4.25/5

The River Liss runs north to south, and its waters brim with grammar.

I expected nothing less from Amal El-Mohtar, yet I was still astounded by how beautifully this novella was written. It is a book filled to the brim with magic, full of love and family and transformation. It's astoundingly lyrical, and that truly is the word that I think describes it best—it feels like a story that's been sung to you.

We are swept down the River Liss, to the knotted roots of the willow trees, into the town of Thistleford where we discover two sisters of the Hawthorn family. Esther and Ysabel sing to the trees together, they have always held each other's hands across foreign lands, they have a bond of sisterhood that nothing can break. But there is more to Thistleford than just the two of them; there are those that would wrench them apart, and there are things within them that call to the land beyond the willow trees.

It's a short novella so I won't give much more of the plot away, but I adored this story. It reads like a British folk ballad, it's so atmospheric and uniquely magical. It combines language into its magic, each step of grammar becomes its own conjugation and transformation. I adored how well constructed it was; it became songs and riddles; it was tied so intricately to the earth, to the river and to its roots; it was ancient and unknowable yet could be shaped and moulded into something new. In short, it was fascinating. I loved reading this and could read it over and over, as folklore is told and retold, sung and sung anew.

(What is a river but an open throat; what is water but a voice?)

This story only solidified my desire to read anything and everything Amal El-Mohtar ever writes. It is poetry in prose, it is beauty given to the ordinary. I so adore her writing, there is such magic to it.
I don't think this book will be for everyone, but it was most definitely for me!

Thank you Quercus Books for an arc in exchange for an honest review.