So to rescue the stories from their ‘forgotten’ status, the writers have to bring something of their own, along with something familiar to us, to wrangle these tales into a form which is both understandable and relevant to modern audiences. They are also matched up with stories from their own region, encouraging both them and us to re-evaluate the places we think we know well. I really gotta learn that I don't get on with short story collections. I sort of almost enjoyed a whole two of these stories, and even they weren't good. I'm exhausted by stories about pregnancy and childbirth being the only Universal Womanly Experience and that's a core feature of the majority of these stories (and you'll never guess what core underlying trait isn't in the two I sort of liked). I outright had to skip one of them because while it's clear the author had been going for a voice of someone telling a story, it was just beyond infuriating to try and read either outloud or silently. I found myself just rolling my eyes and sighing deeply at half the book, which uh. I mean kudos for getting a physical reaction out of me I guess. I also hated the phonetic accents used throughout but I think that's mostly a pet peeve. Within these magical, ingenious stories lies all of the angst, horror and beauty of adolescence. A brilliant achievement." (Evie Wyld)

Some might find the style McBride uses here overwrought ('she's trying too hard' is something that I can imagine some might say), but it worked very well for me. I loved the sly humour, and I like stories that involve the fair folk, so this was an absolute winner for me. Hypnotic, disquieting and thrilling. A concoction of folklore, identity and belonging which sinks its fangs into the heart of you." (Irenosen Okojie) Johnson explores how a story came into existence. With dashes of surrealism. This was clever. And of course I enjoy everything Daisy Johnson writes (at least so far) Daisy Johnson starts Hag off with a story that poses the question at the heart of any retelling: Is it mine to tell? I've been working my way slowly through Fen and not wanting it to end - Daisy marries realism to the uncanny so well that the strangest turnings ring as truth. The echoes between stories give the collection a wonderfully satisfying cohesion, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I cannot wait to see what she does next." (Sara Taylor, author of The Shore)Meanwhile, the island watches this drama unfold – including the driver of a Jeep with tinted windows who seems to be shadowing the Steele family. As a storm gathers strength in the Atlantic, surprises are in store for the Steeles: help from a mysterious source, and a new beginning in the paradise that has become their home. At last all will be revealed about the secrets and lies that brought Irene and her sons to St. John – and the truth that transformed them all. The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths Kirsty Logan's books include Now She is Witch, Things We Say In The Dark, The Gloaming, The Gracekeepers, A Portable Shelter and The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales. She lives in Glasgow with her wife, baby and rescue dog. Some familiar ground is trod here. Naomi Booth invents a character in ‘Sour Hall’ who is plagued not just by a boggart (a malevolent household spirit of English folklore well before JK Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise) but by her own past trauma, a theme that is also explored in her recent novel Exit Management. Overall, Hag is a successful endeavour, in that it brushes the dust off some excellent British and Irish folklore. As professor Carolyne Larrington, the expert who wrote the introduction and chose the stories, says, ‘the last fifty years have seen a remarkable upsurge of interest in Britain’s traditional imaginary’. As recent examples she cites Max Porter, Sarah Hall and Helen Oyeyemi. Clearly folktales are having a moment, one which we can only expect to continue. One likes to think that dredging more tales to the present might inspire some of the writers featured in Hag– or those reading it – to explore the source material deeper. How Much of These Hills is Gold is a sweeping adventure tale, an unforgettable sibling story and a remarkable novel about a family bound and divided by its memories.

Some general thoughts: these stories are totally accessible even if you have no idea what they are based on (like I did), which I think is no mean feat. For anyone who is interested in the original folk tales: you can find them at the end of the book. Also love the queer elements most of these stories had.

Definitely one of the weakest stories in here, in my opinion. The grammar was a little all over the place, sentences that should have had commas but just didn't, so the flow was off. The sentence structures were so jarring at times, especially because I had to re-read them to figure out how they made sense/ In terms of the story, it wasn't the most interesting, nor the easiest plot to follow. Skye is a single mother working in a small town in Scotland as an archeologist. She is the talk of the town as no one knows who the father of her baby is and she keeps it a secret as well. When the baby's father comes to get the baby exactly six months after the baby, Muir was born, Skye can't stop him. After that the baby, Muir starts to spend six months with his mother and six months with his father until one day, he decides that he wants to spend all his time with his mother.