Warrior Daughter

After reading Janet Paisley's White Rose Rebel I was eagerly awaiting her next novel. Warrior Daughter more than fulfilled my expectations. It's a fascinating, exciting story about Skaaha, a real woman who lived on the Isle of Skye during the Iron Age. Contrary to the custom of the time Skaaha and her younger sister Eefay were raised by their natural mother, the warrior queen Kerrigen. Skaaha is 11 years old when her mother dies and the foundation of her life is ripped apart. With the new warrior queen hostile to them, the sisters have to leave all they are familiar with. Skaaha rejects Eefay's suggestion that they both live with her father and become warriors, choosing instead to go with her own father and become a blacksmith. Numerous difficulties follow but, accompanied by her aunt, Jiya, and guided by the druid, Ruan, she eventually settles in, makes friends and begins to build a new life. It is a life that will not remain peaceful and undisturbed for long. Foreign raids begin to threaten the population, robbers invade homes, and on what should be a happy day, when she comes of age, Skaaha experiences a brutal attack, followed by the realisation that she has a hidden enemy. Her life changes again, and that drives the story, through several dramatic twists and turns, to its gripping finale. Skaaha lived in a culture that is unfamiliar to us, during a period of religious change. Life was brutal but no more so than nowadays. Everyone had a contribution to make, people were valued, no one went hungry or homeless. Janet Paisley creates an authentic society, intelligently constructed from the limited information available. Her writing is thought-provoking, enthralling and emotive. Warrior Daughter is a superb novel by a highly original author. I can't wait for the follow-up.