Daughter of the forest - Juliet Marillier

A magnificent saga set in the Celtic twilight of 10th century Ireland, when myth was law and magic was a power of nature, brilliantly brought to life: the legendary story of an evil stepmother opposed by a seventh child.

Lord Colum of Sevenwaters is blessed with seven children: Liam, a natural leader; Diarmid with his passion for adventure; twins Cormack and Conor each with a different calling; rebellious Finbar made old before his time by the gift of Sight; and the young compassionate Padriac.

But it is Sorcha, the seventh child and only daughter, whose birth was the cause of their mother's death, who alone is destined to defend her family and protect her land from the invading Britons and the clan known as Northwoods. For Lord Colum has been bewitched by the sensuous and malevolent Lady Oonagh - and Sorcha's six brothers are bound by a spell that only Sorcha can lift.

Exiled from Sevenwaters and cast out into the forest and beyond, Sorcha falls into the hands of the enemy. She finds herself torn between the life she has always known and a love that comes only once.

And still she must work to lift the spell that has turned her brothers into six vulnerable swans.

This is an old Celtic legend in its own right, here brilliantly evoked and brought to life. All of the brothers are beautifully delineated characters, and Sorcha has a unique inner strength that drives the narrative to a startling series of endings.

Like Marion Zimmer Bradley's MISTS OF AVALON or Jean Auel's CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR, this is first-rate historical fantasy that can have the widest possible appeal, taking in also the readership of historical fiction writers like Mary Stewart (THE CRYSTAL CAVE), Mary Renault (THE PERSIAN BOY) and Anya Seton (AVALON).