Updated: Saturday, August 1, 2026
Ursula Wills-Jones’s short story The Wicker Husband first appeared in 2008 and has since grown from a little-known folk fable into a cultural touchstone. What began as a sharp, deceptively simple tale about loneliness and defiance has inspired a stage musical and, most recently, the highly anticipated 2026 film Wicker starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård. At under 15 pages, the story packs more emotional and social punch than many full-length novels. It remains one of the most quietly devastating pieces of contemporary short fiction.
Table of Contents
The Story at a Glance
In a small fishing village, an unnamed woman known only as the “ugly girl” lives on the margins. She is short, dumpy, one leg slightly shorter than the other, eyebrows meeting in the middle, and permanently smelling of fish from her work gutting catches. The villagers mock her openly. No one courts her. She has no family and no friends. Rather than wait for acceptance that will never come, she saves every coin and approaches the reclusive basket-maker with an unusual request: weave her a husband from wicker. Tall, strong, handsome, and kind. He must be perfect.
The basket-maker complies. What follows is both magical and unsettling. The wicker husband arrives, brings order and tenderness into her life, and soon attracts the attention—and envy—of the very people who once scorned her. The story explores what happens when someone rejected by society simply decides to stop waiting for permission to be happy.
Why the Tale Resonates So Strongly
Wills-Jones writes with the clean, rhythmic cadence of traditional folklore while delivering a thoroughly modern critique. Beauty standards, social cruelty, and the quiet violence of conformity sit at the centre. The “ugly girl” does not transform into a conventional beauty. She does not beg for approval. She takes practical action and claims the life she wants. That refusal to perform victimhood is what makes the story feel radical even years later.
Readers and critics consistently praise the story’s balance of whimsy and darkness. It is funny in places, tender in others, and ultimately sharp-edged. The wicker husband himself becomes a mirror: he reflects both the woman’s longing and the village’s hypocrisy. When jealousy takes hold, the tale shifts from fairy-tale wish fulfilment into something closer to a cautionary fable about community and cruelty.
From Page to Stage to Screen
The story’s cultural life has expanded steadily:
- 2008: Original short story published.
- 2018–2020: Adapted into a folk musical that played at festivals and the Watermill Theatre, praised for its feisty energy and emotional clarity.
- 2026: Feature film Wicker, directed by Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer, starring Olivia Colman as the fisherwoman, Alexander Skarsgård as the wicker husband, and Peter Dinklage as the basket-maker. Practical effects by Wētā Workshop. Theatrical release scheduled for October 2026 after a strong Sundance premiere earlier this year.
The film’s arrival has sent many readers back to the original text, discovering how much of the story’s strange power remains intact on the page.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Author | Ursula Wills-Jones |
| Original Publication | 2008 |
| Form | Short story (approx. 14 pages) |
| Genre | Contemporary folk tale / dark fable |
| Central Themes | Loneliness, beauty standards, jealousy, agency |
| Major Adaptations | Stage musical (2018–2020), Film Wicker (2026) |
| Goodreads Rating | Approx. 4.03 (based on hundreds of reviews) |
What Makes It Expert-Level Reading
Wills-Jones never over-explains. She trusts the reader to feel the weight of the woman’s isolation and the absurdity of the village’s sudden interest once she acquires a “perfect” partner. The prose is plain and precise, which only heightens the emotional impact. There is no sentimental rescue. There is only the woman’s decision, the consequences that follow, and the uncomfortable questions the story leaves behind about who gets to be loved and on what terms.
In an age still obsessed with appearance and social belonging, The Wicker Husband feels freshly relevant. It reminds us that dignity does not require external validation, and that sometimes the most subversive act is simply to build the life you need with your own hands—or, in this case, with carefully woven wicker.
Conclusion
Ursula Wills-Jones’s The Wicker Husband is a masterclass in economy and emotional precision. In a handful of pages it delivers loneliness, desire, social critique, and a touch of the uncanny. Whether you encounter it first on the page, through the musical, or via the upcoming film, the core story remains the same: a woman refused by her community chooses to create her own happiness, and the world around her is forced to confront what that means. Nearly two decades after it first appeared, the tale still feels necessary. Read it before the film arrives in October. The original remains the purest, sharpest version of this unforgettable fable.