![Where the Wild Ladies Are Where the Wild Ladies Are](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/wherethewildladiesare.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
Where the Wild Ladies Are
by Aoko MatsudaSetting: Japan
Genres: Fiction / Literary
Published on October 20, 2020
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback Source: Library
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In this witty and exuberant collection of feminist retellings of traditional Japanese folktales, humans live side by side with spirits who provide a variety of useful services--from truth-telling to babysitting, from protecting castles to fighting crime.
A busybody aunt who disapproves of hair removal; a pair of door-to-door saleswomen hawking portable lanterns; a cheerful lover who visits every night to take a luxurious bath; a silent house-caller who babysits and cleans while a single mother is out working. Where the Wild Ladies Are is populated by these and many other spirited women—who also happen to be ghosts. This is a realm in which jealousy, stubbornness, and other excessive “feminine” passions are not to be feared or suppressed, but rather cultivated; and, chances are, a man named Mr. Tei will notice your talents and recruit you, dead or alive (preferably dead), to join his mysterious company.
In this witty and exuberant collection of linked stories, Aoko Matsuda takes the rich, millenia-old tradition of Japanese folktales—shapeshifting wives and foxes, magical trees and wells—and wholly reinvents them, presenting a world in which humans are consoled, guided, challenged, and transformed by the only sometimes visible forces that surround them.
This is my first book for Women in Translation month this year. It is a series of interconnected short stories about ghosts in Japan. They are linked by the mysterious Mr. Tei, who recruits them to work for him in his company.
I didn’t realize as I was reading the book that each of the stories is a reimagining of a classic Japanese fairy tale. The original stories are explained in the back of the book. I wish I would have realized that that resource was there so I could have read the synopsis of the original first and then seen how they played with the theme in each story. It definitely added to my understanding of the stories when I read the originals.
I had mentioned that I want more books in translation that are fun instead of being super serious and depressing. This one fit the bill. The stories aren’t sad. The ghosts are coming into their powers and helping other women develop theirs. I’m not always a huge fan of short story collections but this one had enough connection between stories that it helped to hold my attention.