If you’re into folk music or murder ballads at all, you have probably heard at least one version of the classic ballad sometimes known as “The Two Sisters” or “The Bonny Swans.” The song has many variations, but the lyrics generally tell the story of one sister who drowns the other out of romantic jealousy. The body of the dead sister is then made into a musical instrument and sings out her accusation of murder. Amal El-Mohtar takes this ballad as inspiration for fantasy novella The River Has Roots, but flips the story to explore both sisterly and romantic love in a bite-sized tale with beautifully lyrical prose and a fascinating magic system. The book comes out next Wednesday, March 4.
These daughters they walked by the river’s brim
A hey ho and me bonny o
The eldest pushed the youngest in
The swans swim so bonny o
Esther and Ysabel Hawthorne live in the small town of Thistleford, where the river Liss flows down from Faerieland (or Arcadia, as the townspeople call it) with magic in its waters. For generations, the Hawthorne family has tended to the willow trees that line the river’s bank and fulfilled an ancient pact by singing to them, but these two sisters are especially renowned for the harmony their voices make together. When Esther falls in love with an Arcadian shapeshifter, she struggles to choose between the magical land that has always entranced her and her devotion to her sister. Then a spurned lover violently takes those choices away. But justice may still prevail through the power of love and song.
In less than 150 pages, El-Mohtar builds a truly fascinating magic system and drops tantalizing hints of the larger world beyond the limited scope of this story. In this world, magic is referred to as Grammar, and it is understood through analogies to language. Magic can be “translated” by the roots of a willow tree into a form usable by ordinary people. It can be “conjugated” into spells by the class of magic users called Grammarians who study magic at elite universities and exist in the background of this tale. Magic’s close relationship with language might also explain why the singing of the two sisters is so powerful, especially when their lyrics take the form of puns. The sisters frequently invent new songs or new verses to existing songs that present riddles and solve them using wordplay. Through these puns and riddles, the sisters exhibit a mastery over language—and thus, an innate skill with magic—that ultimately allows them to shape their own fate. The connection between magic and language can also be seen in such classic tropes as the binding power of promises and of speaking someone’s true name.
For those among us who love literary references, The River Has Roots alludes to but also subverts the narratives from several classic folk ballads. The first, as I’ve mentioned, is “The Two Sisters” (which I was most familiar with through Loreena McKennitt’s “The Bonny Swans”). The novel fleshes out the basic story told in this ballad but also moves some of the roles around to change the story’s moral. Rather than serving as a warning about the jealousy of sisters, The River Has Roots depicts the power of true sisterly love that persists even when the sisters feel pulled in different directions. Another folk song incorporated into this novella is “Tam Lin,” a Scottish ballad that tells the story of a human girl who falls in love with a man named Tam Lin and must steal him away from the Queen of Faeries who has kept him captive. She accomplishes this by pulling him from his horse and holding onto him as he transforms through various animal shapes. Blending elements from “Tam Lin” with “The Bonny Swans” allows El-Mohtar to incorporate the fae into this story, but once again she shifts around the roles from the original ballad. It is Esther and not her faerie lover who must undergo a series of rapid transformations, and they take on a new significance when juxtaposed with the transformations from the “Bonny Swans” narrative.
If you love fairy stories, folk music, or clever subversions of classic tropes, definitely check out The River Has Roots. You can find it on shelves at your favorite local retailer starting March 4, or preorder it online and support The Gothic Library in the process using this Bookshop.org affiliate link. (Remember, Bookshop.org now has ebooks, as well!) While I’ve heard that the hardcover has beautiful interior illustrations, I personally recommend listening to the audiobook, as I have done. The audio edition really leans into the folk song element of this story and creates an immersive experience by incorporating singing, music, and some sound effects. This one’s not an affiliate link, but you can buy the audiobook and support independent bookstores in the process through Libro.FM. Once you’ve read The River Has Roots, in whichever format, come back and let me know what you think!