As their stories begin to diverge down different paths, it’s easy to sympathize with each of them, and the troubles they are facing. Each has a well-defined voice and are written well enough that I could have guessed who was speaking without the help of the chapter headers. The story is split between the sisters’ perspectives. It had come from the dangerous heart of the forest, warmed by a witch’s skin.’ Not even akin to Father’s ability to speak a flame or ask the skies for rain. (…) It felt nothing like the spells spoken over the hearth and home. ‘I remember burying that silver bracelet, sweating and fearful. While – inside the walls of the fort – another battle is being fought between the pious priest and those who still believe in magic. Their story is set against the backdrop of the growing threat of Saxon armies blazing their way across the country and threatening their home. Expanding on the original ballad further, Holland also goes on to add another sister into the mix, this one fighting for her place in a world that doesn’t understand her desire to be a man. In Sistersong Lucy Holland explores the relationship between the two sisters and the choices that lead them to that fated moment by a dangerous, icy river. This harp, singing with the voice of the young sister, then tells the king - their father - the story of her death and demands justice for her murder. The younger sister drowns, but her body is found and given to a musician, who turns her bones and hair into a harp. While there are many variations on the ballad, the core story follows (you guessed it) two sisters who are walking by a river when – out of jealousy – the eldest sister pushes the other into the water. Sistersong follows in their footsteps, this time giving new life to the old English Folk Ballad Twa Sisters (or Two Sisters).

From Madeline Miller’s Circe and The Song of Achilles reviving everyone’s love for the tragic Greek myths, or Katherine Arden’s incorporation of Russian folklore into her Winternight trilogy old stories are being dusted off and re-examined often with women being placed into the spotlight. It seems that the art of retellings is a growing trend.

Sistersong goodreads