Savage Her Reply by Deirdre Sullivan

 

In the old days of Ireland, three little girls, sisters, were sent to the court of Bodhbh The Red to prove their parents loyalty.  Aebh was the oldest and most beautiful.  Aibhe was the youngest and determined to become a warrior.  That left Aife, stuck in the middle and feeling left out most of the time.

The sisters grew to adulthood in the court with only each other as family.  When they were grown, Bodhbh allowed Lir, a powerful chieftain, to come to his court and choose a wife from the sisters.  He chose Aebh.  Soon she had twins, a boy and a girl, and soon again, she was pregnant and had a second set of twins who were both boys.  Having four children in such a short time was too much for her body and Aebh passed away.  Lir demanded a new wife and this time took Aife.

At first Aife was happy in her role as wife.  But as her husband started to neglect her and look elsewhere, she became bitter and vicious.  She took her anger out on the servants and on the children of her sister.  Finally, Aife determined to strike a blow Lir would never forget.  She loaded the children in a coach and then stopped along the way at a lake.  There she turned the children into swans and cursed them to remain so for nine hundred years.  In return, Bodhbh turned Aife into a sky demon and cursed her forever.  

This retelling of an old Irish folktale is sad but beautiful.  The writing is lyrical and the reader is swept away into the tale of revenge and eventual redemption.  Each chapter starts with a calligram which is a poem laid out in shapes and a tradition of Irish writing.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.