“This brilliant book…belongs beside any woman’s bedside, inside any commuting woman’s briefcase for the surprising yet deeply recognizable truths about women’s lives that it so skillfully-–and entertainingly!—articulates. If you read this book, you will probably be moved in unexpected ways—I certainly was.”
--Elizabeth Berg, author of The Year of Pleasures

“Open Joan Gould’s lovely new book anywhere and you will find something recognizable, as relevant today as when you were a child. That’s the magic of fairy tales. Be wise, be strong, and grab life like the heroes and heroines in
Spinning Straw Into Gold.”
-- Nancy Friday, author of My Mother, My Self and My Secret Garden

“Taking the life of woman through her changes, from Maiden to Matron to Crone, Joan Gould has written a passionate song of praise for life itself. Her book is as nourishing as the fairy tales she treat. Spinning Straw into Gold rejuvenates us all.”
--Robert Fagles, translator of The Iliad and The Odyssey

“In this ingenious, wonderfully readable work, Joan Gould takes a long look at women’s lives from the point of view of familiar fairy tales and myths, tapping into the ways in which the themes of Maiden, Matron, Mother, Daughter and Crone are universally present in our thinking, though often out of conscious awareness. Spinning Straw Into Gold is at once a deep, yet thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable book.”
--Maggie Scarf, author of Secrets, Lies, Betrayals and Intimate Partners

“Spinning Straw into Gold” belongs in the company of the few books that give us what we recognize as true but haven’t the ability to articulate for ourselves. Like the Queen’s magic mirror in the story of Snow White, it shines, and what it says is not only right but essential.”
--Kathryn Harrison, author of The Kiss and Envy

“Beautifully written, deeply insightful, Spinning Straw Into Gold uses different versions of classic fairy tales and myths to shed light on the different stages of women’s lives. As much as Joan Gould uses fairy tales to illuminate women’s transformations in new ways, so too do those particular and profound experiences of individual women deepen our understanding of fairy tales in turn.”
--David H. Lynn, Editor, The Kenyon Review

Professional Publications

“Gould show(s) how the stories of Cinderella, Rapunzel and folk and modern heroines correspond to the real-life stages of women, from budding adolescence to wise old age, in this original, well-written book... While Gould concentrates on classic European fairy tales (the Grimm Brothers; Charles Perrault), she also examines fairy tale themes in Greek myths (Persephone; Psyche) and popular movies and novels (Pretty Woman; Jane Eyre)… With its smoooth prose and snappy fairy tale summaries, this book should have broad appeal.”
Publishers Weekly

“A non-traditional and challenging vision of how female lore passed down from generation to generation sheds light on the changes experienced by women through different stages of life…Exhibiting considerable scholarship, Gould examines various versions of the tales as they have been revised and altered through the centuries. Her own experiences and those of such well-known women as Eleanor Roosevelt and Florence Nightingale provide further examples of transforming events.”
Kirkus

“The virginal princess, the ugly stepsister, the wicked witch: through timeless fairy tales and their contemporary adaptations in films and novels, such caricatures have become deeply embedded in the collective consciousness… Assigning them real-life counterparts, Gould examines how such stereotypes influence a woman’s life as she moves from maiden to matron to crone… In an engaging and erudite analysis…Gould reevaluates the personas women adopt in real life and in literature.”
Booklist