Daughter of Black Lake

Daughter of Black Lake by Cathy Marie Buchanan

Genre: historical fiction

I read it as a(n): hardback

Length: 320 pp

Her Grace’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Set in the 1st century CE, Daughter of Black Lake centers on a small village to the northwest of Londinium. The Roman invasion is in process, though the villagers don’t really seem to care much. Most see it as an opportunity to make some money by trading with a nearby outpost town. When an unhinged Druid, Fox, comes along, trying to incite the tribesmen to band together and rise against the Romans, things get dangerous. One woman, Devout, and her daughter, Hobble, find themselves in the middle of a power struggle between the Druid and the leader of the village, in part because of Hobble’s ability to See the future. Devout, though, also has secrets of her own that may destroy the peace of the village and doom Fox and the rest of the Druids’ plans to overthrow the perceived shackles of their oppressors. 

At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book. It felt like a lot of not much was happening. But the characters were deeply developed and I got invested in their stories. Then Fox came along and I wanted to see what would happen with him. He was a hateful character, which was weird for me since I usually really like Druid characters. Of course, the Druid figures in other stories I’ve read were more like Merlin or Gandalf, so naturally I would like them. Fox, not so much. He was a fundy zealous dick. 

I liked Hobble a great deal. She was a healer, like her mother, and had vast knowledge for such a young girl. I cared less about her ability to see the future, especially since it was never really explained why she had the ability. Fox wanted to use her ability to help rally the tribes to the Druids’ cause and go to the aid of the Iceni queen, Boudicca, but Hobble couldn’t do that. She could see that the Romans were going to kick their asses. And historically, they did. Boudicca came damn close to winning but in the end, she didn’t. 

I really liked the writing style. It was almost dream-like. It felt similar to The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, but I didn’t care for that story and I did like Daughter of Black Lake. Maybe comparing it to The Mists of Avalon would be more accurate. At any rate, I really liked this one. It’s certainly making my favorite books of 2023 list.