Habren has never quite forgiven herself. Her father only sings bawdy carols for farthings these days, none of the sweet songs he used to sing their mother, and perhaps it’s no wonder her sisters Syble and Margret have put many leagues between themselves and their old home.
But then Syble summons her to Gloucester, and if Habren can keep on the right side of their pin merchant master, perhaps it’s the chance she needs to make up for the past.
Then the river rises. In a single January morning, the Severn floods the vale and upends every life in it. And somewhere down that swollen estuary is Ambrose, the man Habren loves.
With Syble and new friend Raynould beside her, Habren sets out for Bristol to find him, through a city the flood has torn apart. And as they search, secrets they have kept close to their hearts begin, one by one, to surface.
My thoughts: This was an interesting read, as we follow Habren, her sister Syble and their friend Raynould escaping their master’s repressive household in Gloucester and heading to Bristol to find Ambrose – the young man Habren loves.
A terrible flood has them fearing the worst on their journey, where they will encounter thieves, a woman giving birth, a hanging, and violence. They stop at their older sister’s house first and then their father’s, as Habren examines the past, their mother’s death, and tries to use the strange gifts her mother gave her to divine the future.
It’s a moving and beguiling story, as the trio follow the path of the river in search of new possibilities and redemption from the past.
I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 