THE MAGIC OF MUSHROOMS: FUNGI IN FOLKLORE, SUPERSTITION AND TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
by Sandra Lawrence
Welbeck, £14.99
ISBN 978-1787399068
A beautifully illustrated, easy and entertaining read about the abundance of folklore, stories and superstitions surrounding fungi.
Reviewer Lia Leendertz is the author of The Almanac: a Seasonal Guide.
This is such a fun book about a fascinating topic. Author Sandra Lawrence has set about this obviously meaty subject with glee, and approaches every new chapter as a storyteller addressing a rapt audience. You can almost sense her rubbing her hands together.
This is no mean feat, as most of the entries are just a few pages long,, so beloved of Claudius Caesar that it was named after him, and is still found growing along Roman roads where centurions discarded mushroom remains; and the ‘Mummy's Curse’ that killed 11 of the people who first entered Tutankhamun's tomb, but now suspected to be connected to spores of stirred up on breaking the tomb's seal.
