A really enjoyable collection of poetry, based around a number of different fairy tales. While not as overtly feminist and confronting as Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, for instance (Sexton's retellings certainly stay closer to the original or the Grimm versions than "The Company of Wolves" does) they're still distinctly modernised, often working around the fairy tale theme with contemporary allusions and imagery. Sexton's use of language in this way is sometimes startling, but that's part of the charm, I think. And while I like all of the poems - the collection's a pleasure to read - I think my favourite is "Briar Rose", the Sleeping Beauty retelling: "Consider / a girl who keeps slipping off, / arms limp as old carrots, / into the hypnotist's trance, / into a spirit world / speaking with the gift of tongues..."