McKinley's retelling of Charles Perrault's "Donkeyskin," a tale that is often left out of compilations of his fairy tales due to its rather horrific subject matter: incestuous rape. Here, though, McKinley takes the story and expands it, wraps it in a dreamlike world with a faint yet pulsing mythology, all the while refusing to gloss over the more horrid bits. Instead, she illuminates evil and gives it its deserved end; but there is no tidying up, no bow-tied ending. This is pungent, beautiful writing that allows themes to develop without being heavy-handed. Lovely.