“You will find the way, daughter of the forest. Through grief and pain, through many trials, through betrayal and loss, your feet will walk a straight path.”
Daughter of the Forest draws together fantasy and mythology into a sweeping tale derived from the Brothers Grimm. Marillier effortlessly interweaves folklore, fairytale and magic in a historical backdrop of pre-medieval Ireland and England.
Sorcha is the seventh child of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. With their mother dying in childbirth, she grows up with six older brothers who dote on their little sister. But, they are unprepared for when their father introduces his new bride-to-be, the devious Lady Oonagh. Almost immediately, their lives are uprooted and her brother’s lives are placed in the most fraught of dangers, unless Sorcha can save them. With nothing more than sheer determination and a bit of help from the Fair Folk, Sorcha dares to finish a cruel task and save her brothers.
“There is no good or evil, save in the way you see the world.”
Marillier is masterful at weaving mythology and fairy tale into a historical setting. Daughter of the Forest is a retelling of the Brother’s Grimm fairytale The Six Swans. Marillier uses this backdrop to push off into a 9th century Ireland filled with pagan mystery and magic, as Christianity begins to take hold and the old ways are receding. One of the things I love most about this book is the sense of mystery and wonder of the forest. I am transported to a world where nature in its calm is not always as it seems. Where trees, though silent, have a power inside them I didn’t know existed.
Being the historical setting Daughter of the Forest is set in, Sorcha is a precocious and wise-beyond-her-years character, who is also bound to the customs of her time. Finding a good marriage and bearing children are two of the main things women of her time do. However, Sorcha has her own will and mind. She is a healer, she is philosophical and often sage-like. I thoroughly enjoyed reading her views and barriers of the world she found herself in, and how she would navigate them to live a good life. Her tenacity and strength against adversity is a quality that I have always admired and sought to replicate in myself. As a socially awkward, bookish teenager myself, I took a lot of inspiration from Sorcha about how to conduct myself and find courage when I found things hard.
“Rather, there are as many truths as there are stars in the sky; and every one of them different.”
What more can I say, other than I love the Sevenwaters Series and in particular Daughter of the Forest. I have re-read this book more times than I can count. Every time I re-read it I am transported back to all the reasons why I love this book and it’s accompanying series. If you love folklore, magic and a bit of history, this is surely a series for you.
