My Rating: 4 stars
This book was nothing like I thought it would be. The summary led me to believe that this would be one of those gripping, edge-of-your-seat thrillers that will leave your heart racing and "chill you to the bone." Hmm, well….not quite (ok, technically not even close!). To be honest, there really wasn't a whole lot of suspense, the ending was predictable and expected, and there were barely any twists and turns to warrant placement in the thriller/suspense category -- so from a genre perspective, this book was severely overhyped. However, from the perspective of "general work of contemporary fiction," this book is exceptionally well-written and definitely deserves a read.
If I had to describe this book, I would say that it is a thoughtfully written coming-of-age story about a girl born into captivity to a teenage kidnap victim and her captor, a man known as the Marsh King. The story begins 15 years after Helena and her mother were rescued from the isolated marshlands where they lived for many years. Now married with 2 daughters of her own, Helena has worked hard to bury her past and escape from the shadow of what happened to her mother – she changed her name, her hair color, her appearance and was careful about not drawing attention to herself. Her husband Stephen doesn't know a thing about her past and so together, they are able to live a happy, ordinary life in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. That is, until Helena hears on the news that her father – the notorious Marsh King – has escaped from prison and instinctively, she knows that her family is in danger. As her newly rebuilt life starts to crumble around her, Helena embarks on a "cat and mouse chase" to hunt down her father and put him back in prison before he gets the chance to harm her family. It is here that the narrative starts to switch back and forth in time as Helena recounts her story of how life was like growing up in the marsh. At the same time, Helena struggles to come to terms with her feelings for a father who deliberately raised her to be in his likeness, his "Little Shadow" – the adoration she had for her father during their years in the marsh, when she was completely ignorant of what had happened to her mother, versus the hatred and resentment afterwards when the reality of her father as a cold-blooded kidnapper, rapist, and murderer sinks in.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, though not necessarily an easy one due to the premise of the story revolving around a kidnapping and forced captivity. Some parts of the book frustrated me, especially when it came to the actions and attitudes of some of the characters and also the graphic depictions of violence as well as cruelty to animals (though thank goodness there wasn't a whole lot of the latter in the book – just a few scenes that were largely glossed over). For the most part though, the story was well-told, with Helena's first person narrative powerful in giving us a unique perspective on a hideous crime and its lasting impact on her life as well as the lives of those she loves. Another unique aspect of this story is the thoroughness with which the author incorporates details that explain why certain characters acted the way they did, answering common "questions" that undoubtedly would arise in our (the readers') minds as the story evolved – for example, why didn't Helena's mother leave when given the chance, why did Helena continue to heed her father's wishes a few times even after finding out what kind of person he was? Some of these "answers" were subtle and some were directly explained, but either way, in the end, everything made sense and I didn't come away with a feeling of being unsatisfied with how the story progressed.
For those who may be wondering about the significance of the title – yes, the author does incorporate parts of Hans Christian Andersen's classic The Marsh King's Daughter into the story, with alternating chapters that start off with excerpts from the fairytale. The author also cleverly weaves parts of the fairytale into Helena's story itself, with some parts converging and paralleling each other at certain points. Now, I can't say whether this story is actually a modern re-telling of the fairytale or not, since I've never read Andersen's version of The Marsh King's Daughter (and in fact didn't even know there was such a story until I read this book). But I did like the way the fairytale, plus a few other mythical as well as historical elements, were incorporated into the story.
This is a recommended read – one that I think most will find engaging and absorbing, though die-hard thriller/suspense fans may find disappointing in its lack of true suspense elements. I would say approach this book without the expectation of "roller-coaster ride" type twists and turns and instead look at it more as a fictionalized account of a potentially true crime story and you should be fine.
Received advance reader's copy from G.P. Putnam's Sons via Penguin First-to-Read program
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