The unifying theme of each section, besides the Sleeping Beauty story itself, is the presence of the rose. Goss’ structure is flawless there are twelve numbered sections, and each section is a point-of-view.
The most poetic piece in the collection is “The Rose in Twelve Petals,” which revisits the story of Sleeping Beauty from the point of view of each character involved: the witch who curses Sleeping Beauty, the magician who alters the curse from death to sleep, the king and father, even the spinning wheel, the tower and the rose. The images she creates are certainly vivid enough. And while Goss’ work is certainly fiction, her prose could be called a form of poetry. While the fantastical is always an element in her stories, it is often metaphor, or a subtle expression of her character’s rich inner lives that manifests itself in reality. Her fiction crosses genre lines and is therefore difficult to categorize. In the introduction by Terri Windling, which gives an interesting biography of Goss and explores her historical context for the way she writes, Windling says, “Goss is a travel guide across borders both real and imaginary: borders of time, of gender, of genre, of landscape, of culture, and of expectation.” In all sixteen short stories in her collection In the Forest of Forgetting, the setting, though often a fantastical place, is as vivid as the characters, many of whom are greatly affected by the places they inhabit.
So, in honor of good news, I’ve reviewed Theodora Goss’ short story collection, In the Forest of Forgetting. This will be my last workshop at Stonecoast, and I couldn’t imagine a better way to end it. Yesterday, I got an e-mail from our workshop leader informing us that this January, one of my favorite writers, Theodora Goss, will be co-leading our workshop. As many of you know, I’m working on my MFA in creative writing from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast program, a low-residency program which requires me to attend two ten-day workshops a year up in Maine. Got some exciting news yesterday, a holiday surprise of sorts. And here’s hoping everyone’s keeping well, staying clear of cold weather colds, which I’ll admit has always been the hardest part of winter for me. I hope everyone’s having a great holiday season, spending time with family and friends, finding time to sneak off and read when necessary for mental health, etc.
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