Review | The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davidson

After her father was killed when she was a child, Miranda Crabtree has survived on her own. She makes ends meet by transporting contraband along the river for a deranged preacher, Billy Cotton. But she hides a secret – she is protecting a witch and a special boy. When she is forced to deliver an unexpected package, she must choose whether to keep going down the same path or to break free from Cotton’s hold.

Let my voice bury my words deep inside you. Before the sun sets, I will tell you secrets you have longed to know. For I was a girl once, too, and like you, I have known sorrows so great there no words to account for them.

On the publication day of The Boatman’s Daughter in the UK, I said that I was still making my way through the book but that the prose is absolutely gorgeous. The thing about beautiful writing though, sometimes it can get in the way of the storytelling. When style is more than substance, it can leave you feeling deflated after you’re done reading because there is no weight underneath the beauty. But not this book. The poetic prose is perfectly matched with enthralling storytelling, compelling characters and a magnificent setting. I absolutely enjoyed it.

The book opens with Miranda as a child thrown into a confusing, alarming situation. I was immediately hooked! Then we meet her again as a young woman with a traumatic past and a haunting secret. She is strong, capable, protective and has integrity, even though her work is morally objectionable. She cares for the old witch, Iskra, who raised her after her father’s death, and a special boy, Littlefish, who she sees as her brother. I love found family tropes and this book has the best of it. They are different people brought together under terrible circumstances yet you could feel their love and care for each other. They are not bonded by blood, but they are family. And when something threatens it, I wanted more than anything for them to survive.

The book also has some really messed up villains, the kind of humans that are more terrifying than any supernatural entities. Billy Cotton, the mad preacher, is the kind of character you never want to meet again. He’s surrounded by men like Charlie Riddle, a corrupt one-eyed sheriff, and John Avery, a dwarf looking after his own interests. Their encounters with Miranda are tense, painful and infuriating. But the aforementioned supernatural entities are not to be dismissed either. Bringing in Slavic mythology by giving form to spirits such as the bathhouse demon Bannik, the book conveys the terror of the mystical and the unknown.

I do think this book is a slow burn and in this age of too many books too little time, I can understand if readers might not have the patience for it. But I promise you the payoff is worth it! I felt emotionally connected to the characters. After the intense ride through hell, the ending is surprisingly hopeful. There are some visual images that stayed in my mind long after I finished the book. The writing vividly illustrates the humid and oppressive bayou, lush river, forbidding woods, right down to the skin on Littlefish’s unique face. What I would give for this to be adapted into a movie!

The Boatman’s Daughter is a stunning, poignant dark fairy tale about family, loss, justice and survival. Highly recommended!

I received a copy from Titan Books and Netgalley for review purposes.

About the author: Andy Davidson

Photo by Mary Ray