fairy tales and biblical stories. Renée Vivien has crafted confident female characters who will forge their own destinies rather than submit to traditional and societal expectations. As often with short stories, some are stronger than others and my favourite was the multilayered and keenly observed The Woman of the Wolf.
3/5
3/5
blankgarden's review against another edition
3.0
My review: https://theblankgarden.com/2020/12/10/review-woman-of-the-wolf-and-other-stories-by-renee-vivien/
frenzyreads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Vivien has a collection of short stories with a blending of bibical, fairy tales and myth references that feel very appropriate in 2020. With the growing love for feminist lit and feminist retellings, these short stories fit in perfectly.
Vivien plays with the expectation of the female character, her strengths, her viciousness, her power. Though I did not love all of the stories, Vivien's breadth, strength and interesting life makes her a new classic to visit and make well-known.
abbie_'s review
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
thebookishmeg's review
challenging
dark
inspiring
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Renée Vivien combines dark humour, frank observations and beautiful prose to create a short story collection that satirises and examines gender roles, retells myth and biblical tales, and provides a platform for strong women to flourish.
I enjoyed the entire collection, but several of the short stories really stood out for me. I loved Vivien’s satirical portrayal of men’s egotism in The Woman of the Wolf. Written from the perspective of the male narrator, this story describes his experience attempting to ‘court’ the woman of the wolf. Despite appearing unsuccessful, he continually believes her disinterest to be a sign of her love and a reason to persist. When she eventually condemns his behaviour, he is enraged, and yet still believes the woman is attempting to make him fall further in love with her. This misguided way of thinking – which is reminiscent of the way catcalling is often portrayed as a ‘compliment’ or a clear ‘no’ is taken as a sign of playing ‘hard to get’ – is cleverly explored by Renée Vivien and it was definitely one of my favourite stories. This theme is repeated in several of the stories, which unfortunate consequences for the women involved as Vivien portrays the brutality of ego-driven men.
Other favourites included Prince Charming – one of the shortest stories, and easily the cutest – The Veil of Vashti – drawn from the Bible story of Lilith and incredibly empowering – and The Splendid Prostitute – involving a badass woman refusing to be dictated to by men.
It is a text I would’ve enjoyed examining for A level English Literature; I think there is a lot to be explored, examined and unpacked. It does reflect the antisemitism and racism views of the period in which it was written (1904) and this could also be examined under the lens of intersectional feminism. The satirical writing style and frank observations reminded me of Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry, which I did study at A level, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of feminist literature.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Death
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