Vaginal Fantasy Book Club discussion
Apr 2014: Daughter of the Forest
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Setting
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I knew that the author had said something about the location on the FAQ on her website, though since I don't know an awful lot of the geography there, it didn't clear things up enormously ;)The Islands are not to be found on any modern map (after all, they do disappear into a strange mist at the end of the third book, to be seen thereafter only by certain fishermen). If they were on a map, they would be located south of the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea between Sevenwaters (inland from Carlingford) and Harrowfield (in the Cumbrian region of Britain).x
Whelp being from this part of the world I'll help you out! I know there are no islands between Carlingford and Cumbria except for Isle of Man but if you go a little south down to Dublin there is Ireland's Eye, Lambay Island and Bull Island. Though they're no where near as big as Isle of Man they are sort of in the right area? Whenever I think of a trio of islands in Ireland I think of the Aran Islands, but they're off the west coast of Ireland so wrong place altogether! Also quite barren? They are extremely beautiful in a very stark, haunting way, similar to the moors in the UK.
Looking at pictures of Ireland is making me quite frustrated. I've been wanting to visit it for a long time; it seems like such a beautiful country. I usually really enjoy Irish and/or Celtic settings, so I really liked that about Daughter of the Forest. Would anyone happen to know more books with that setting?
Daughter of the Forest is set so far back in the past in Ireland and England I don’t think it made me want to visit, but Sorcha’s connection with nature in her homeland and her time in the wilderness did leave an impression on me. After reading the book, I was suddenly more aware that the air outside smelled of rain and smoke. (People like to burn brush around here this time of year.) The sense of being in the wilderness is probably different now, then in the book or in the ninth century. I think someone said it was sort of set in the ninth century. We went down to the bank of the creek near here recently and it was peaceful, but there was cans strewn about and trash hanging from branches over the water. (Interesting side note about that creek: A couple years ago down the creek a ways, a guy canoeing spotted some bone sticking out of the bank, dug up more of them, and stole some of a Confederate soldier’s skeleton.)
Does anyone know if the three little, sacred islands the English and Irish were fighting over are real islands? I only had a rough idea of where in the book was set when I was reading it, but I found a map that gives a clearer idea of where it’s supposed to be:
Is this where you pictured it?