Sistersong by Lucy Holland
I would like to thank Black Crow PR and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Publisher – Pan Macmillan
Published – Out now
Price – £12.99 hardback £8.99 Kindle eBook
King Cador’s children inherit a land abandoned by the Romans, torn by warring tribes. Riva can cure others, but can’t heal her own scars. Keyne battles to be seen as the king’s son, although born a daughter. And Sinne dreams of love, longing for adventure.
All three fear a life of confinement within the walls of the hold, their people’s last bastion of strength against the invading Saxons. However, change comes on the day ash falls from the sky – bringing Myrdhin, meddler and magician. The siblings discover the power that lies within them and the land. But fate also brings Tristan, a warrior whose secrets will tear them apart.
Riva, Keyne and Sinne become entangled in a web of treachery and heartbreak, and must fight to forge their own paths. It’s a story that will shape the destiny of Britain.
There has been a rich period of stories exploring past folklore. These stories have lasted centuries because the storytellers will always find new angles in stories to speak to their current audiences. These retellings have explored the characters often ignored or used the tales to explore subtexts we may have omitted previously. I was bowled over by the excellent standalone novel Sistersong by Lucy Holland that explores a 6th century British folktale that is transformed into a tale of competing powers battling for the throne; magic versus new religions and at its heart three sisters all at a crossroads in their lives.
In the 6th century Great Britain is comprised of various kingdoms such as Wessex or Mercia. On the south coast lies the Kingdom of Dumnonia ruled by King Codor. This is a Kingdom with a long tradition of ancient pagan magic – the old gods meant that the Kingdom was known to have ghost armies to protect it and a King who could wield immense elemental power. But the world has been changing – the Roman Empire is gone and its cities now in ruins; Christianity has started to convert the pagan Kingdoms and Queen Enica has under the influence of an overconfident priest named Gildas have started the process in Dumnonia. However, the King is troubled by constant rumours that the Anglo Saxons are moving across the Kingdoms gaining land in vicious battles. Amongst this are Codor’s three daughters – Riva bookish and fascinated with healing and in constant pain from a childhood injury; Keyne who avoids attending Church and stays dressed in male clothing despite Gildas constantly calling them condemned to Hell for doing so; and finally, Sinne the youngest far less interested in the palace intrigue and more in using her own magic to glamour young men for teasing. Gildas proves a constant pain but more trouble awaits in the arrival of the magician Myrdhin and a handsome man from a neighbouring Kingdom called Tristan.
This was a truly brilliant read I quickly found myself diving into fast and very reluctant to do anything else until it was finished. It’s a tale of transitions and a feel that change is about to hit this royal family. From the start the atmosphere feels mournful as the old ways of pagan beliefs are being turned into Christian ones under Gildas’ eye and with Royal approval. At the same time the rising Anglo-Saxon threat means the Ancient Briton way of life may be facing its own extinction in quite a bloody form. Holland gives the tale a feeling of oppression and we jump through a year at various key festivals such as Beltane and Samhain watching how the Kingdom changes. Add in omens such as snows of ash and broken burnt wrecks on the shore there is an ever-increasing impending air of tension that a huge catastrophe awaits.
At the heart of this tale are the three sisters and while they would previously have had some more latitude now under Gildas’ watchful eyes increasingly women should be seen and not heard and very obedient. For each sister this proves a challenge – Riva wants to use her abilities (both herbal and magical) to heal the sick as she feels she is unlikely to be anything else thanks to her injuries making future love and marriage unlikely. Sinne wants to be a young woman and enjoy life not sit int silent church services spoken only in Latin and most of all Keyne who in their efforts to avoid anything that would class her as a woman dresses as a man and seeks a new way and for Keyne that will mean some truly brutal punishment from the family. Holland gives each of the sibling an arc that impacts each other but really fleshes out their complex characters and takes them to unexpected places. Rebellion isn’t always going to be by who you think it is and this is very much about each of these characters finding out where they can be themselves in a world that often will not allow dissent and can be extremely cruel to those who try to step out of line which means a huge change for each from where we first meet them.
The catalyst for this story comes through the arrival of the other two main characters. Tristan arrives to help Riva in a moment of huge distress and this handsome charming man seeing Riva as a woman in her own right sets up a row of dominos to crash into one another. Sinne is clearly too enamoured of Tristan but this is not a love triangle in the normal sense it is more one character being so tempted by a glimpse of a life they never knew they would have they will do anything to keep their happiness. Sinne and Riva’s story is the heart of the classic tale this story is based on and Holland avoids falling for the tropes of two jealous women competing for one man. Instead, it is much more a tale of first loves; lost happiness, jealousy and betrayal that ends up having the direst of consequences for the kingdom and in the brilliant finale reaches a heart-breaking and, in some ways, chilling moment of magic seeking revenge and justice.
Fantasy readers will no doubt pick up on the name Myrdhin and its connections to other well know British legends. Here the magician is a confidant to the king and the sisters and yet clearly much more casting illusions and in particular helping each of the siblings discover their own powers. A highlight is their relationship with Keyne and here Myrdhin provides a mentor figure to help Keyne find their way forward. In this tale of clashing religions and cultures it is a huge achievement that Holland also looks at gender and identity as effectively with Keyne we have a trans character in a world that struggles with the idea of changing gender roles. Keyne plays a crucial role in this story to save the Kingdom and explores what the old magic can do but their storyline for Keyne to be who he wants to be is in some ways the most classic of storylines of someone finding their role in saving the world and also finding their inner strength but here it is given an excellent twenty first century gaze making it both refreshing and captivating.
It can sound as if this story is very intimate, but Holland knows when to make the move to epic fantasy and that is achieved in two ways. There are some great battle scenes reminding us that this is a dangerous time for everyone, and the final quarter of the book contains both large battles between armies (and a mix of roman and Saxon techniques which made things really unusual) and intimate warrior versus warrior battles one which the stakes of everything sit. But for me the glue that hold of this tale together is the sense of old magic impacting the large and small. Here it’s natural magic that those who understand the world can wield and it has an array of uses but also a magic that pays a heavy price for wielders (my favourite kind) when it is used it’s always delivered carefully but with a sense of awe at what this Kingdom can be capable of.
Sistersong is a triumph of fantasy storytelling delivering both a personal tale of a family being torn apart and an epic tale of magic, religion, war, and political intrigue that keeps the reader thoroughly invested in the outcomes. A story that moves from light and dark skilfully and in particular Holland’s writing makes this relatively obscure period come alive both in a world of nature and magic that are entwined and characters who all are fighting for their own goals even at the cost of others. I think I can safely say you need to get your hands on this one now. Excellent and strongly recommended.
