Jackalope Wives & Other Stories

Amazing Stories Full of Feeling

First we need to establish that T. Kingfisher is a pen-name for the Hugo-Award winning author and illustrator Ursula Vernon. The second thing we need to establish is that she is a master story-teller.

“Jackalope Wives” is an anthology of such great stories that was published in 2017. These stories range from the warm and uplifting tale that gives the book its title, to a dark story of a slaughter house fairy that makes things out of meat that then go walking or flying out the door.

These tales usually feature women, often old and infirm women, that choose to do the things that need to be done. They often have animal friends or make such friends along the way. The stories are more often heartwarming than chilling, and are uniformly amazing. They sometimes feature Native American or other folklore, but sometimes God and the Devil show up in person.

If I had to compare these tales to others I have read, I would probably say they reminded me of Kelly Link’s stories. They are a treasure that you should discover for yourself.