Here’s an interesting modern retelling of the fairytale from Middle Europe. There are probably no wolves in the woods of Maine, but there are sometimes coyotes, and that can be quite scary enough. AMISH RED RIDING HOOD follows Scarlett Schrock, in an unusual tale of the Plain people hunting for supper.

The oddest part for me is an Amish girl named Scarlett. The competent young woman lives with her mother, since her father died out hunting in the woods. At the time, the little girl told others that her father had been killed by a large coyote, but they dismissed her story. Even her kind neighbour, widower Jacob Fisher, doesn’t believe her. As Scarlett lives and works in Unity, Maine, the whole community is aware of her resolution to wear red in honour of her late father. They think she is prideful, stubborn, flashy and un-Amish. No wonder, they say, she doesn’t have a beau.

Nathaniel Raber decides that he’d be happy to court Scarlett, provided she changes her ways, drops her daft story, and wears plainer clothes. Naturally, Scarlett isn’t that desperate. She gets on with helping her Mammi and Grossmammi, fetching rabbit for pie by hunting with bow or rifle near her grandmother’s cottage in the Maine woods. She even brings venison from the occasional deer. But one night, after reports of dead farm animals are spread, a coyote howls.  

I love this adventure, which is part of the Amish Fairytale series by Ashley Emma. At the start, the author explains that she sets all her stories in Maine, and the Amish here have been permitted to wear red instead of orange while hunting. She also tells us that wolves are no longer found in Maine, and if they were they would be legally protected. So a coyote was her substitute, a predator with much the same behaviours. I hadn’t read any of the earlier stories but I’ll have to pick one from the previous five. Fairytale retelling is a great trope and we also learn a lot about the kind of young men who wish to court Scarlett, what their mindsets are, and why they would persist in asking her to change her ways. We also see Scarlett find out who her real friends are, and we learn to believe someone’s actions instead of words if they might be lying.

The original Red Riding Hood is a cautionary tale, but AMISH RED RIDING HOOD makes the girl the huntress instead of the victim. I was more than happy with the outcome of the romance.