Where the Wild Ladies Are

by Aoko Matsuda
Where the Wild Ladies Are cover
Good Books rating 4.25
Short Story Collections
Technical:
  • ID: 427
  • Added: 2025-09-11
  • Updated: 2025-09-11
  • ISBN: 9781593766900
  • Publisher: Catapult
  • Published: 2020-10-20
  • Formats: 7
  • Reviews: 3
Buy online
Waterstones
Paperback • £14.99

In this “delightfully uncanny” collection, Aoko Matsuda blends feminist retellings with traditional Japanese folklore, presenting a world where humans coexist with spirits who offer services like truth-telling, babysitting, and crime-fighting. The stories feature a cast of ghostly women—ranging from a busybody aunt who disapproves of hair removal to door-to-door saleswomen and cheerful lovers—who embody jealousy, stubbornness, and other intense passions as sources of strength rather than shame. Matsuda’s work draws on millennia-old tales of shapeshifting wives, foxes, and magical trees, reimagining them to highlight women’s resilience and power beyond death. The interconnected stories reveal a mysterious company run by a man named Mr. Tei that recruits talented women, dead or alive, to serve in various magical and mundane roles. This collection challenges traditional narratives by celebrating feminine passions and the freedom found in embracing them, transforming folklore into a contemporary exploration of identity and empowerment.

Reviews
Soft Skull Press · 2025-09-11
delightful 4.50

The collection is praised for its feminist retellings of Japanese folktales where ghosts embody a variety of spirited women who provide both supernatural and social services, emphasizing the cultivation of feminine passions as strengths.

This review celebrates the book as a delightfully uncanny collection that reinvents traditional Japanese folktales with a feminist lens, featuring ghostly women who actively shape their world. The reviewer notes the creative and vivid portrayal of spirits who engage in roles ranging from babysitting to fighting crime, all while embracing emotions and traits traditionally seen as excessive or negative. The presence of Mr. Tei recruiting talented women—dead or alive—adds a mysterious yet intriguing connective thread, making the stories both engaging and thought-provoking.

Quick quotes

    "A busybody aunt who disapproves of hair removal; a pair of door-to-door saleswomen hawking portable lanterns; a cheerful lover who visits every night to take a luxurious bath; a silent house-caller who babysits and cleans while a single mother is out working."

    "This is a realm in which jealousy, stubbornness, and other excessive ‘feminine’ passions are not to be feared or suppressed, but rather cultivated."

    "With Where the Wild Ladies Are, Aoko Matsuda takes the rich, millenia-old tradition of Japanese folktales—shapeshifting wives and foxes, magical trees and wells—and wholly reinvents them."

Diary of Difference · 2023-11-15
refreshing 4.00

The book is appreciated as a soft spooky read with interconnected characters and a refreshing portrayal of Japanese working society through the perspective of female characters who challenge traditional roles.

The reviewer enjoyed the paranormal elements and the subtle connections between various characters, describing the experience as a fun puzzle to piece together. They particularly valued the depiction of Japanese workplace dynamics and the protagonist's perspective, which vividly conveys the challenges faced by women in a male-dominated environment. The narrative offers a nuanced look at female agency and talent in a setting where women often cannot openly assert themselves, making it both engaging and insightful.

Quick quotes

    "A lot of the characters are female, and I also quite enjoyed this – it brought what I think is a refreshing take."

    "Doing a job where you could put your talents to good use, where it was okay to go at things with everything you had, was wonderful."

    "I loved how vividly it was described and the point of view Kuzuha presented, especially during the end of the story."

Cleveland Review of Books · 2022-04-06
empowering 4.25

The stories challenge traditional misogynistic views embedded in folktales, portraying female ghosts who use their 'feminine' passions as sources of power and agency within a patriarchal capitalist system.

This review highlights how Matsuda's work reinterprets old folktales to create a space where female ghosts reclaim their power and find new lives, though these lives remain within the constraints of patriarchal capitalism. The ghosts harness emotions like jealousy and rage not as weaknesses but as strengths to fight for gender equality, reflecting a nuanced feminist critique embedded in the supernatural narratives. The reviewer appreciates the way the book cultivates these so-called 'excessive feminine passions' as empowering forces and explores the complex interplay between tradition, societal norms, and feminist resistance.

Quick quotes

    "Matsuda's story brilliantly challenges Eurocentric beauty standards while also exploring the tensions between western capitalism."

    "This is a realm in which jealousy, stubbornness, and other excessive ‘feminine’ passions are not to be feared or suppressed, but rather cultivated."

    "These ‘feminine’ passions then energize the ghosts to fight for gender equality in the world by doing things like intimidating sexual predators and babysitting the children of single mothers."

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