Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

Daughter of the Forest
by Juliet Marillier

Set in ancient Ireland, this re-telling of the Celtic Swan Myth follows Sorcha, a young heroine on a quest to save her six beloved brothers from a spell placed on them by their sorceress step-mother that has turned them into swans. The only way for Sorcha to break the spell is to knit her brothers six shirts out of a plant called starwort, that burns the skin upon contact, and never utter so much as one syllable until the task is completed. Left alone, with no one to defend her, Sorcha struggles to stay alive as much as to complete her task. When an unknown man finds her alone in the woods and takes her across the sea to Britannia, her ordeal is further complicated. She senses the first stirrings of love within her, but she cannot speak of it, let alone tell him her story or plead her case when the village priest relates her healer’s skills to those of witchcraft. Driven by love for her brothers and a silent courage, she takes heart and holds onto hope that she will be reunited with her family.

Readers who enjoy well-defined, personable characters, adventure, romance, strong female characters, and lush/descriptive writing styles will be sure to enjoy Daughter of the Forest, the first of the Sevenwaters Series by Juliet Marillier. In its essence, it is a novel about standing up to face evil against all hope, and the belief that good will always prevail.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn, Deerskin by Robin McKinley, Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop, Wolfskin, Foxmask by Juliet Marillier, and The Bridei Chronicles by Juliet Marillier.]

[ official Juliet Marillier web site ]

Recommended by Marie M.
Anderson and Bethany Branch Libraries

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