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Library and Archives Canada  •  395 Wellington Street
8:30pm

The River Has Roots

with Amal El-Mohtar

Hosted by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Saturday
May , 2025
3
The River Has Roots
Amal El-Mohtar · Photo by Jim C. Hines

When it comes to storytelling, Amal El-Mohtar is like one of the grammarians of Thistleford, a magician capable of deftly transforming the familiar into the unfamiliar and the numinous into the humane. The River Has Roots is an utterly enchanting tale of love and longing, language and song, and the unbreakable bond of sisterhood.”

Fonda Lee

Join us in celebration of The River Has Roots, the hugely anticipated solo debut of the New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award winning Ottawa author Amal El-Mohtar.

 

In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family. There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.

 

But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favour of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…

 

 

Books are available from our friends at Perfect Books.

 

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