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I first read this incredible book in March of 2010. Before I had finished it I had ordered all the books in the Sevenwaters series. Before I finished the series I had purchased every book Juliet Marillier had written. She is a storyteller like no other.

A friend of mine is reading Daughter of the Forest now, so I decided it was time to re-read it. I can not tell how much I enjoyed this re-read, and I felt I had to re-write my review. Daughter of the Forest takes place in about the 5th century in Ireland, a time of superstition and a sense of the supernatural This is a kind of re-telling a new version of an old Celtic "Swans" legend. Told in in the first person by Sorcha, the seventh born child of a seventh son, she has six older brothers. Not only was she not the desired boy, but her mother died shortly after her birth. Lord Colum of Sevenwaters, her father, is devastated by the loss of his wife and leaves the raising of this daughter mostly to her brothers. Although they practice the old religion, an old priest teaches the children in his cave not far from their home. Sorcha has a special bond with her brother Finbar, and they can communicate through the mind. She later finds her brother Connor can also communicate with her in this manner and is probably a candidate to become a Druid. The seven children have a beautiful relationship that is like no other I have encountered in books.

It is up to the reader to find out about Sorcha's beautiful, painful, and sometimes dreadful story as she follows a path perhaps destined by those of the "otherworld" as the forests of Sevenwaters are the home to entities seldom seen but who do exist.

Sorcha's first disruption from her happy life as a child is when a young Briton man is captured and tortured for information. Her brother Finbar comes to her for help in rescuing him and taking him to the priest's cave to hide him and to try to heal him. The priest then seeks Sorcha out for her abilities to heal as the young man needs help healing his mind as well as his body. When Sorcha is called back home because her father has brought home a bride to be, she has to leave this young man, Simon, who has come to depend on her. She is devastated when he disappears into the forest where it appears there is no way he can survive in the condition he is in.

I am only going to give one more part to the story. Sorcha's new stepmother is evil and the time comes when she reveals her power as a witch to Sorcha and her brothers and turns all six brothers into Swans. Sorcha escapes and encounters the Faery Queen in the forest who tells her what must be done to release her brothers from the spell. The brutal and painful task that is put on her will take a very long time to complete and would be beyond the endurance of any but the bravest and most dedicated. We follow Sorcha through a series of twists and turns that can not help but impress the reader with the bravery, determination, and courage of this heroine. For one night twice a year her brothers will become human again and seek her out and otherwise she will be alone. I cried more than once in this book, but it is a beautiful wonderful story. It is a love story in many ways, a family love and the love of a man and a woman too. I will forever love Finbar. I know I will re-read this book many times, and since I have read all of the series so far, I love them all - each is the story of another of the wonderful mystical Sevenwaters family and their world.

EDIT I am adding this as I could not resist taking up Son of the Shadows again for a re-read. I just wanted to add that throughout this entire series there is a thread of the "Fair Folk" weaving the story of these people's lives. The interfere at times and yet the individuals have free choice - to follow or to defy them and to change the direction of the weave. A quote from the next book, "Sooner or later , the Fair Folk would decide it was time: time to meddle in our lives again, time to pick up the half-finished tapestry and weave a few more twisted patterns into it. Which would they choose? Was one of us the child of the prophecy, who would at last make peace between the people and the Britons of Northwoods and win back the islands of mystic caves and sacred trees? Myself I rather thought not. If you knew the Fair Folk at all, you knew they were devious and subtle. Their games were complex; their choices never obvious.....Didn't it say something about bearing the mark of the raven? Nobody knew what that meant, but it didn't seem to fit any of us."...Liadan-daughter of Sorcha.