Child of Love & Water

By: D. K. Marley

Narrated by: Jane Silvers

The year is 1722. A child is born on the isolated island of Ospo off the Georgia coast. In the midst of General Oglethorpe's vision for this new land and the emerging townships of Frederica and Savannah, four lives entwine together on this island like the woven fronds in a sea-grass basket—the orphaned Irish girl born free of hate or prejudice, a war-ravaged British soldier seeking forgiveness and absolution, a runaway Gullah slave girl desperate for a word of kindness on the wind, and a Creek Indian warrior searching for answers about this intrusion onto his homeland. What they learn from this wild innocent girl, and from each other, will change their lives forever.

A new birth, a new country, and the elements—water, wind, fire, and earth—entwine to teach one thing: Love conquers all. Love sees beyond borders. There is no ignorance in love.

©2019 D. K. Marley (P)2022 D. K. Marley

As Much Fable as Novel

It took me a bit to get into this, since Marley pings between different characters and settings in the opening pages/minutes. But she's got a far-reaching story to tell. This is as much fable as novel.

Muirin was a great heroine; I fell in love with her. By casting a cultural innocent in the central role, Marley is able to expose how groundless prejudice is in a time particularly rife with it. (Do I mean the 18th century or the 21st? You decide...)

The three other central characters are forever changed by their interactions with Muirin and with each other on her island. I wanted to linger there with them. As for the villain, never has the honorific Goody been so ironic...

The romance didn't really work for me...a certain character changed too drastically, too quickly, and I wasn't buying it. I suppose I prefer novels to fables. But it's all beautifully written, and narrator Jane Silvers does a fantastic job with all the accents. I can still hear her voicing Muirin's Irish lilt...

Also the cover is gorgeous.