When Amanda Leduc started working on her wild, spellbinding novel “The Centaur’s Wife” several years ago, she thought she was writing about desire. What she got was a book about desire, sure, but one that pushed boundaries, incorporating fairy tales featuring disabled characters, groundbreaking accessibility and a mainstream publisher.
Sue Carter, Toronto Star
It’s a book that looks at the fairy tale tradition, rips it apart and audaciously reassembles it. Yet even though it enters the realm of the mysterious and inexplicable, it is anchored to a persuasive naturalism In chronicling the drama of a small group of people fighting for survival in the wake of planetary disaster.
Jamie Portman, Canada.com
The Centaur’s Wife gets a starred review in Quill & Quire!
In her 2020 non-fiction book, Disfigured, writer Amanda Leduc explored the powerful, near-subliminal force of fairy tales, in particular “how the allure and the potency of these stories has continued to influence the perceptions of disability today.” Leduc, who lives with cerebral palsy and spastic hemiplegia, went on to posit a new approach to storytelling, which would prize difference rather than reinforcing conformity.
Quill and Quire
Disfigured is reviewed on Foreword Reviews.
Disfigured is a fascinating exploration of how disabilities are treated within fairy tales and of how those treatments help to shape social attitudes and perceptions.
Foreward Reviews
Disfigured gets a starred review in Quill & Quire!
Leduc not only mines traditional tales from the likes of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen but also analyzes the influence of pop culture on our collective thinking. She offers an illuminating look at the facial scars of Bond villains, the limitations of Disney princesses, and the more contemporary hero narratives found in the Marvel Universe. She also delves into areas her reader may not have considered: disabled people’s stories acting as “inspiration porn,” or common well-meaning but damaging refrains like “the only disability is a bad attitude” and “look what you’ve overcome.”
Quill and Quire