5 stars
I sucked this book down so fast I am almost bereft at its finish. This is one of those books with a story line, characters and scenes that re-play in your head well after you have finished.
The Summary:
There is a strong Irish family defending their lands from their enemy, the British. The family consists of a strong remote father and six sons and the youngest is a daughter. Each of the sons are unique in some way so that their personalities and strengths/weaknesses are evident. And they love their sister dearly. One day the father brings home an evil step-mother and eventually she passes a curse upon the children. The six brothers are turned into swans except for 2 evenings a year. To break the curse, Sorcha must first not speak a word and second weave six shirts for her brothers from the starwort plant (basically this plant has barbs and is painful with just a small touch and she must harvest, make thread and weave 6 shirts). The rest is the Sorcha's story of trying to accomplish this monumentally painful task in the face of seemingly insurmountable opposition.
I can't wait to read the next book. The book is long, but it takes you through such an epic journey of body and spirit that it doesn't seem over long. I loved Sorcha. Often times the heroine will make stupid mistakes that make you mad, but I never felt that way with Sorcha. She went through terrible things on her journey and still persevered.
