Skin Folk
Stories
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Skin Folk
Narrated by:
Bahni Turpin
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Bahni Turpin
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By:
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Nalo Hopkinson
About this listen
In Skin Folk, with works ranging from science fiction to Caribbean folklore, passionate love to chilling horror, Nalo Hopkinson is at her award-winning best spinning tales like "Precious", in which the narrator spews valuable coins and gems from her mouth whenever she attempts to talk or sing. In "A Habit of Waste", a self-conscious woman undergoes elective surgery to alter her appearance; days later she's shocked to see her former body climbing onto a public bus. In "The Glass Bottle Trick", the young protagonist ignores her intuition regarding her new husband's superstitions - to horrifying consequences.
Hopkinson's unique and vibrant sense of pacing and dialogue sets a steady beat for stories that illustrate why she received the 1999 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Entertaining, challenging, and alluring, Skin Folk is not to be missed.
Contains mature themes.
©2001 Nalo Hopkinson (P)2019 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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The folklore stories
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well, not for everybody
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Skin Folk gathers twelve short stories anchored in Caribbean mythos, each reimagining familiar folktales for modern landscapes. Hopkinson subverts the title’s implication of racial solidarity—“skin folk” in these pages are creatures inhabiting human forms rather than members of a color community. Through twists on trickster figures, haunted spirits, and otherworldly beings, she reveals how folklore endures well beyond the Caribbean, shaping diasporic lives and moral compasses.
Hopkinson’s collection weaves multiple threads that resonate across social and cultural boundaries:
• Folklore as living archive; stories transmitted beyond geography
• Diaspora and displacement; mythic traditions accompanying migrants
• Transformation and otherness; fluid boundaries between human and nonhuman
• Consumerism and body politics; critiques of fast fashion and cosmetic desires
• Community care; collective responsibility in protecting vulnerable members
The Stand out stories for me were:
The Habit of Waste
This story follows a young Black woman navigating a world where garments consume their wearers—literally. Hopkinson uses this magical conceit to dismantle fast fashion’s disposable ethos, interrogate racialized beauty standards, and probe the tension between societal expectation and self‐acceptance. Every vivid image—shrinking silk slips, ravenous frocks—underscores how desire can devour identity.
Snake
An intensely atmospheric tale of a haunted child and a basilisk‐like creature, “Snake” grapples with cycles of abuse and the village’s role in safeguarding innocence. Hopkinson situates paranoia and superstition side by side, asking who bears responsibility when monstrous acts occur. The story’s slow unveiling of collective guilt highlights how communities can both harm and heal the most vulnerable.
Fisherman
In “Fisherman,” a woman dons the skin of another but carries the heart of a fisherman into a brothel’s charged atmosphere. This erotic, same‐sex, gender‐bending romp explores the fluidity of desire and the power found in assumed roles. Hopkinson’s prose navigates sensual tension and spiritual longing, using the fisherman’s stubborn independence to challenge normative gender expectations.
Precious
“Precious” centers on a woman whose worth, compared to priceless minerals, is systematically eroded by a violent partner. Hopkinson lays bare the insidious roots of domestic abuse—how a loss of self‐worth often originates within the home. The narrative’s quiet moments of reflection become acts of resistance, reminding us that recognition of one’s own value is the first step toward liberation.
Hopkinson’s language is richly textured, borrowing rhythms from patois and Caribbean dialects while maintaining crystalline clarity. Her prose shifts seamlessly between gritty urban settings and lyrical dreamscapes, preserving the oral tradition’s pulse. Dialogue crackles with authenticity, and scenes often hinge on a single, potent image—a trickster’s grin, a spirit’s shimmer—that lingers long after the page is turned.
Skin Folk stands as a vital introduction to Nalo Hopkinson’s oeuvre, showcasing her mastery of blending folklore with urgent social commentary. These stories teach us about power, belonging, and the myths that both bind and liberate us. Whether you approach it for its cultural resonance or its speculative brilliance, this collection leaves you reckoning with the tales you carry—and those you’ve yet to tell.
Between Flesh and Folklore: A 3.5-Star Journey Through Nalo Hopkinson’s Skin Folk
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