Daughter of Black Lake

A Novel

By: Cathy Marie Buchanan

Narrated by: Holly Linneman

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

In a world of pagan traditions and deeply rooted love, a girl in jeopardy must save her family and community. A transporting historical novel by New York Times best-selling author Cathy Marie Buchanan.

It’s the season of Fallow, in the era of iron. In a northern misty bog surrounded by woodlands and wheat fields, a settlement lies far beyond the reach of the Romans invading hundreds of miles to the southeast. Here, life is simple - or so it seems to the tightly knit community. Sow. Reap. Honor Mother Earth, who will provide at harvest time. A girl named Devout comes of age, sweetly flirting with the young man she’s tilled alongside all her life, and envisions a future of love and abundance. Seventeen years later, though, the settlement is a changed place. Famine has brought struggle, and outsiders, with their foreign ways and military might, have arrived at the doorstep. For Devout’s young daughter, life is more troubled than her mother ever anticipated. But this girl has an extraordinary gift. As worlds collide and peril threatens, it will be up to her to save her family and community.

Set in a time long forgotten, Daughter of Black Lake brings the ancient world to life and introduces us to an unforgettable family facing an unimaginable trial.

©2020 Cathy Marie Buchanan (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

“Buchanan has crafted an engrossing novel awash in historical atmosphere. From religious beliefs to culture clashes to social stratification and the activities of daily life, Buchanan immerses readers in Roman Britain in this beautifully emotive tale of family, community, and love.” (Booklist, starred review)

"In a tale that feels at once classic and fresh, Buchanan brings her trademark grace and attention to detail to this luminous story of a mother and daughter in first-century Britannia. Daughter of Black Lake is a thoughtful, compelling novel, a true pleasure to read." (Therese Anne Fowler, New York Times best-selling author of The Good Neighborhood)    

“In this evocative, meticulously researched novel, Cathy Marie Buchanan creates a world of dark magic and haunting mystery, brutality and beauty. History comes to life on every page.” (Christina Baker Kline, New York Times best-selling author of A Piece of the World)    

love!!!

I could get enough of this book! One of those books that make you sad to say goodbye to the characters.

Terrible narration

Why did they use an American for the narrator? The story was good, but hard to listen to.

Intriguing story in Iron Age Britain

I was drawn to this story mostly by the setting, the concept of a fiction set in Iron Age Britain. Daughter of Black Lake is not a military story of Romans and druids and seething tribesmen, although these devices make their appearances. This story is a family drama that switches point of view between a daughter and her mother as a girl, whose lives and those of the people of their village are intertwined across generations.

The setting is vivid with pre-Roman and pre-Christian rites, prayers, social structures, and behaviors that guide each character's decisions.

I enjoyed the story for what it was, but I mostly just wanted to spend time in the boggy village of Black Lake. That alone would betting me back to this world.

Meh

I really wanted to like this, but it just didn't do much for me.