Skin Folk

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The stories in this collection, originally published in 2001, are united by their interest in spirits and shapeshifters, fairy tales and folktales, strong and sometimes fearsome women, and people who have somehow gotten away from their true selves, led away from their traditions, cultures, and even their own bodies by the pressures of a white supremacist capitalist patriarchal culture. The stories are gripping, fast-paced, and an enervating mix of eerie, sexy, and empowering. Some are written in Carribbean English, others in Canadian or US American English; the folklore that Hopkinson reimagines is similarly multicultural, with riffs on Bluebeard, Dry Bone, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Lugahoo and Soucouyant, among others, all making appearances.

Hopkinson’s style is in some ways heavy handed, with the motifs and themes of each story threaded through at every available opportunity. If the story works on/around the idea of bones, or eggs, or electricity, for example, then the language and imagery of bones, or eggs, or electricity was omnipresent. This stylistic choice may be in the tradition of science fiction writing—I haven’t read enough to really be sure—and while it did sometimes take me out of the story as a reader, this was less because I was irritated with the style and more because I found myself thinking how useful these stories would be for teaching high school or college students about how to read for motif, theme, and conceit.

Skin Folk was an intriguing, thought-provoking delight to read, inspiring questions within me about all the versions of a self there are within each person, and how to be the truest version of myself.

Subjects this book includes which some readers may be sensitive to: Kidnap, attempted assault, homophobia, death.