The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davidson  ( Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com )

Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-374-53855-2

Available: Kindle, Paperback

The old witch Iskra knows the secrets of the bayou where Miranda runs her Alumacraft under the cypress trees in the murky, humid gloom. It’s an ugly, decaying place filled with lurking dangers, brutal violence, and the tragic history of its inhabitants. Miranda is linked to Iskra through the murder of her father and a ritual involving a web-fingered baby. In order to find her father’s bones, reunite Littlefish and his clairvoyant sister, and save her own life, Miranda must read the signs that are leading her into a mortal combat against evil forces. Her challenge involves the local constable, a crazy preacher, a dwarf, and a dead wife’s mistakes. No one is safe in The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davidson.

Davidson ratchets up the tension from the very first chapter and maintains it throughout as Miranda tries to stay one step ahead of her enemies and encounters drug dealers, murderers, and even supernatural forces. These forces have their origin in Russian myths to which Davidson adds a Southern Gothic spin. This makes for a setting that is as terrifying to the younger characters as nightmarish horror stories and yet is so realistically detailed that the reader can feel the saw grass and smell the rotting bodies. It is that very combination that makes the witchcraft believable and turns the events into the stuff of imagination. To Davidson’s credit, it is often difficult to tell where the line is between the two.

The plot of The Boatman’s Daughter moves at breakneck speed. Davidson’s characters might spend a few seconds thinking and planning, but the action never stops. The characters are mythological or fairytale figures in terms of good and evil, but they are always truly human which makes the evildoers all the more frightening and the heroine even more amazing. The rich descriptions and Davidson’s talent for keeping the reader entertained with a multi-layered and complicated plot make this an outstanding read that will make you dream of a film version while still being certain nothing can beat the book. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Nova Hadley