Please join us for a night of scintillating conversations, engaging modern day versions of well-known fairy tales and a tankard of mulled wine. That's the invitation The Crones' Tales extends to you. Five women, each representative of her era in the women's movement towards equality, meet and share history, the etymology of words used to label women, and of course, their tales. You may recognize Mary Wollstonecraft in the character of Beatrice for she was unique. While representative of the Age of Enlightenment, she was a lone woman's voice. One that would remain silent for almost a century after her death. Margret is decidedly an American suffragist who resents the diminutive use of the term suffragette. Ginger comes from my mother's generation and tries to explain why they retreated to the suburbs to give birth to the 70s feminists. Those second wave feminists, along with their seeming contradictions, are encapsulated in Verna. Verna's daughter Chloe, however, is missing. Having been assaulted by her husband, she lies in a coma. And then, there is Florence, the youngest and most inclusive of them all. She must face the terrible changes that Beatrice has felt in the storm that's raging outside. This book is as much about feminism as it is about fairy tales and feminism, like any great movement, is made up of many voices. And like the movement, the women in this evening of camaraderie are quick to point out that they will not be silenced, not even by each other.
