Asexual Fairy Tales Elizabeth Hopkinson, illustrated by Anna Hopkinson

Almost everyone knows the familiar fairy tale ending: the prince marries the princess and they live happily ever after. Or do they? Once upon a time, our ancestors were much more honest and open about the spectrum of human sexuality. Among the fairy tales and myths they told were stories of androgynes, neither male nor female; of women and men who resist sex and marriage for other kinds of love; of chaste romances, miraculous childbirth and bodily transformations. These are the asexual fairy tales you will find in this book. These tales come from many places: from Grimms' Fairy Tales to The Thousand and One Nights, from Greek mythology and Arthurian legend to the silent films of the 1920s and from Scandinavia to Japan. Retold, reimagined, and sometimes reinvented as new stories for the 21st century, these stories will change the way you think about fairy tales, and bring asexuality out of the closet.

Elizabeth Hopkinson is the author of over eighty published short stories. Her work has appeared in the likes of 'The Forgotten & the Fantastical' and 'Dancing with Mr Darcy' anthologies. She is the winner of the James White Award and Fairytalez Best Gender Swap Fairy Tale. Her novel 'Silver Hands' is a re-imagining of 'The Handless Maiden' set in the Golden Age of Sail. She is currently working on a trilogy about a castrato and a bird charmer and a stand-alone novel based on 'The Ice Queen and the Mer-King'.