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Daughter of the Forest
Daughter of the Forest is an historical fantasy novel by Juliet Marillier first published in 1999. It is loosely based on the legend of the Children of Lir and "The Six Swans" (a story that has many versions, including one by the Brothers Grimm). A girl (Sorcha) must sew six shirts from a painful nettle plant in order to save her brothers from a witch's enchantment, remaining completely mute until the task is finished. Falling in love complicates her mission.
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. She is more or less ignored by her father. When her father's new wife, the Lady Oonagh, attacks Sorcha and her brothers, Sorcha alone is able to escape. Sorcha's brothers, however, are turned into swans.
What follows is a twist on the classic tale of "The Six Swans". Sorcha learns that if she can spin six shirts from the painful starwort, remaining absolutely silent until the last one is completed, she can free her brothers from Oonagh's spell. Sorcha agrees to this and spends several years in the forest, hiding from Oonagh as she works on the shirts.
At first she survives in the Forest, relying on the help of the Fair Folk and her only companion—her brother Cormack's dog, Linn. Her brothers are able to visit her twice a year as humans as she labors on her task to make shirts out of starwort, a needle-like plant whose touch is poison and disfigures the hands.
One day, she is raped by two brutal men, who are led to her by the village idiot, who thought her a faery. They also kill Linn, and her brothers find her hurt and bleeding. Padriac heals her while three of her other brothers, (including formerly peaceful Finbar), go out and kill her rapists with the help of the Fair Folk.
After years of solitary struggle, Sorcha is saved from drowning by a British lord, Hugh of Harrowfield (a.k.a. "Red"). When Red returns to Britain, Sorcha unwillingly accompanies him. Red correctly believes that Sorcha has information concerning his brother, Simon, whom Sorcha had nursed back to health after Simon's capture by Lord Colum. Sorcha remains with Red as she continues to work on the shirts.
Though under Red's protection, Sorcha encounters a new danger in the form of Lord Richard, Red's uncle and the one behind the attacks on Sevenwaters. Sorcha must fend off the gross advances of Richard even as she continues silently working to save her brothers. Though she earns true friends in John, Ben, and John's wife Margery, the majority of Red's household believe her to be a witch, and they play cruel tricks on her.
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.
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Daughter of the Forest AI simulator
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Daughter of the Forest
Daughter of the Forest is an historical fantasy novel by Juliet Marillier first published in 1999. It is loosely based on the legend of the Children of Lir and "The Six Swans" (a story that has many versions, including one by the Brothers Grimm). A girl (Sorcha) must sew six shirts from a painful nettle plant in order to save her brothers from a witch's enchantment, remaining completely mute until the task is finished. Falling in love complicates her mission.
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. She is more or less ignored by her father. When her father's new wife, the Lady Oonagh, attacks Sorcha and her brothers, Sorcha alone is able to escape. Sorcha's brothers, however, are turned into swans.
What follows is a twist on the classic tale of "The Six Swans". Sorcha learns that if she can spin six shirts from the painful starwort, remaining absolutely silent until the last one is completed, she can free her brothers from Oonagh's spell. Sorcha agrees to this and spends several years in the forest, hiding from Oonagh as she works on the shirts.
At first she survives in the Forest, relying on the help of the Fair Folk and her only companion—her brother Cormack's dog, Linn. Her brothers are able to visit her twice a year as humans as she labors on her task to make shirts out of starwort, a needle-like plant whose touch is poison and disfigures the hands.
One day, she is raped by two brutal men, who are led to her by the village idiot, who thought her a faery. They also kill Linn, and her brothers find her hurt and bleeding. Padriac heals her while three of her other brothers, (including formerly peaceful Finbar), go out and kill her rapists with the help of the Fair Folk.
After years of solitary struggle, Sorcha is saved from drowning by a British lord, Hugh of Harrowfield (a.k.a. "Red"). When Red returns to Britain, Sorcha unwillingly accompanies him. Red correctly believes that Sorcha has information concerning his brother, Simon, whom Sorcha had nursed back to health after Simon's capture by Lord Colum. Sorcha remains with Red as she continues to work on the shirts.
Though under Red's protection, Sorcha encounters a new danger in the form of Lord Richard, Red's uncle and the one behind the attacks on Sevenwaters. Sorcha must fend off the gross advances of Richard even as she continues silently working to save her brothers. Though she earns true friends in John, Ben, and John's wife Margery, the majority of Red's household believe her to be a witch, and they play cruel tricks on her.
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.