White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link

 

In this anthology of seven stories, Kelly Link takes fairy tales and modernizes them with characters searching for what will make their lives complete.  My favorite story was The Lady And The Fox about a man who had been entranced by a fairy lady and the human woman who broke the spell.  The longest story is the last one, Skinder's Veil about a cottage in the remote Maine woods where visitors must be admitted all except the one who owns the cottage.  

Kelly Link is known as an editor and author.  She also owns a bookstore with her husband.  She specializes in fantasy and says that the reader knows going in that they will be asked to imagine a world different from what they know.  She has won various awards.  Best known for her short stories, she wrote her first novel in 2024.  The characters in these stories will make the reader imagine how things could be different and how we can make the world around us over to our choosing.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.