Enter a mysterious, enchanting world where a handsome prince steps out of the belly of a cat; where a black horse blocks the night traveller’s way at every turn; where a vintage bottle of wine is presented as an aid to getting into heaven. This is the world of the folktale, and happenings like this are not unusual.
These scenes, and hundreds of others like them, are scattered through the narratives of the recently published anthology The Midnight Washerwoman and Other Tales of Lower Brittany. The stories, originally collected in the 19th century by François-Marie Luzel (1821-1895), have been edited, translated and introduced by British folklore expert Michael Wilson.
