Sometimes you have to read someone else's story in order to face your own. This book was that for me.

Diverse collection of stories (plus a few poems and personal recollections) by authors who understand that hell is for children and that you can never escape your childhood, only survive it. Many retellings of fairy tales. I read this over a long period of time, so I don't remember details on all the entries, but there was only one piece that I disliked. Most of the stories were of girls but there were enough of boys that I didn't feel like they were being ignored, as they tend to be when dealing with matters of this nature. Highly recommended for all "survivors." ( )

I'm a big fan of Terri Windling, and make an effort to seek out her anthologies. Thus, I got this one. I'd heard rave reviews of it - people saying "This is the one that made a difference in my life!"
I was a bit quizzical about that, because for me, that was 'Bordertown.' And for me, it remains Bordertown, although I can see why other people might need this book more. I was lucky enough to always be wanting to run 'to' - not having to run 'from.'
This book is on the theme of child abuse. It's kind of a rough read - not that any one of the stories is so particularly awful, but when read all in one go - that's a lot of child abuse. It's emotionally difficult. Terri Windiling's personal, autobiographical essay about why she chose to do this anthology is powerful, touching, and almost shockingly revealing.
As with any anthology, some of the stories are much better than others, but overall, it's a very good anthology.

Contents:

The armless maiden ;The hero's journey /Midori Snyder
Bedtime story /Lisel Mueller
Allerleirauh /Jane Yolen
Snow White to the prince /Delia Sherman
She sleeps in a tower /Tanith Lee
Briar rose (sleeping beauty) /Anne Sexton
In the house of my enemy /Charles de Lint
Fear of falling /Susan Palwick
Princess in Puce /Annita Harlan
The stepsister's story /Emma Bull
The session /Steven Gould
The mirror speaks /Jane Yolen
The juniper tree /Peter Straub
Dolls /Guy Summertree Veryzer
This is us, excellent /Mark Richards
Saturn /Sharon Olds
The twelve-windowed tower /Silvana Siddali
Now I lay me /Sharon Olds
Now I lay me down to sleep /Ellen Kushner
Reading the Brothers Grimm to Jenny /Lisel Mueller
Knives ;Scars /Munro Sickafoos
The pangs of love /Jane Gardam
Brother and sister /Terri Windling
The face in the cloth /Jane Yolen
Their father /Gwen Strauss
The chrysanthemum robe /Kara Dalkey
Watching the bobolinks /Caroline Stevermer
The boy who needed heroes /Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Wolves /Sonia Keizs
Wolf's heart ;The story I hadn't planned to write /Tappan King
Gretel in darkness /Louise Gluck
The lily and the weaver's heart /Nancy Etchemendy
Silvershod /Ellen Steiber
The lion and the lark /Patricia A. McKillip
The iron shoes /Johnny Clewell
The green children /Terri Windling
Guardian neighbor /Lynda Barry
The little dirty girl /Joanna Russ
Donkeyskin /Terri Windling
In the night country ;A matter of seeing /Ellen Steiber
Surviving childhood /Terri Windling
Dream catcher /Will Shetterly.
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This collection of re-imagined traditional folk and fairy tales is harrowing, painful, even horrifying as the layers of sparkles and pixie dust are peeled back to expose truths. These stories tell us about the terrors of childhood and growing up -- the lies, the abandonments, the abuses -- using the symbols and motifs common to these very familiar stories. Intense and powerful. I cannot praise this collection highly enough, nor give sufficient warning to those who are easily triggered by such accounts -- the retelling of The Little Match Girl, perhaps my least favorite of the Hans Christian Anderson tales, stays with me still in this new version that turns the pathetic original on its head.

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