When she is kidnapped by enemy forces and taken to a foreign land, it seems that there will be no way for her to break the spell that condemns all that she loves. Indeed, it is the very fact that we, along with Sorcha, get to know and like her brothers, that makes the swan enchantment and the lengths Sorcha must go to to break it such an overwhelming presence in the story. Maybe I wasn’t the seventh son of the old tales, the one who’d have magical powers and the luck of the Fair Folk, but I tagged along with the boys anyway, and they loved me and raised me as well as a bunch of boys could. Whether you’re a lover of animals and nature, history and spirituality, some wonderfully otherworldly fae, or just a classic story of perseverance being rewarded, you will find this a journey worth taking.

But things soon change when an enchantress enters their lives, and Sorcha’s brothers are transformed into swans. Marillier does not spare us details, either of the assault itself, Sorcha’s feelings, both physical and mental during it, and the profound impact it has on Sorcha afterwards, including her near phobia of men and her sense of shame and resentment. On the way to the pyre she is visited by the swans, throws the shirts over their necks, and her brothers are saved, although one retains a swan wing where the final shirt sleeve was unfinished. But the stakes were so high and Sorcha was faced with more and more difficulties along the way, that for a long time, I was conviced this would end badly. This rich characterisation also goes for others Sorcha meets later, from the man she eventually marries, to even friends and enemies she meets along the way.Yet, there are worse threats than the Britains, for when Lord Colum unexpectedly marries again, his new wife; the enchantress Lady Oonagh, wastes no time in beginning her campaign of malice and magic against his children, finishing by transforming Sorcha’s six brothers into swans. After decades as Ciaran's familiar, his story wins the sympathy of Padriac's daughter, the fierce Aisha who is visiting for the first time from norseland Xixón. As Fainne grows into a young woman, her heavy workload increases, leaving no time for anything but the practice of the craft. Sorcha never rails against the lot of women, she just gets on with things, follows her purpose and her faith, and deals with the path ahead with the skills she has.

In both versions the girl is married to a foreign king who protects her at first; but, unable to defend herself against accusations of sorcery and murder, she is eventually sentenced to burn. THE VERDICT: A great retelling of The Six Swans, full of atmosphere, conflict, and an incredibly enduring girl. They can only be saved by their sister, who must weave each of them a shirt from the fibers of a specific plant that the sister must harvest herself. Nestled safe among its guardian trees, hidden from the world by forces older than time, our home was indeed a place apart.I should have been the seventh son of a seventh son, but the goddess was playing tricks, and I was a girl.

Exiled from Sevenwaters and cast out into the forest and the terrifying world beyond, Sorcha falls into the hands of the feared enemy.At a certain point, another level of conflict is added when Sorcha has to deal with the Britons, the sworn enemies of her own people. Sorcha, the youngest child of Irish Lord Colum of Sevenwaters, loses her mother at childbirth, and is raised almost entirely by her six older brothers.

Lynn : Obviously I’m familiar with this fairytale but I think Marillier is doing an excellent job of fleshing the characters out. She also introduces a secondary story in the character of Simon, a young English soldier her family captures and tortures. I remember the pressure of Cormack’s hands on my arms as I gulped for air between sobs, and I can still hear Conor talking, talking in a quiet voice as Finbar’s long deft fingers went steadily about their task. Besides being a retelling of the Wild Swans (or Six Swans) fairy tale, Daughter of the Forest focuses on storytelling as a vital part of family life. A changeling can only mean one thing: it must be brought back to its home in the Otherworld, where she must strike a bargain with the Fair Folk to retrieve her baby brother.

I think buddy reading with someone almost feels similar to readalongs because your back and forth chat seems to make you really think about what you’re reading – which obviously reviewing does the same thing – but in this respect having all the notes written was really good – made me think I should do more note taking when I’m reading day to day.