Synopsis
“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…
Quick Review
The River Has Roots is a beautifully written novella about two sisters in a magical and abstract world. The audiobook narrated by Gem Carmella is a stunning work of art. If you can, listen to this book.
Full Review
I find The River Has Roots quite difficult to describe. Ironically, words fail to do this novella justice. But, I’m going to give it a shot.
On the surface, this is a story of two sisters. It shows a bit of their childhood, of their time together, and is almost slice-of-life in many ways. Amar El-Mohtar relishes in the quiet moments, as simple as walking by the river.
When Esther rejects her suitor in favor of somebody else, she goes missing, and her sister Ysabel is left wondering what happened. Did she abandon her for her lover? Was she hurt or lost?
Beneath their relationship and that mystery, The River Has Roots is… Something else. It is poetry and music. The audiobook, narrated by Gem Carmella, includes songs and instrumentals and the sound of rainclouds unleashing storms upon the world. It plays into the way Amal El-Mohtar writes, blurring the lines between forms of art, in a way that I think could only be achieved in audio. It all comes together in this stunning, arresting way.
The story itself plays with format as well, beginning with an abstract introduction to this world and the way grammar works here, which is a kind of magic. Wordplay and puns become spells of a kind, and music is a way to focus that power.
I hesitate to say more for fear of spoiling too much. Suffice it to say that The River Has Roots is nothing like what I expected. What I got instead was a carefully crafted, beautiful work of art. This is the kind of story that I wish I could experience again, for the first time, and I am devastated that I cannot.
I highly recommend The River Has Roots. Specifically, I recommend the audiobook. Gem’s narration is brilliant, and the way it weaves in music and environmental sounds is just stunning. And at just about four hours long, you can work it into your schedule without too much trouble.
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