Women Who Run With the Wolves

Years ago I joined a book club that met monthly to discuss Clarissa Pinkola Estes book Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype one chapter at a time. I think we met three times before the group fell apart and I pushed the book aside. I recently noticed it on my shelf and decided to finish it.

Pinkola Estes looks at different legends and stories about women throughout different cultures and dissects their meaning, explaining what can be learned from each tale. Though the back of the book labels it psychology, it is almost like a literary self-help book. It doesn't read that way, but Pinkola Estes points out not only problems for women that are perpetuated by our culture but solutions, or rather suggestions for how women can unleash the wildness inside them. I enjoyed the book, but almost wish I would have read a chapter per month as I had with the book club to let each section sink in before moving to the next. It's an enjoyable, interesting book that would particularly appeal to women who feel restless or unsatisfied with their life, as well as anyone interested in old myths and their meanings.