DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST
Book I of the Sevenwaters Trilogy 
By Juliet Marillier
Voyager (Harper Collins) - 2000 -
ISBN: 0002247364 – Trade Paperback
Fantasy

Reviewed by: Rachel Hyde, MyShelf.Com
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In a Celtic twilight world that also owes much to Grimm’s fairy tales Lord Colum of Sevenwaters does an unwise thing when he marries the Evil Lady Oonagh.  He has six sons and a seventh child who is a daughter, named Sorcha, who should have been the seventh son of a seventh son..  When her father and brothers fall under Lady Oonagh’s spell she must go forth in an attempt to save them.  Once in the forest she is captured by enemies and must pay a terrible price to save her family.

This is a fairy tale for adults set in a dark and deadly world of enchantment where the price for survival is high and suffering is very much a part of daily life.  If you enjoyed the intense, tortuous spell weavings of Marion Zimmer Bradley then you will enjoy this one.  It could have been better paced, as it tended to flag somewhat in the middle when the story was treading water rather than introducing new elements and the odd more cheerful moment might have lightened the gloom and made the ambience less of a monotone.  Telling the tale in the first person voice of Sorcha certainly gets the reader inside her head but it might have also been interesting to find out what made some of the other characters tick.  But the story is certainly involving, romantic, compelling and unusual.  One that stays in the mind after the book has been read.  It will be interesting to see what new elements are introduced in the second part of the trilogy.

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