num_pages: 176
description: The Maid of the North weaves together tales about a woman's right to freedom of will and choice. In this collection of mostly nineteenth-century folk and fairy tales, Ethel Johnston Phelps's heroines successfully portray women as being spirited, courageous and smart. This type of heroine is not easily found in most collections; in most traditional folk and fairy tales we encounter women are portrayed as being good, obedient, submissive, and, of course, beautiful. These women and girls are resourceful; they take action to solve a problem and use cleverness or shrewd common sense to solve the dilemmas they face.The tales themselves are part of an oral tradition that document a generation according to the values of the time. Phelps has given these older tales a fresh, contemporary retelling for a new generation of readers, young and old. She shapes each story, adding or omitting details to reflect her sense of a feminist folk or fairy tale. The twenty-one tales collected represent a wide variety of countries; approximately seventeen ethnic cultures from North America to Europe to Asia tell a story in which women play a leading or crucial role in the story.
language: English
title: The Maid of the North: Feminist Folk Tales from Around the World
titlecomplete: The Maid of the North: Feminist Folk Tales from Around the World
genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Folk Tales, Young Adult, Feminism, Childrens, Mythology, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Folklore
ratings_count: 258
series: Feminist Folk Tales from Around the World
publisher: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston