What do you think?
Rate this book
The River Daughter
An entrancing, atmospheric and lyrical novel that brings the beauty and mystery of the Australian bush alive on the page. Feeling isolated and alone with her beloved aunt about to move overseas, Alisa begins unpacking the boxes her aunt has had to leave behind. In one of them, she discovers her father's old sketchbook with a mysterious drawing of a white egret at a waterhole. When the newly unearthed sketchbook is stolen, Alisa begins to experience a series of strange and magical a visit by an otherworldly stranger; a friend's sister lost in the bush; animals around her imbued with an uncanny knowing, and the feeling that someone out there is watching her. Impelled to make sense of these happenings, Alisa soon realises that she is piecing together the clues to her parents' untimely deaths and ultimately, to the stunning truth about who, or what, she really is. Immerse yourself in the earthly and unearthly mysteries of this mesmerising new novel from Australian author, Alexandra Manfield.
226 pages, Hardcover
Published January 10, 2023
10 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Alexandra Manfield
9 books6 followersAlexandra writes contemporary and futuristic nature fantasy.
She has a background in plant ecology and lives on Wurundjeri country, east of Melbourne, Australia, with a view of the mountains, a wildlife biologist partner, two kiddos and a fearless indoor cat to keep her on her toes.
When not writing, she can be found at the local bookstore or in a forest with her eye to a hand lens.
Alex’s love of the natural world has found a home in her fiction writing.
She has a background in plant ecology and lives on Wurundjeri country, east of Melbourne, Australia, with a view of the mountains, a wildlife biologist partner, two kiddos and a fearless indoor cat to keep her on her toes.
When not writing, she can be found at the local bookstore or in a forest with her eye to a hand lens.
Alex’s love of the natural world has found a home in her fiction writing.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 20, 2020
This is a lovely, magical book with sympathetic characters and scary baddies. The writing style has a poetic beauty and shows knowledge and love for Australian nature. The bush, the water and the animals of the country are important presences throughout. As a fascinating reimagining of a number of myths and legends, it is a book predominantly about strong women and I found it reminiscent of a female Harry Potter with natural magic. It is also a book about the power of images, art and books. The relationship between nature and images taken from her has a deep resonance. This is a strong coming of age, finding-of-magical-self story.
I read it in one stretch, punctuated only by necessary sleep because it was delivered late afternoon. I think this is an impressive debut novel and hope to read more from this author in the future.
I read it in one stretch, punctuated only by necessary sleep because it was delivered late afternoon. I think this is an impressive debut novel and hope to read more from this author in the future.
November 11, 2021
Enchanting
Wonderfully enchanting, suspenseful and engrossing. At times I struggled to follow the storyline and had to reread portions to grasp the various characters and their positions in the story.
Overall a very intriguing storyline with depth and colour.
Wonderfully enchanting, suspenseful and engrossing. At times I struggled to follow the storyline and had to reread portions to grasp the various characters and their positions in the story.
Overall a very intriguing storyline with depth and colour.
August 2, 2022
Like Yet Unlike ...
... the retelling of the fairy tales for adults that deal with shape shifting. Of course, in Australia one might need to expect a whole different twist on magical realms as well as the rules that might govern them!
... the retelling of the fairy tales for adults that deal with shape shifting. Of course, in Australia one might need to expect a whole different twist on magical realms as well as the rules that might govern them!
August 3, 2024
I enjoyed this book that touched on many different myths and legends from all around the world and brought them into a magical world with a deep connection in nature. It was a unique take with some likable characters although I would have appreciated some more depth to them.
November 30, 2021
A little hard to follow sometimes but overall interesting.
February 8, 2022
Great writing but too vague to understand. Never quite understood what was going on.
July 5, 2024
5⭐️
This book was captivating, suspenseful, and magical. The writing and imagery were so beautiful and detailed, and the importance of books, art, images, Australian nature, myths and legends were really inspirited throughout. This book has such a deep soul/spiritual connection kind of feel to it when you read it that it made me really want to take my time and really let the words and the imagery sink in.
The characters were strong, and had interesting backgrounds and story arcs. I really loved Alisa’s character arc, and her self-journey throughout the book, and I really loved Nellie and Freda. I mean who doesn’t love book cats? But also… Freda is just awesome for reasons I will not spoil in this review. I found I never really wanted to put down the book, I just always wanted to know what was going to happen next. The plot just kept me hooked despite being a little bit hard to follow with the point of view shifts and figuring out who’s POV it was.
Aside from this issue, I don’t really have any other criticism, the strength of the characters, their development, the plot, the writing and everything else just makes this book shine. It is one of my favourites.
This book was captivating, suspenseful, and magical. The writing and imagery were so beautiful and detailed, and the importance of books, art, images, Australian nature, myths and legends were really inspirited throughout. This book has such a deep soul/spiritual connection kind of feel to it when you read it that it made me really want to take my time and really let the words and the imagery sink in.
The characters were strong, and had interesting backgrounds and story arcs. I really loved Alisa’s character arc, and her self-journey throughout the book, and I really loved Nellie and Freda. I mean who doesn’t love book cats? But also… Freda is just awesome for reasons I will not spoil in this review. I found I never really wanted to put down the book, I just always wanted to know what was going to happen next. The plot just kept me hooked despite being a little bit hard to follow with the point of view shifts and figuring out who’s POV it was.
Aside from this issue, I don’t really have any other criticism, the strength of the characters, their development, the plot, the writing and everything else just makes this book shine. It is one of my favourites.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews