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Banshee

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What to expect

THE IRISH BESTSELLER

'A dazzling modern mythology of our oldest stories, richly imagined by the very best of Irish writers' DOIREANN NÍ GHRÍOFA, author of A Ghost in the Throat'

'Enthralling . . . The imaginative freedom in Banshee's stories is remarkable' Irish Times

'Bold, beautiful' Daily Mail

'Dark, lyrical and exhilarating, these stories feel both timeless and urgently modern' LOUISE O'NEILL, author of Idol

Featuring new and original stories from:

Jane Casey Sunday Times bestselling author of Cruel Acts | Naoise Dolan Sunday Times bestselling author of Exciting Times | Salma El-Wardany Critically acclaimed author of These Impossible Things | Wendy Erskine Gordon Burn Prize-longlisted author of The Benefactors | Nikita Gill Sunday Times bestselling author of Hekate | Anne Griffin Irish Times bestselling author of Listening Still | Sarah Maria Griffin Award-winning author of Spare and Found Parts | Jess Kidd International award-winning author of Things in Jars | Megan Nolan Sunday Times bestselling author of Acts of Desperation | Sheila O'Flanagan Sunday Times bestselling author of The Honeymoon Affair

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In this spellbinding anthology, Ireland's most electrifying female writers breathe new life into ancient Irish myths, reclaiming the stories of women who have too long stood in the shadows of warriors and kings.

Editor and journalist Ailbhe Malone was raised on these legends - but the women, always cast as mothers, warriors or witches, were never given the lead. And so, Banshee was born: not just a retelling but a radical reclamation.

Banshee transports you to treacherous landscapes and salt-crashing seas, generational curses and mystical islands. Here you'll find unruly mothers, rule-breaking queens, and women outrunning their destiny - stories pulsing with desire, danger and defiance.

This is a celebration of womanhood - and an homage to the ancient stories that still shape us.

Critics Review

You don't need to be familiar with the original Irish fairy tales to be ensnared by this anthology of their re-jigged versions, though once you race through them, you'll crave to know the backstories of these resilient and strong women
Irish Independent
The editor's passion for Irish folklore and mythology is the magic ingredient in this enthralling short story anthology . . . a must, not just for lovers of Irish folklore
Irish Times
A dazzling modern mythology of our oldest stories, richly imagined by the very best of Irish writers
DOIREANN NÍ GHRÍOFA, author of A Ghost in the Throat
Dark, lyrical and exhilarating, these stories feel both timeless and urgently modern
LOUISE O'NEILL, author of Idol
Whether set in an ancient past or the present day, all these brilliantly innovative reimaginings of Irish myths crackle with real magic
ANNA CAREY, author of This is Not the Jess Show
A mystical, magical, empowering modern re-imagining of the Irish goddesses, I LOVED these superb stories
PATRICIA SCANLAN, author of City Girls Forever
The stories in Banshee are traditional, timeless - and now even more timely . . . an uplifting counterpoint to the endless misogyny in the news cycle: the women here have agency and though they may at times be frightened, they are fierce - ferocious, even.
Financial Times
Bold, beautiful and bleak, these powerful reimaginings of ancient Irish myths and old folktales put women at the centre of stories that focused on male protagonists
Daily Mail
There is anger and bile, energy and urgency in the retellings. . . Ailbhe Malone brings together some excellent female writers and charges them with taking the ancient myths of Celtic Ireland and placing them in a context that shows the original female characters in a different perspective
Buzz Magazine
Author Ailbhe Malone
Narrator Aidan Kelly, Ailbhe Malone, Aoife McMahon, Clara Harte
Duration 8 hours and 9 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781399836234
Format Audiobook
Publisher John Murray Press
Genre Anthologies: general, Celtic religion and mythology, Fiction: general and literary, Folklore, myths and legends, Traditional stories, myths and fairy tales
Availability AU, GB, IE

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