Stone Soup by Paula Rego and Cas Willing

Uncountable variations already exist of this tale of supposed Portuguese origins, with popular retellings coming from China and Ireland and ‘Nail Soup’ and ‘Axe Soup’ variations from Scandinavia and the Baltics. What then, could be left to do with the folktale? Well a lot, it would seem. The combination of Rego’s powerful illustrations and a complete overhaul of the protagonist’s role allows for a fresh and unique look at the tale. The painter’s inks and watercolours create a highly evocative world of wiggling sea creatures, starved dogs, mythological horses and women and men scaled up and down according to their behaviour and relationships.

Mother and daughter team Rego and Willing have turned the classic idea of the wise man (or trickster) manipulating the shrewish woman or innocent girl on its head.  Their female protagonist is sent to find food, still a child. Having no luck, her father decides to sexualise her and we see the girl dressed in red, begging around the village from tiny roving-eyed men. In the end it is the girl herself who comes up with the idea to make ‘stone soup’ and it miraculously appears by way of chillies, cabbage, butter and paprika sausage. This story, however, is not about the soup at all but the journey of one girl from childhood to womanhood and of learning to survive in the harsh but magical sun-baked world of Rego’s imagination. [Sacha Waldron]