Listen to me, Sorcha. No matter where we are, or what we do, the seven of us will never be truly separate. We’ll always be the same for one another. But we are growing up; and grown up people do marry, and move away, and let other people into their lives. Even you will do that one day.” Finbar,” I said. ‘What if—what would happen if someone else, say Donal or one of the guards, helped a prisoner get away, and Father found out? What would he do to them?” Young as I was, it had not escaped me that what my brother proposed was no mere act of childish disobedience, to be punished by a reprimand or, at worst, a whipping. This was no less than a knowing undermining of my father’s campaign; a willful hindrance of the quest that was his very reason for being.

Once we were in the stillroom, and both outer and inner doors bolted, I made Finbar sit down and explain. He didn’t want to; his face had that stubborn expression it sometimes took on when the truth was painful or hurtful, but had to be told. One thing neither of us ever learned was the skill of lying. As the days go by, Red and Sorcha gradually fall in love, though they are separated by his need to find Simon and her fear of men after her rape—as well as her belief that he only loves her because the Fair Folk bound him to her as her protector. While his marriage to Elaine, who is Lord Richard's daughter, draws nearer (engaged since they were children) and while Elaine is kind to Sorcha, Lord Richard constantly threatens her. One day Lord Collum, the father, decides to get married, and that's where the story changes. It is not just the beautiful stepmother getting in the way, for she is a witch, and she wishes to bear a child so this child can inherit Sevenwaters, and she will stop at nothing to accomplish this task. So, she casts a spell on the 6 brothers and turns them into swans, but Sorcha gets to run away, and so a life of agony, suffering and pain begins. Sorcha!” A whisper behind me almost made me cry out and reveal my hiding place. Finbar tugged at my sleeve, drawing me silently outside into the courtyard. When Sorcha is still young, she finds herself pulled into a plot by her brother, Finbar, to help a Briton taken prisoner by her father's men escape. Sorcha wants to help, but Finbar limits her involvement to making a sleeping draft for the prisoner's guards, afraid that any more involvement on her part will cause her irreparable harm. However, weeks after the prisoner's escape, Sorcha is called by Father Brien to help heal the prisoner, whose physical wounds are healing but whose mental wounds continue to fester.

There was a hush among the assembled guests; goblets paused halfway to waiting lips, and I sensed an air of expectancy, as if everyone knew what Father was going to say, except me. He hugged me for a moment, just long enough for me to feel the tension of his body, the rapid beat of his heart. Then he was gone, slipping away into the shadows as silent as a cat. It will be much harder in time. I could not tell if this thought came from my own mind, or my brother’s. It sent a chill up my spine. Daughter of the Forest is an immersive storytelling experience using shadow puppets and a life-size tiger model! From the forest world of The Jungle Book, and told using narrated legends and dramatic physical action, it is a story about the importance of caring for the world around us rather than exploiting nature for our own gain.

It becomes easy,” Finbar said. “It’s in the training; the ability to see your enemy as something other than a real man. He is a lesser breed, defined by his beliefs—you learn to do with him what you will, and bend him to your purpose.” He sensed my horror. “It’s all right, Sorcha,” he said. “We can save this one, you and I. Just do as I ask, and leave the rest to me.” This novel will delight and astound. An exceptional debut fairy tale that mixes romance, legend, and magic."--"Realms of Fantasy" Almost all of the mysteries are solved, except for their half brother (the son of Lord Colum and Lady Oonagh). Two of the brothers set out to find him, while Conor travels away with the Druids. The seven children of Sevenwaters thus separate to lead their individual lives. Liam stays with Sorcha in Sevenwaters, and Finbar disappears in the waters, leaving only a feather behind.Marillier is a fine folklorist and a gifted narrator who has created a wholly appealing and powerful character." -- Publishers Weekly The yolk of the sun is yet to start melting down the horizon over the Sundarbans - the dense mangrove forest that spreads from the southern shores of Bangladesh to the easternmost corner of West Bengal. A ship, an oil tanker, appears on the river, breaking through the wisps of fog. The ship is slowly sinking. Indeed,” responded my father in his iciest tones. “Your business must be pressing indeed, to warrant such an intrusion. What is your purpose? I have guests here.” The swans are coming,” said Finbar at last. He sat up slowly to rest his chin on raised knees. “They’re coming tonight.”

I thought about this; pictured Liam standing up for me against Father, Diarmid teaching me how to catch frogs, and to let them go. I thoroughly enjoyed this fairytale re-telling (The Wild Swans by, Hans Christian Andersen), this is not a story for the faint of heart, just a warning there is a rape scene, and this love story which to me is so secondary to Sorcha’s quest is chaste and doesn’t overpower the book at all. Sorcha’s quest will break your heart and it amazed me still even on re-reading/listening what a great strong woman she was. already here, so close; this means they have intelligence enough of our positions to pose a real threat to…” As for Padriac, he could turn his hand to anything, but his great love was to examine things and find out how they worked; he would ask questions till it drove you crazy. Padriac was the only one that could break through Father’s guard; sometimes you’d catch the ghost of a smile on Colum’s dour features when he looked at his youngest son. He didn’t smile at me. Or at Finbar. Finbar said that was because we reminded Father of our mother, who had died. We were the two who inherited her curling, wild hair. I had her green eyes, and Finbar her gift of stillness. Besides, by being born, I had killed her. No wonder Father found it hard to look at me. But when he spoke to Finbar his eyes were like winter. There was one time in particular. It was not long before she came, and our lives changed forever. Finbar was fifteen; not yet a man, but most certainly no longer a child. This novel will delight and astound. An exceptional debut fairy tale that mixes romance, legend, and magic. "Realms of Fantasy""

Sun 5 Jun 16

First published in 1999, Daughter of the Forest is loosely based on the traditional story of The Six Swans, which appears in Grimm’s Fairy Tales and has been re-told in many versions, including one by Hans Christian Andersen.