Daughter of Black Lake

July 1, 2020

Buchanan's new novel (after The Painted Girls) is set in the early years of Roman rule in Britain, where Hobble, a young woman with a supernatural connection to the otherworldly, comes of age. Hobble's abilities make her a subject of interest in the eyes of unpredictable religious zealots. She must use her gifts to assist in Britannia's efforts against Roman invasion and guarantee the safety of her family's future. Using vivid, and at times jarring, imagery, Buchanan's storytelling weaves through Hobble's past, her parents' relationship, and the current structure of her small community, creating an intricate view of a society on the brink of change. VERDICT Recommended for readers of historical fiction, romance, and supernatural suspense.--Monique Martinez, Univ. of North Georgia Lib., Dahlonega

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 3, 2020
Buchanan (The Day the Falls Stood Still) captures in this immersive, supernatural latest the hardships of village life in first-century Britain. Hobble, 13, lives with her healer mother, Devout, and blacksmith father, Smith, in the remote hamlet of Black Lake. Hobble, named for her lame leg and prone to unusual visions, foresees the arrival of the Romans to their settlement. Her prediction draws the attention of Fox, a recently arrived, menacing itinerant druid who is fomenting resistance to Roman rule. Fox threatens to revive the village’s “old ways” and sacrifice Hobble to the gods unless she agrees to predict the outcome of his planned rebellion. Buchanan parallels Hobble’s story with Devout’s own 14th year, when Devout was courted both by Smith, who lost all his male relatives in a doomed rebellion that year, and by fellow farm laborer Arc. Devout barely survives a terrible crop failure and consents to be Arc’s wife, only for him to die soon after. In the present, Fox’s demands grow until he pushes the villagers too far. Buchanan’s descriptions of pagan rituals are fully realized and provide a haunting, engaging backdrop for the two teenage protagonists. Fans of thoughtful, inventive historical fiction will enjoy this transporting novel. Agent: Dorian Karchmar, WME.

September 1, 2020
Coming-of-age in Roman-occupied Britain. Thirteen-year-old Hobble lives with her parents in a small, isolated community at the edge of a bog. Far from the eastern coast, their lives are largely untouched by Emperor Claudius' desire to claim all of Britannia for Rome. But Hobble knows that this is about to change, because the young seer has had a vision of Romans coming to Black Lake. Her mother, Devout, has bitter recollections of an earlier incursion--and her experiences during that time will have a profound effect on Hobble's fate. The stories of both daughter and mother unfold in alternating chapters. Buchanan devotes many, many pages to worldbuilding, at the expense of advancing the narrative. Nevertheless, Black Lake and the broader first-century Britain around it never feel like more than a stage set. The characters are mostly flat as well. Devout's first love, Arc, is representative in that he fits a type but lacks specificity. He is, like Devout, a member of their community's lowest caste but he is, apparently, singular because he knows "the industry of bees and the magnificence of the nighttime sky." Contemporary clich�s like this don't do much to help a reader find their way back into an imagined past. The book succeeds best at recalling other books, most particularly Manda Scott's Dreaming the Serpent Spear. Both authors use Lindow Man--a body uncovered by peat diggers in Northwest England in 1984--in strikingly similar ways. The most distinctive element of Buchanan's novel is the druid Fox. Historical fiction set in pre-Christian Britain often depicts druids as fonts of ancestral wisdom, as spiritual savants attuned to nature. Fox is not that. He is, instead, a greedy, power-hungry zealot who murders puppies and, ultimately, demands human sacrifice. Beyond this unpleasant character, this novel is unremarkable. A slog through the bog.

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Starred review from September 1, 2020
For some in first-century Britain, the occupying Romans bring wealth and trade; for others, they threaten the old ways that have governed life for time out of mind. Hobble is a Bog Dweller, living in a small, isolated settlement. Her mother, Devout, is a healer whose commitment to Mother Earth is personified in her name. Her father, Smith, is a tradesman from a once-powerful family. Hobble has the gift of foretelling the future and can also see the past; she's troubled by secrets that drive a wedge between her parents. These concerns pale when a fanatical druid arrives in the settlement, attempting to foment rebellion against the Romans. The druid's old ways demand a blood sacrifice for victory in war, and Hobble, marked by a limp, lives in terror of being chosen as an offering to the gods. Based on bodies raised from English bogs in the 1980s, Buchanan (The Painted Girls, 2013) 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)