Daughter of the Forest

By Juliet Marillier
Read: August 13-16, 2012
Published: February 18, 2002 by Tor Books
Source: Library book
Category: Adult - Fairy Tale

Daughter of the Forest is a beautiful, painful fairytale retelling about the lengths that one young girl will take to save her brothers. Although I did not know the story of the six swans before I began it, it has since become one of my favorites.

This is the path. Straight ahead, Sorcha. You knew it would be hard. It will become harder still. 

Sorcha lives with her father Lord Colum and her 6 older brothers in a place called Sevenwaters, somewhere in Ireland surrounded by a forest that is enchanted. Despite her father’s constant war with the Britons and her brothers training to join the fight, Sorcha’s life is relatively peaceful and idyllic. Although she feels alienated from her father, she finds safety and protection in her older brothers, who will do anything for her. 


Then two things happen that change everything. 
Sorcha’s life will never be the same again.

That’s always how it begins, right?

The family:

Colum – The war-hardened, grieving father

Liam – the eldest and natural leader

Diarmid – the one to make you laugh

Cormack – the young warrior

Conor – the scribe and mystic

Finbar – the seer stuck between two worlds

Padriac – the inquisitive one and animal mender

Sorcha – the healer and storyteller

The first change to happen in Sevenwaters is the capturing of a prisoner by Colum's men. Sorcha and one of her brothers rescue him after a gruesome interrogation, and she becomes tasked with his healing. It's during this time that Sorcha learns that the world isn’t black and white. She loses her innocence in many ways, because she sees that her family is not perfect and realizes that those you love (and whom love you) can still do ugly things.

Second, Sorcha’s father remarries (Uh-oh, beware of stepmothers!) and her brothers are placed under an evil enchantment that only Sorcha has the power to overcome. Thus begins a journey that will break apart everything that she knows and loves. Is she strong enough to survive it?

“Why Sorcha?”…“Because she is the strongest,” said Conor simply. “Because she can bend with the wind, and not break. Sorcha is the thread that binds us all together. Without her we are leaves in the wind, blown hither and thither at random.”

When Sorcha's brothers are placed under a spell, she will do anything in her power to destroy it. Even if it means that she is unable to speak or utter any sounds while they are bound by the enchantment. Even if she has to complete a physically painful and debilitating task that will take months or years. Even if she can tell no one what she is doing. Even if she has to travel from home and come face to face with evil she cannot imagine.

Sorcha has an inner strength that is astounding. What she faces is heart wrenching and difficult to read at times. But she does not waver on her path. And amidst the agonizing trial and toil, she finds help and guidance. In the form of a beguiling fairy queen. In an unlikely savior turned protector. In her brothers who are willing to give up their wellbeing to save hers. These pockets of goodness weave throughout the story, creating a beautiful tale. 

Our love wraps you like a blanket. Our strength is yours, and yours keeps our hope alive.

One of my favorite things about this book is the relationship between Sorcha and her brothers. I love that the author took time to develop them individually and give them each strengths and weaknesses. I love that Sorcha would do anything for them and they for her. Of course I do have my favorites, and Finbar stole my heart from the beginning. I especially loved the relationship that he had with his sister. I found his story to be nearly as emotional as Sorcha's. 

“Real life is not quite as it is in stories. In the old tales, bad things happen, and when the tale has unfolded and come to its triumphant conclusion, it is as if the bad things had never been. Life is not as simple as that, not quite.”

I love this quote. It exactly sums up Daughter of the Forest for me. This is a fairy tale. But it also speaks truth about life. About how once you go forward, you cannot go back to the beginning, because things are never the same again. I felt that for Sorcha and the other characters of within the story. No matter what she accomplishes, in the end, her life and that of all the characters, is permanently changed. And sometimes that change comes in the form of wounds that will never truly heal. But underlying everything is in this story is a message of hope. To press on and not give up. That some things are worth it in the end.

Daughter of the Forest is one of those book where I found I had to go back and re-read the end multiple times to make sure that it didn't change. Each time I'd ache a bit and then breathe a sigh of relief. The story was an emotional read for me. I clenched my teeth a lot for Sorcha and actually cried at one point. 

A beautiful slow building romance is imbedded in this story. It is the kind of love story that sneaks up on the characters. It is quiet and confusing and lovely to watch. Although Sorcha is the storyteller, the two tales that her hero tells are by far my favorite. Pay attention to them.

The setting of Daughter of the Forest appears to be Ireland during the very early Middle Ages. I don’t know a lot about this time period (and I'm not sure the landscape is accurate), but the peoples described are real in history. And the book definitely reads as if it is an alternate history. One filled with terrible magic and the beautiful, dangerous Fey. 

Despite my love for this story, I did feel like there was a bit of an overuse of foreboding language as a transition. I think the story would have been just as suspenseful without it. 

A note on the content: Although this is a fairy tale retelling, and Sorcha is between the ages of 12 and 16 through the entire course of the novel, it is not classified as a Young Adult book. Some of the things that she faces are very difficult. Please use discretion.  

Rating: 5 Stars

Love Triangle Factor: Mild - this one's tricky because it depends on whose perspective you're considering this question from. There is really isn't a triangle, but the love story is very slow building.