The following review was contributed by PAULA BARDELL

In ""Straying From the Path"", Rie Sheridan attempts – 'with the aid of a modern looking glass' - to explore the underlying emotions and motives of traditional fairy tales; those dark little accounts of jealousy, cruelty, fear, loss and vengeance,so popular with children.

There are rumors that / the test was fixed. / That the prince slipped / so much hardware / in between the mattresses / that an imbecile / could have felt the lumps. / (‘PeaSoup’)

Evil stepmothers and sibling rivalries are the stuff of classic fairy tales - familiar emotional currency of both childhood and the child that lives on within the adult. These archetypal narratives (found throughout Europe and many parts of Asia)are essentially a group of stories focused on magical tests, quests and transformations. Surprisingly, the term ‘fairy tale’ only materialised in the 18th century, almost certainly as a translation of the French ""Contes des Fées"", the title of a book by Madame d’Aulnois, published in 1689 and translated into English the following year. It is possible to identify fairy tales by their plots, which should stick to a standard basic pattern, conveniently classified by Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson in ""The Types of the Folktale"" (1961). Their function is to be oral entertainment for adults as well as children, and the telling of them is a skilled art.

Rie, a poet and fantasy author from Austin in Texas, has been much influenced by writers like Adrienne Rich, Anne Sexton, John Ciardi, Shel Silverstein and “just about any nonsense poet”. She tries to make her work accessible to all types of readers. Her poetry is simple and uncluttered, her stanzas brief and unadorned, but ""Straying From the Path’s"" apparent lack of sophistication could well be its greatest strength.

Rie has obviously enjoyed writing these poems and her desire to pique the reader’s curiosity in this age-old art form will, I believe, be fulfilled. Her collection should appeal to a wide variety of people and age groups, including those who sometimes find poetry difficult to understand, and could also prove a useful aid in the classroom.

Many of the best-loved tales are here, from Cinderella (‘Setting Straight the Record’) to Hansel and Gretal (‘Sibling Rivalry’) I had never / seen my / sister / happy, / until / I was / imprisoned. /

('Sibling Rivalry') and each poem has been illustrated with a pen and ink drawing by Rie’s sister, Donna Minshew, a pre-school teacher and Tai Chi instructor with a degree in Studio Art.

Rie urges her readers to wander “off the beaten path”, and plans to produce a follow-up to this volume in the near future. You can find links to all her short stories and novels on her website at www.riewriter.com - including a more mainstream collection of poetry, ""Dancing on the Edge"".