Staff Picks: The Dark Mirror by Juliet Marillier

Recommended by Rhonda Konig, Reference Supervisor.

In this book Marillier weaves an engrossing tale about a young Pict boy named Bridei. Bridei is educated in a powerful druid’s household for a daunting future role that is not revealed to him until he reaches adulthood. It is a lonely life for him until the Shining One chooses to send him a fairy sister who he names Tuala. Broichan does not approve of Tuala, but lets her stay in his household so as to not offend the god who sent her. Readers will love the detail about the Pict culture and the bonds that form between her uniquely skilled characters.

I first discovered Marillier when I was working at another library. Her first novel, Daughter of the Forest, was based on the fairy tale “The Wild Swan.” Since I had recently read another novel based on the same fairy tale, I was curious to see another take on it.

If you like this book, I also recommend The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It's another fantasy novel based on another mythology: the King Arthur legends.

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