The enemy's daughter by Melissa Poett
Canadian writer, Melissa Poett, enjoys writing in the fantasy/dystopian genre. The enemy's daughter is a reimagining of the medieval romantic legend of Tristan and Isolde in terms of forbidden love and the taking of potions/pain on behalf of the other. The romantic protagonists in The enemy's daughter are named Tristan and Isadora - close enough! Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet also strongly comes to mind.
In the Acknowledgements found at the end of the book, Poett thanks her publishers for advising her to change the setting from a post apocalyptic world to a dystopian world. Thus The enemy's daughter is set in a world (more specifically - a time) that is twenty seven years after the world cataclysm in a new world where people have found areas where the earth is safe enough to live. These people have developed lifestyles apart from each other and are not really aware of each other, staying strictly within their boundaries for safety's sake. Stories are told about the outsiders. The enemy's daughter focuses on the people who live in the Five Clans with our heroine, Isadora, a herbal healer in the Hanook Clan. Their lifestyle seems medieval in its primitive technology, housing, medicine and social structure with women having no power at all. Of course, our hero, Tristan, is immediate heir to the leadership of Kingsland, a far more sophisticated survivor group, who have, in the same timespan, managed to create a far more enlightened society.
The fantasy map illustration in the endpapers (which we have come to expect in fantasy books) was hand drawn by London-based freelance illustrator Nicolette Caven. The detailed map features the republic, surrounded by the Badlands and including Kingsland that is separated from The Clans by a forest.
The story begins with the murder of Tristan's father by Isadora's clan and with Tristan saving Isadora's life. In the process of saving her, they become forever linked by a powerful magic bond. Naturally, Isadora is going to be drawn away from her clansmen and attracted to Tristan and she is going to suffer all sorts of conflicting loyalties is she not? Of course there is a jealous boyfriend. Of course Isadora is gorgeous and powerful and being daughter of the head of a Clan she is about to be married off as a political pawn. Their developing and passionate love is of course going to be verboten. Though terrible peril ensues, Tristan and Isadora's love and "connection" remains more powerful than the peril, underpinned by the magical bond which must be read about to be understood.
Poett delights in the slow burn of passion. Who cannot read on with sentences like..."My teacherous heart flutters"..."It is intoxicating..." Both of our protagonists have allegiance and duty. Both want peace. Theirs is a powerful passion. Can their opposing loyalties be reconciled? Poett places the action within fantastic settings. The characters are well rounded and most importantly true to each other. The storyline is circular and plays out according to good (not dark) romance rules. The ending is unnecessarily long-winded. Not every knot has to be tied and things don't have to be too perfect. Sometimes to leave the reader with a bit of mystery is a good thing - to know where to end...
Poett handles the heightened passion and slow burn of romance well. The romance is emotionally and physically intense but remains within the boundaries of propriety which makes The enemy's daughter age-appropriate for Middle and High school age students - another enemies-to-lovers romance.
Themes: Romance, Coming of age, Enemies-to-lovers, Allegiance, Treachery, Dystopia.
Wendy Jeffrey