Folk
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Folk
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Narrated by:
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Penelope Rawlins
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By:
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Zoe Gilbert
About this listen
Dark, magical and unsettling, Folk is a debut of breathtaking imagination which introduces the remote, unforgiving island of Neverness and its singular inhabitants.
Take a torch, the last to be lit, and follow the jostle of fat, spitting lights as the men and women of Neverness spread out along the gorse edge. Every year they gather while the girls shoot their arrows and the boys hunt them out. The air is riddled with spiteful shadows - the wounds and fears and furies of a village year. The gorse burning will smoke them out, cleanse the air for another season's turning.
On a remote and unforgiving island lies a village unlike any other. In Neverness a girl might be snatched by a water bull and dragged to his dark lair, and Jack Frost can take his chilling revenge on a jealous sister. A babe is born with a wing for an arm, and children ask their fortunes of an oracle ox.
The beliefs and rituals of the islanders conjure their own dark spirits, flying with the red kites at night or stalking lustful boys through the gorse maze. While the villagers live out their own tales, magic always lurks, blighting and blessing lives in equal measure.
Folk is a dark, sinuous and unforgettable debut which takes place over the course of one generation of islanders. As each chapter unfolds, the folklore of Neverness is as tangible as its rocky shore, its deep woods and its gorse-prickled headland. In this world remote from our time and place, the tales of the islanders interweave and overlap, cloaked in threat, twisting fates and changing lives.
©2018 Zoe Gilbert (P)2017 Audible, LtdListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Folk
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marzie
- 11-02-18
Haunting, magical
A haunting series of interrelated short stories tells the reader the history of the small village of Neverness and its inhabitants who experience superstition, magic, love, and sorrow. The book begins and closes with a village tradition that is their own version of Beltane, a gorse-maze, and girls who shoot arrows into the maze for the young men of the village to find and be matched for a kiss or more. As the book opens, we meet the ill-fated Crab Skerry and at its close see the fate of the girl he had wanted to kiss, Madden, whose soul is woven by a spell with that of a soaring kite.
These are folktales about island folk, mixing classic British Isle fae entities like the water bull, similar to a kelpie, luring young women to a watery death, and simple people with their everyday lives on their farms and in a fishing community. Beyond the elements of familiar folklore, Gilbert has given us truly poignant characters with heartbreaking stories. Ervet and her beloved mawkins, Verlyn, a man with a wing, and his unrequited love for a girl named after a bird, Linnet. There are also images of memorable power like that of a boy named Finch, arms outstretched, covered in bees, green sap emerging from a scratch on his neck.
This is a rich an beautiful series of stories that read like a novel. Blending folklore and magical realism, it's a unique book to be savored.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Colin
- 29-08-18
Wonderfully unsettling.
A weave of short stories each with a deep current of twilight that tugs and builds as theses unique tales unfold.
Penelope Rawlings narration is finely paced allowing the understated disquiet to rise as the tales progress. Looking forward to reading or listening more of Zoe Gilbert’s work. Well worth a listen.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- louise vickers
- 12-09-24
Collection of meaningless tails
A collection of small and meaningless "folk" tails that have not link except they are on the same island. All the stories have no link together, and just ramble about. I don't always need a linear story, but this goes absolutely no where! I was hoping for a folk horror style story....this didn't deliver on any scale. The only plus is the narration is good! Don't waste your credits!
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Liz
- 25-04-19
Returned as the narrator was so annoying
I was hoping to love this book - new myths always appeal, but these were marred by the annoying voicing of the villagers. It made a light read simply annoying. I'd listened to the sample and thought it'd be fine... instead I had my teeth gritted through most of it. If the book appeals, this one might be one to read via text not audio
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3 people found this helpful