This is a best seller in the USA, where it has been described as a sort of Iron John for women. But really it is better than that, with more stories and more analysis and a greater sense of male-female relationships.
Women don't actually have to be wild, according to the author, but they do have to do justice to their wilder aspects. The author is a Jungian and a storyteller, and both these facets of her abilities get full justice done to them. She re-analyses some of the stories mentioned by Bettleheim, and shows rather convincingly how much male bias there is in his work. She tells other stories that Bettleheim would never choose.
We get the nine tasks of women's initiation laid out, and the seven tasks that teach one soul to love another deeply and well. There are some genuinely helpful hints on how men can relate better to women. I personally found some of the stories revealing and illuminating, in a way which a more sober and prosaic explanation could never achieve.
In this book there is a real social consciousness, going much further than a merely individual psychology. The author writes, 'While much psychology emphasises the familial causes of angst in humans, the cultural component carries as much weight, for culture is the family of the family'.
There are chapters on creativity, and rage, and the hidden depths within us. This is a large book in every sense, and there is a lot in it. The book bowls along in a very readable way, and I think it is really quite inspiring. It is miles ahead of Iron John.
John Rowan
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