The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

Publisher – Arcadia

Published – Out Now

Price – £14.99 hardback £8.49 ebook

Follow the river Liss to the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, and meet two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death.

''Oh what is stronger than a death? Two sisters singing with one breath.''

In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family.

There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family''s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.

But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters'' bond but also their lives will be at risk...

Telling good stories does indeed need characters, settings and plots but good storytelling also needs a good voice. Third person narration can be quite dry and invisible but I’ve soft spot for when the author makes the narration just as much as a character as the cast. You can’t imagine Discworld without Pratchett’s insights and jokes, Joanne Harris and Claire North also adapt their narration to suit many of tales’ settings and styles. I found something very similar similar in Amal El-Mohtar’s fantasy novella The River Has Roots we also have a storyteller pulling the strands of this story together and delivering a splendid read to indulge yourself in.

In the small town of Thistleford lies by the River Liss that flows from the land of Faerie known as Arcadia. The Hawthorn family for generations have tended to their willow trees and the next generation are the sisters Esther and Ysabel who are devoted to each other. Esther meets Rin from Arcadia and a romantic attachment between these two people from different worlds begins but Esther I also attracting the attention of Samuel Pollard a nearby landowner with interests in both Esther and her property. His dislike of Rin leads to a cruel act that threatens the sisters ever finding one another again.

The skill of narration for me is turning words into images, ideas and concepts. El-Mohtar plays with concept of transformation throughout the story. Indeed, here magic we are told from the first chapter is in this world known as grammar. Something wild and magical but with the ability to transform if the words are used right. We can be told a river always runs north to south but if suddenly the story tells us that it now suddenly runs south to north then we know something is going wrong. The power of riddles, magical lands and sisterly love are all here lovingly explored swiftly but the language El-Mohtar uses is rather delicious. There is a lovely flow to each short chapter from meeting the sisters and getting their sense of adoration for each other but also their key differences are seen as we watch a human faerie romance develop as Esther meets the ever changing and yet constant Rin to whom she plays riddles with. Each scene has its own mini arc to it and then just when we think it is going quite sedately, we go into darker waters in more ways than one. In some ways when that happened, I felt as if I’d moved stories as it was a tonal shock and then very cleverly I found the clues as to which original folk tale actually had inspired this story and I enjoyed the choices made to both keep that tales own unique element and yet still do something refreshingly modern to it. No, I’m not telling you! Its better delivered as a reveal to you dear reader but I liked the way it only becomes obvious after the event. It highlights that magic here is all about words and transformation and that applies to the story’s scenes just as much as it happens to many of the characters we meet along the way.

A simple tale in theory here gets much needed depth as the story has lots of little episodes to it that hint at an older world full of its own myths and lore. Two willows known as The Professors that have so many stories as to how they got there over a river and how they ended up in that form. A trip to Arcadia itself which seems both dangerous and wonderful at the same time and even at the end we see the local people have some magic of their own when they need it. It’s a place where many things out of the ordinary can happen but not simply for plot convenience it feels a more organic exploration of this world and this particular storyline in it. There is a sense of many more tales possible in this world but for now lets turn attention to this one.

The River Has Roots is a short novella but one I recommend you savouring the reading. A good cuppa and a slice of cake in a comfy chair could easily accompany this and as you lay back and turn the pages just let El-Mohtar open up on each page a new and yet strangely familiar folk tale coming to life and not quite going as you may recall it. Admire also how its being told and hopefully that will transform your world into something magical for an hour or more. Highly Recommended!