The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson

The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson 3.5 out of 5 stars

Doucette Aigleron is trapped. Trapped by her mother, trapped by her position but, most of all, trapped because she has no wings.

Her two sisters, Cecilia and Azelais, are swan maidens: Sorceresses who can use their swan feathers to change into swans as well as perform many kinds of magic.

Each year Doucette must stay home and learn how to run a household while her sisters fly off to their aunt, the Queen of Birds, to learn the magical arts. Everything in Doucette cries for freedom, but she sees no way to get until discovering her own swan skin, hidden since her birth.

She uses the swan skin to escape and runs into her secret love Jaume who begs her to marry him. Thinking he mocks her, Doucette leaves in a fit of anger to join her sisters and her aunt in their pursuit of magic.

The arts she learns there change the way she views life forever.

I borrowed The Swan Maiden from my local library after reading the book jacket and thinking I might enjoy the read. The tale told by Heather Tomlinson is traditional –but with a few twists.

I enjoyed reading of the trials Doucette and Jaume go through to find their love, but was a little disappointed with the last quarter of the book. Cecilia and Azelais, once an integral part of the story surrounding Doucette’s suffering and growth–just disappear completely in the second half of the story.

There were a few random characters thrown in that were there only to shed light on how Doucette’s character had degenerated, and I also didn’t like how she treated Jaume and how readily he forgave her. I felt the ending was too rushed for me to easily appreciate it.

Altogether, though, I did enjoy the read over all and would read other works by this author.

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