No Fair Maidens

This is a really important book, pulling on a half-forgotten golden thread of mythology from which we can draw inspiration and strength. Both experiential and scholarly research underpin Kim’s quest, and she makes herself open and vulnerable in a way which asks for a great deal of courage. Read this book – it might change your life! Brave, bold, authentic and true. * Fiona Collins, storyteller and author of Folk Tales for Bold Girls *
In her empowering and moving memoir, Kim Willis asks important questions about the relevance of ancient myths to the complexities of contemporary life. Along the way, she introduces a cast of goddesses and female warriors who once roamed the British Isles and whose stories – until now – have long been buried. I found it utterly compelling. * Jennifer Higgie, author of The Other Side *
Evocative, emotional and essential for any woman journeying on her path and seeking a sense of belonging. A triumph! * Jasmine Elmer, author of Goddess with a Thousand Faces *
This a book I will return to again and again. How do we not all know these stories of powerful women? I want to study them till they are in my bones. I loved the blend of a modern single woman figuring things out through these ancient stories. I was inspired by Kim’s determination to follow her own path - it makes me feel much less weird for always going off on different winding roads. This book will inspire a lot of women to live life true to them. A movement begins! * Marianne Power, author of Help Me! *
I loved journeying with these ancient, empowering, otherworldly women. Kim Willis is an expert storyteller, reminding us of the deep power and intuition within us all. * Emma Gannon, bestselling author of Table for One and A Creative Compass *
I loved this book. Memoir, myth and magic wrapped up together in a sweep that is as intoxicating as it is revelatory. This is a book that is simultaneously enraging, tragic and empowering in its excavation of the stories of women that have been lost – and which Willis so deftly seeks and recentres. How can one book utterly change my sense of relationship to the British landscape, and to its women, and to myself? Because Kim Willis shows beautifully, brilliantly, that these are the same story. That tales trammel the paths on which we tread, and that there is nothing more important than finding the ones that lead us where we want to go. * Emily Hauser, bestselling author of Mythica *
No Fair Maidens is a landmark publication in British feminist history. The writing is luminous: reflective and personal, funny and dead serious, and often very beautiful. Reading it feels like spending time with a thoughtful and passionate woman whose reflections open unexpected ways of seeing. Significantly, it reveals chapters in women’s history too long obscured. A book that reminds us that we have always radiantly been here. * Minna Salami, author of Sensuous Knowledge and Can Feminism Be African? *

Kim Willis is a narrative strategist and journalist based between London and South Wales. She has designed storytelling strategies for Number 10 and the UN, written about wild women in wild places for the Guardian, is the founder of ‘Heroine’s Journey’ speaker series, and is the Chief Strategist at global content and commercial agency Cedar.

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