I didn’t love this one as much as I should have, judging by the rapturous reviews plastered all over the front and back covers. Certainly the author has a remarkable knowledge of and feel for hunting and marsh living. I was however a bit put off by the Helena, the protagonist, and her almost slavish devotion to her father and dismissal of her mother, both before and after she realises her mother has been kidnapped and kept prisoner by her father for many years. The frequent quotations from Hans Christian Anderson are mostly just irritating and the idea that the adult Helena has not revealed her past to her husband is frankly unbelievable. What does ring true are the stories of her earlier life in the marsh and her jarring adjustment to the outside world, where her finely honed hunting and survival skills are seen to have no value. An interesting read but no more than that.
