Lilith Saintcrow was born in New Mexico, fell in love with writing during second grade, and has continued obsessively ever since. She currently resides in the rainy Pacific Northwest with her children, dogs, cat, and a library for wayward texts.
Her new novel is The Salt-Black Tree.
At Tor.com Saintcrow tagged five of her favorite "books in which mothers are allowed to be whole human beings." One title on the list:
Karrakaz — The Birthgrave Trilogy by Tanith LeeRead about the other entries on the list.
It’s no secret I’m a huge Tanith Lee fan. The gorgeous prose and arresting images are only part of the fascination; Lee’s work never shied away from shark-filled psychological depths. In the Birthgrave trilogy, Karrakaz is never reduced to “just a mother”, even in the last two books when the product of her unwilling union with an absolutely horrid, controlling psychopath of a conqueror is ostensibly the protagonist. Not only that, but Tathra—the woman Karrakaz leaves her infant son with for a variety of reasons—is a whole person as well, never degraded into the “saintly mother” trope even if she is clearly thrilled to be a mother.
Karrakaz starts from literal nothing, makes her way in a world where nearly everyone she meets wants to kill or control her, and her heroine’s journey is bothclassic and groundbreaking. She also wields a mean bow, carries powers beyond human imagining, and finally reaches self-understanding with the help of a psychic spaceship.
Lee did not have to go so hard as an author, but she always did. I like to think Karrakaz takes a page out of her creator’s sheer stubbornness.
The entire trilogy is laden with examinations of trauma, misogyny, women wresting bodily autonomy and agency wherever they can, and the cost of power both political and personal. Through it all, Karrakaz is a driving force even when she’s not present, and her choice to opt out of motherhood is explored unflinchingly.
--Marshal Zeringue
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