Emilys story begins on St. Stephens Day, 2010, in St. Johns, Newfoundland when she gives birth to a baby girl named Sadie Jane with a shock of snow-white hair. Within 3 months Sadie is diagnosed with albinism, a rare genetic disorder where pigment fails to form in the skin, hair and eyes, with accompanying maladies such as photophobia and ......
A journalist and folklorist explores the truths that underlie the stories we imagine-and reveals the magic in the everyday."I've always felt that the term fairy tale doesn't quite capture the essence of these stories," writes Emily Urquhart. "I prefer the term wonder tale, which is Irish in origin, for its suggestion of awe coupled with narrative. In a way, this is most of our stories." In this startlingly original essay collection, Urquhart reveals the truths that underlie our imaginings: what we see in our heads when we read, how the sight of a ghost can heal, how the entrance to the underworld can be glimpsed in an oil painting or a winter storm-or the onset of a loved one's dementia. In essays on death and dying, pregnancy and prenatal genetics, psychics, chimeras, cottagers, and plague, Ordinary Wonder Tales reveals the essential truth: if you let yourself look closely, there is magic in the everyday.