In this collection Mary De Morgan brings seven stories adapted from the older tradition of fairy tales, featuring both supernatural elements and didactic material. The stories in this collection are diverse in plot and message, from the question of vanity in “The Story of Vain Lamorna” to a criticism of industrialization in “Siegfried and Handa.”

Originally titled On a Pincushion, and Other Fairy Tales , this is De Morgan’s first collection of literary fairy tales.