If ever someone should ask what my favorite book is, The Wood Wife is it for me. Also, I had gotten the first two books in the Brian Froud series that this novel had originally been a part of, but this one was packaged and distributed differently, so I ended up stumbling upon it while working at a bookstore. The first time I read this book, I was constantly amazed at the various points of interests were subjects I had researched myself and was obsessed by. I am an artist who has had deeply moving experiences while in nature. Remedios Varo was still a rather obscure painter at the time that I read this book. ( )

Maggie gradually discovers the secrets of the desert mountains and her dead poet mentor. Not lots of action, but wonderful vision. Combination of English folk-tale creatures and South-western mythology. ( )

“The night, blue lapis. The mountain, onyx. Saguaro, verdigris with a cooper dish of moon. The wind rustles dry mesquite. A coyote howls. A star falls. And the night cracks me open, with beauty sharp and poignant as grief. The night cracks me open, like a geode, exposing the crystal veins of God.”

I read this story at the very end of August, and in Minnesota that is the beginning of fall. The temperatures are dropping, squirrels are busy hiding their caches, and some trees are starting to drop leaves. Yes, we may still have some Indian summer left, but Fall has arrived, and Winter, that horrible and brutal force is just over the rise. As this story climaxes in the Fall, Allhollows’ eve to be exact, it seemed like the perfect time to read it. It was an unplanned, yet perfectly timed preparation for the change of season.

Terri Windling published this in 1996. It won the Mythopoeic Award for Novel of the Year. Terri herself is considered to play a major part in developing the Urban Fantasy Genre. She was also awarded the SFWA's Soltice Award in 2010, a life achievement award for "significant contributions to the speculative fiction field as a writer, editor, artist, educator, and mentor."

The book itself is both a love letter to the American Southwest and a delicate feminine fantasy of escaping the everyday and touching a world beyond our own. It’s lovingly written, interspersed with poetry, heartfelt letters, and multiple perspectives. I loved the intricate and thoughtful descriptions of the southwest – it’s landscapes, food, music, culture, and people. I’ve walked in the Tuscan desert and climbed scraggly hills in Phoenix and it vividly brought back rich memories. I asked Alexa to play the Eagles on Pandora while I read, and it was a great soundtrack to this novel.

If you’re looking for long forages into a fantasy world, this may not be the book for you. It’s a long, slow striptease and we are at least three-quarters through the story before we really get the slightest glimpse into the magical world beyond. That’s not a bad thing, Windling lays out an interesting set of characters and a storyline filled with little and big mysteries. The journey into the fantasy world is more of an event, than any lengthy part of the plot. This worked for me, as I fell for the characters and the mysterious plot points. What’s behind that locked door? How did Cooper die? What happened to Anna? I want to talk about the ending, but alas, no spoilers here.

A lovingly written spiritual, sensuous fantasy that slowly wanders through the plot like a lazy walk in the desert, admiring all the mysteries and beauty along the way. Not perfect, but Four and a half stars that I will round up to Five. ( )

ETA on 5/20/2019: it's even better the second time around. It's not a quick read by any means, but I love it. I don't reread many books these days, but I will probably read The Wood Wife a third time.

***

This was SO GOOD. I loooooved it, it's going on my reread list.

There was one off-colored joke about a character's ex-boyfriend wanting to wear her bras, though. That was unfortunate. The rest is just amazing. I loved how Windling wove Davis and Naverra through the modern art history scene, and also how she incorporated painting, sculpture, music, and poetry all throughout the novel. Absolutely breathtaking.

I highly recommend The Wood Wife. ( )

Captured me... ( )