This book made me fall in love with folklore. Storyland weaves together retellings of British tales and the author’s own commentary, illustrated with linocuts. Jeffs takes the reader on a journey through medieval Britain, yet her focus on folklore means that the book is not bogged down in dry statistics; there is a richness to her writing that carries on into the commentary, meaning readers with little previous knowledge of the subject (such as myself) can access the book just as easily as an expert can.
I think my favourite thing about this book is how it balances knowledge and readability. Jeffs clearly knows the subject, and the book shows that she has clearly researched it in depth. Yet she manages to avoid being dry: the book perfectly balances being enjoyable and containing detailed information, so as a reader I was able to understand and engage with the book without feeling that I’d lost any information.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in history, folklore and the stories that run through the land.

I picked this book up to complement my reading of Wild by the same author. Storyland is Dr. Jeff's first published book. The title itself is an excellent summation of what the reader will find within the book. Britain, and all of the countries that made it up as a whole over the vast period of its existence, have a number of legends associated with them that still inform the culture of the peoples to this day. While some of the stories may be more remote now, they can still be read into the naming of the landscape, and the attitudes of the peoples who live there. Storyland collects these legends and folklore and breathes new life into them, that we may read them and see them once more.

The stories that make up this book are everything from the Giant's Dance, which later turned into Stonehenge to the death of Merlin, and the slaying of Gogmagog. There are stories familiar to everyone - such as King Arthur - and more remote stories such as that of Locrin. Reading this you'll learn how the Humber and the Severn got their names, and where the red dragon of Wales came from originally. The Mabinogion is well-represented, as are so many sources less familiar to myself as a reader.

The book is exceptionally well-researched, and dense, but easy to read. Each story is accompanied with a linocut illustration that is gorgeous to behold. After every story is an analysis of it, and a recounting of visiting the site where the story took place. How might the physicality of being there alter the perspective, or enhance it? How might things change? It's an interesting question, and Jeffs makes a fantastic argument for the stories being part of the landscape - changing, but only growing larger over time. It made me badly wish to retrace her steps myself.

This is a phenomenal book, and coupled with her second one, I can safely say I will read anything that she puts out. I can't recommend her enough, and I look forward to my upcoming interview with her.