The River Has Roots

A jewel of a novella from New York Times bestselling, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award–winning author Amal El-Mohtar — her first solo work since the global phenomenon This Is How You Lose the Time War.

In the village of Thistleford on the edge of Faerie, the Hawthorn sisters — Esther and Ysabel — tend their family's apple orchard, and sing to the river that runs alongside it. Like generations of Hawthorn women before them, their songs are old, and the river listens.

Esther is the dreamer. She is in love. Ysabel is the protector. She watches the river. And when something darker than either of them could have anticipated comes to Thistleford, the sisters' bond — and the songs that have bound their family to this enchanted place — will be tested in ways they never imagined.

The River Has Roots is a fairy tale rooted in folk song, a love story, a tale of grammar and grief and grace, written by one of the most lyrical voices in contemporary literary fantasy.

About the author

Amal El-Mohtar is a Lebanese-Canadian writer of fiction, poetry, and criticism. She is the co-author, with Max Gladstone, of the New York Times bestselling and Hugo, Nebula, Locus, BSFA, and Aurora Award–winning novella This Is How You Lose the Time War. Her short fiction has won the Hugo Award, the Locus Award, and the Nebula Award. She writes the Otherworldly column for the New York Times Book Review, and has taught creative writing at the University of Ottawa. The River Has Roots is her debut solo work.

Perfect for readers of

Susanna Clarke's Piranesi, T. Kingfisher, Catherynne M. Valente, Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver, and anyone who loves their fantasy lyrical, folkloric, and deeply sisterly.