Ordinary Wonder Tales

A journalist and folklorist, Emily Urquhart, explores the truths that underlie the stories we imagine and reveals the magic in the everyday in her essay collection, Ordinary Wonder Tales. She prefers the term "wonder tale" to "fairy tale" due to its suggestion of awe and narrative.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 15 December 2022
Publisher: Biblioasis

A journalist and folklorist delves into the underlying truths behind the stories we create, unveiling the enchantment woven into the fabric of everyday life. Emily Urquhart, in her insightful essay collection, challenges the conventional notion of fairy tales and opts for the term "wonder tale," with its Irish roots, to convey a sense of awe and narrative. She reveals the profound realities that shape our imaginations, such as the visual images we conjure when reading, the healing power of encountering a ghost, the glimpses of the underworld in art, and even the onset of dementia in a loved one. Through essays on diverse subjects like death, dying, pregnancy, prenatal genetics, radioactivity, chimeras, cottagers, and plague, Ordinary Wonder Tales unveils the fundamental truth: if we dare to look closely, there is magic in the mundane.

Weight: 318g
Dimension: 136 x 209 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781771965057