The River Has Roots
by Amal El-Mohtar
Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted March 6, 2025
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Amal's new book includes two stories, the title one being a short novella I believe, along with a short story presented as a preview of an upcoming collection. Both play with language as metaphors and puzzles. There are fifteen illustrations by Kathleen Neeley done in the style of woodcuts. The opening sentence is: "The River Liss runs north to south, and its waters brim with grammar." In this context, grammar is compared to other similar words, both gramarye (magic, enchantment) and grimoire (a magician's manual of spells). "What is magic but a change in the world? What is conjugation but a transformation, one thing into another?"
On opposite banks of the river, near Thistleford, and just south of the Modal Lands, there are two willow trees known as the Professors, whose branches have joined above the river. The lands south of that are owned by the Hawthorn family, who make their living from other willow trees; the leaves for tea, the bark for medicines and weaving baskets, the wood for building furniture and instruments. The Hawthorn family has two daughters, Esther, the elder by two years, and Ysabel. Both sing beautifully, Ysabel perhaps more talented, but together they are sublime. Ysabel likes murder ballads, while Esther prefers songs that pose riddles, but a favorite of both is the ballad of Tam Lin. Esther has had many suitors, but none who have captured her heart, especially not Samuel Pollard, whose family owns land adjacent to the Hawthorns. No matter how many times she has told him she is not interested he continues to pursue her.
Just north of the Modal Lands, which are a liminal space, a transitional space, lies the Refrain, and beyond that is Arcadia, which is also known as the Beautiful Country, the Land Beyond, Antiquity. In other words, Faerie. The major reason Esther had rejected all suitors is her heart belongs to Rin, an ethereal spirit who has appeared to her on different occasions in different guises. Esther loves Rin, and she believes the feeling is mutual. It is. Time flows differently in Arcadia, sometimes faster, sometimes slower than in Thistleford. Esther had promised Ysabel that she would always return from Arcadia, but a long period of time passes when she does not. Ysabel then becomes the focus of Samuel's pursuit, but his intentions had always been a selfish desire to combine his property with the Hawthorn's. Plus, he is the reason for Esther's long absence, but I will not spoil that. Beautifully lyrical, gloriously romantic, completely enchanting, this is the type of story you want to re-read immediately, which I have already done for certain passages. Esther loved Ysabel, even more than she loved Rin, and luckily they are reunited, but only in Arcadia. Esther could return to Thistleford, but not as her human self, so Ysabel has to come to Arcadia. At the end of the story it is not clear if she can stay, or if her visits must be short. Whatever the case, the sisters will make the most of the time they can have together.
The short story is "John Hollowback and the Witch." His real name is John Turner, but he had earned the nickname due to a hole in his back, a hollow, bowl-like place where spine should be. He is seeking a witch to reverse his problem. The house he finds in the deep woods doesn't look like a witch's abode, but the woman who answers to door definitely looks like a witch. He does not recognize her, although he should. For payment, he has brought a leather-bound book, one which he has tried to write in, but the ink always disappears, so he thinks it would be perfect for a witch to transcribe her spells. She reluctanly agrees to help him, but she does not want the book, only a few others things from his bag, all of which he did not remember having. An apple, a comb, and a piece of string, all of which will prove useful for the witch to unravel the cause of his problem. Another story I won't spoil, only encourage you to seek it out. My book buying budget is nil these days, but I was lucky my library had it available on publication day, two days ago. I am looking forward to Amal's story collection, although I do not know when to expect it.
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