This is a short read that is easily consumed in a single evening. It features a collection of quickly told tales, bookended by letters from the collector.
(Image) Poster of Folk Tales of the Wolf at the East Gate Bookshop in Devon, announcing the book launch on October 22nd, 2025.
I picked up this slender, recently released hardback just last weekend, on a special visit to Devon (I grew up in Lancashire, currently living in Switzerland) from the East Gate Bookshop in Totnes. Unfortunately, I wasn‘t staying for long enough to meet Chris Salisbury, the collector, for the book launch later in the month. It is, however, a beautifully quaint bookshop that favours myth and magic. I‘d be glad for an excuse to return!
Returning to the book itself… As a fairy tale enthusiast, many of the tales were familiar to me, though I was surprised to see an Australian myth with strong similarities to Rapunzel. Tentelina features a wolf in place of the anticipated witch, and the image of the wolf ascending Tentelina‘s long hair is infinitely more amusing than a haggedy old woman. The tale’s placement next to Little Red-Cap was not missed when the thwarted wolf complains of being unable to devour the princess with his brothers.
Other strangely familiar tales included the Flemish The White Wolf, a dreamy version of Beauty and the Beast with a shape shifting Prince in place of a cursed beast, with some plot beats that reminded me of The Snow Queen.
To speak of the collection at large, I found that the the female characters often suffered (The Wolf and The Toad, Salu’ah, Little Red-cap, & The Wolf Man), lacked agency (Tentelina, The Wolf Daughters of Airitech, & The Firebird and the Grey Wolf) or both (The Wolf-Bride, & The Enchanted Mill). The tales in this collection aren’t reimagined for the modern audience. Red Riding Hood, or Little Red-Cap, is told quickly and functionally, unlike Angela Carter’s feminist reimagining, The Company of Wolves.
Wolf Mother, Wolf Daughter is a refreshing jolt of healthy female agency in the middle of the anthology, and though I was saddened by the duo’s return to civilization, I enjoyed the unangry bewilderment of the villagers upon learning that the ‘other’ has existed peacefully amongst them, unknown, for decades. I also enjoyed The She-wolf Within for similar reasons.
One tale that was new to me was Two Hungry Wolves. Of course I know the memes, but I had never read the myth behind it. Probably because of the memes, I was surprised to see such a heartfelt, meaningful short story at its core.
My favourite tale in the collection probably depends on how my week is going, but currently I’d have to highlight Secrets and Songs, and probably not for the best reasons. It could easily be read as a tale of the effort required for free speech. To speak with the woman, the wolf must goes hungry. Sounds like a strong allegory for modern art..
In the lead up to this spontaneous holiday purchase, I was reading Stolen—an 18+ werewolf romance by Canadian author, Kelley Armstrong.
You can discover a list of my own wolfish book recommendations here: The Best Dogs in Fiction.
Of course, I recommend subscribing to the Beyond The Spine blog below! There are certainly more wolf-adjacent book reviews in its future, including my review of the finale to Robin Hobb‘s Farseer Trilogy…
Recommend me (and other readers of this blog) your favourite wolf books in the comments!
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