Of myths & fables

Zoe Gilbert's debut, Folk, is less of a novel and more of a collection of short tales that are linked to each other. All of them are set in the imagined land of Neverness - with its myths and folklore and superstitious beliefs. There is a map of the area at the beginning of the book.

'Prick Song,' the first story, is a coming-of-age tale with boys running through a gorse maze looking for ribbons that the girls had put in there earlier. Little Crab Skerry finds that not all mazes end the same way. Ervet of 'Fishskin, Hareskin' is married to a fisherman and has a painful memory. She is also a new mother, and there are a thousand issues nipping away at her soul - including a bossy mother-in-law.

'The Neverness Ox-Men' features an oracle in a waterfall cave, and the power of prophecy. Any prophecy. And Hark, the protagonist of this story, learns that a certain girl is mentally tougher than he thought she would be. 'The True Tale of Jack Frost' features bards, winter tales, and an encounter with a man of winter.

In 'Sticks are for Fire', sisters Bryony and Gertrude hear an odd tale from their mother, that of a fire and a burned down witch, and old secrets. Grandmother Winifred and young Plum of 'Water Bull Bride' must deal with an enigmatic visitor who turns up one day at their house… naturally, Plum is quite enchanted by the man. 'Swirling Cleft,' with its mysterious cleft and clawing mists, is a story of motherhood.

Madden Lightfoot of 'Thunder Cracks' behaves strangely during storms - and these storms are not ordinary. Little Iska of 'Earth is Not for Eating' thinks there is something wrong with her mother, but what is wrong is not what she thinks.

Music and a lost romance form the crux of 'Long Have I Lain Beside the Water.' Gentle Verlyn Webbe, who has a wing instead of an arm, finds that what he already has might be better than what he longs for and cannot have in 'Verlyn's Blessings'. What he longs for might be an illusion anyway. 'Kite' is a peculiar take on bird-skins and kites, and Firwit's struggle to make sense of what is going on around him.

In 'A Winter Guest', a mysterious, handsome stranger called Redwing comes to town. Clotha wants his attention and gets it – and finds that it is too much and she cannot stand it. 'Turning' focuses on bees and honey, and an old man and a boy, and their bond with nature.

And finally, Folk ends with 'Tether,' with a plot similar to 'Prick Song', only much, much later. Children of those who ran that gorse maze make an appearance here. Little Crab Skerry is also remembered.

Folk is without a doubt strange and whimsical. The writing style is evocative, although it does take a while getting used to the unconventional turns of phrase, and even then, it does take a while to really settle into the localisms and mannerisms of Folk. The narrative moves from first to third person, and at times breaks the fourth wall to address the reader directly. Some of these quips require patience and Folk has an abundance of subtlety - sometimes it isn't clear what the author was aiming at in a story, and at times, in dialogue.

This is by no means a novel, and yet, structurally, it is quite unique. For one, all of the stories are set in the same place, Neverness, and secondly, there is a sort of chronological order to the tales. Each picks up after the events of the previous tale have ended, also, a stray character mentioned earlier would become a protagonist in the next story. A hint of old tales and fairy tales run through it all - some parts are reminiscent of a Grimm's tale, and at the same time, the story being told would be original.

The characters in Folk are well-drawn- out. They have their motivations and their frustrations, and they are sea-hardened and attuned to the magic around them. There are sibling rivalries, romances, a need to let their spirits soar, and a desire to be accepted for who they are. Essentially, they learn to live in the dream world of Neverness, even if that world manages to startle them and give them a wing instead of an arm. And Folk is, after all, the story of fisherfolk.

Folk is also sprinkled with tiny ink drawings and illustrated chapter headings.

Overall, Folk is a beautifully presented book, very different from a conventional novel or short story collection, and it revels in its strangeness. And it is that very strangeness that makes the book and its world interesting to explore.