Today I want to share with you a rather wonderful collection of short stories which came my way recently. The book is entitled “True North” by Sara Maitland, and it’s released by an indie publisher who’s made regular appearances on the Ramblings – Comma Press. I’ve covered a number of their city-focused anthologies as well as releases by M. John Harrison. However, Maitland is an author new to me and I must admit that I was a little intrigued when Comma approached me about the book.

Sara Maitland has been publishing regularly since her first novel in 1978. She’s written many novels, numerous short story collections, and also produces non-fiction. “True North” is an interesting collection of her short stories, something of a ‘best of’ which serves as a brilliant way to discover to her work. The stories to be included were chosen by friends, colleagues and family members, and it comes with an introduction from her friend, Richard Coles. Containing stories covering the span of her writing career, the collection has an interesting range of topics, too, with a focus on myths and fairy tales, as well as women’s lives and loves.

The book opens with “Moss Witch“, the title of one of her collections, and a striking tale about what happens when humans fail to understand the dangers of nature; “Her Bonxie Boy” deals with the relationship between humans and wild creatures; and “Why I Became a Plumber” delves humorously into the breakup of a marriage, and the fanciful encounter which follows it. Myths are subverted too, with “Andromeda” exploring the Greek myth from the point of view of a woman given no choice about her place in the world; “Rapunzel Revisited” and “Hansel and Gretel” are two touching stories which explore what happens to fairy tale characters after the narrative we know finishes.

Historical stories are here as well; “Claudia Procula Writes a Letter” looks at a significant world event from the point of view of someone who’s just bored with her surroundings; and “The Edwardian Tableau” witnesses a woman risking her future to stand by the views she believes in. Maitland is very good at human relationships as well, with “The Eighth Planet” in particular capturing the nuances of a couple’s gradual growth apart, with the realisation that it might not take much to get them back into sympathy again, although the moment may have passed.

The title story is a dark one, again drawing on a kind of mythological setting where an old woman and a young woman live together in relative harmony in a bleak, isolated landscape. The arrival of a young man will throw things out of balance, and the ending is stark, unpleasant and dramatic.

I have to say that I think Maitland writes beautifully; her prose is elegant, she captures character and place vividly and manages to compress so much into each tale – always the sign of a great short story writer in my view. Her setting can be the wilds of the north or hotter climes; fantasy lands or legendary countries; but they’re all wonderfully drawn. Her main characters are female, whether fairy tale princess or ordinary woman, and each tells her story from an angle which we might not expect. Quirky, thought-provoking and sometimes challenging, many of these stories recast the traditional myths and make you look again at a story you thought you knew well.

Running through the stories is a deep understanding of, and reverence for, the natural world. Whether tree, moss or creature, everything has a part to play. Maitland’s world, however, is one where nature really is red in tooth and claw (whether human or animal) and her riffs on the fairy stories are more Grimm than Disney! “True North” was a thoroughly enjoyable and very immersive book; each story stood out and it was interesting to see the list at the back of who had chosen which story to be included. Despite being drawn from a lifetime’s work, there was a coherence about the narrative voice, an individual and distinctive tone from an expert storyteller. Maitland’s stories will stay with me, and I *am* keen to read more of her work.

(Review copy kindly provided by Comma Press, for which many thanks! Comma also publish Maitland’s collection “Moss Witch”, and her work features in a number of their anthologies)