I picked this up after an appointment with my counsellor when I felt like I needed a little treat for myself (of course ;)).

The book is a response to the famous “Hero of 1000 Faces” by Joseph Campbell. This is the book that laid out the hero’s quest, but which also only gives women three roles in myth: “one, to give men life; two, to be the one who receives [men] in death; and three, to inspire [men's] spiritual, poetic realization.” As historically in life and literature women weren’t allowed to go on quests, Maria Tatar looks at traits and actions of heroines who are heroic from the hearth -- from their own sphere of influence.

She looks at several tropes of female heroism: women who spoke truth to power, often at great personal risk, those who used their gendered talents and skills to combat an enemy, women who used their curiosity and caring to solve a mystery, and those who took on the form of trickster to achieve their aims. She looks at stories as old as the Tale of Gilgamesh, Scheherazade’s tales, many mythologies, and modern stories including Miss Marple and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, each time making the case that women in literature throughout time were heroic, even if it wasn’t framed that way when they were written.

Except for where Tatar derides The Hero with 1000 Faces for its obvious sexism (as quoted above), she does not take a red pen to the book to cut it down. Rather, her book is a counterpoint and foil, supplementing, challenging, and countering the hero trope so laid out in Campbell’s book, and opening the window through which to see our heroines.

On the topic of gender, the book is essentialist, with no reference to trans or queer Elliot Page is also deadnamed in the chapter which discusses his role in Juno (and the book was published after he came out, so it isn’t a timing thing).

But overall, I loved what I learned in this book and found it absolutely fascinating! I can’t wait to apply what Tatar has framed in books I read going forwards.