‘The Witch and the Other Tales Re-told’: Thompson didn’t rebuilt, didn’t just retell classic tales

Imagine Hansel and Gretel not as lost children in the woods but as city kids in a terrible foster home. That sort of reimagining fuels Jean Thompson's 'The Witch and Other Tales Re-told” (Blue Rider Press, 256 pages, $25.95), an arresting short story collection. Thompson transforms old tales, rendering them at once familiar and surprising.

Among my favorite stories in the book is 'Faith,” a retelling of the Pied Piper story told from the perspective of a priest troubled by an arrangement his town has made with a stranger. Thompson successfully intermingles her retold tale with a reflection on the narratives that underpin the priest's very life. 'Faith” ends with a powerful moment that reminds readers that stories of all kinds abound, some serving good ends and others bad.

The book's final story, 'Prince,” is the story of a mentally ill woman and the dog she befriends. This is the only tale in which Thompson allows herself a magical creature, though the protagonist's illness provides an explanation for the pooch's powers of speech. The hauntings and vagaries of the mind are also central to 'Inamorata,” Thompson's take on Cinderella, and 'The Curse,” in which a father is driven to extreme behavior by words spoken of him in the past. 'The Curse” is a deeply affecting story about our often unsuccessful efforts to outrun what might be called fate.

'The Witch and Other Tales Re-told” is more than a simple rehash of stories we all know by heart. Thompson has burrowed deeply to find the foundational elements of these tales and built resonant new stories upon them.

Author Reading

' What: Jean Thompson reads from 'The Witch and Other Tales Re-told”

' Where: Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City

' When: 7 p.m. Monday

' Admission: Free