The Blacksmith’s Wife
The blacksmith’s wife was once a raven-haired beauty. They say the Faerie King himself lured her from her marriage bed, where her husband snored contentedly, and flew with her up the chimney to the Palace of Stolen Dreams. And there, on a mattress stuffed with lilacs, beneath a chandelier tinkling with babies’ teeth, he treated her to a long night of brittle passion.
So now, her beauty faded, she dozes fitfully in the crook of her husband’s arm, one hand on the cradle of her blue-eyed daughter, and she listens for the soft tread of the debt collector.
Very much missing my Sunday night fix of the BBC’s adaptation of Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Highly entertaining, but also served to remind us – and we do need reminding – that fairies never ever, despite their misleading name, play fair. Put a saucer of milk on the back step at night, then stay well away.
MJL Stories 
Yes, I thought of Strange & Norrell immediately when I read this. Brilliant telly, wasn’t it? Love the story, too.
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And now these past two Sundays my daughter and I have been watching The Outcast – utterly brilliant and fearless writing! Quite hard to watch even when I knew what was coming along having read it.
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Oh, I’ll have to look for that!
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Great story. I’m a bit reluctant to see the series, I loved the book so much, can’t see how a tv adaptation can live up to it. Why do faeries have such a bad reputation? 🙂
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Interesting! I usually try to read things first but couldn’t resist this adaptation. Will have to read and compare sometime – magic is often better in the imagination. One magical book I actually think is better as a film is Howl’s Moving Castle – but don’t tell the author!
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