Daughter of the Merciful Deep

Jane Edwards lives in Awenasa, a small and thriving town next to the Noxahatchie River owned by its beloved and Black founder, Old George. Jane has been seeing white men in black Model T Fords going around speaking to residents and she knows something nefarious is afoot. One day she sees a face she could not have possibly seen — and she knows the river has something to do with it. She'll find herself on an impossible and unfathomable journey to save everything and everyone she loves, with the unlikeliest of helpers along the way.

A historical fiction fantasy that will transport you to small town America in the 1930s. All is on display, from the community's beauty and vibrancy to the injustice and cruelty of the Jim Crow era, white supremacy and hate. Penelope again brings her knack for realizing true American history in the form of fantastical fiction, this time in a work with gods and a magic that revolves around objects, memories and sacrifice. It will make you cry, love, hurt and remember. If you read stories exploring trauma and forgiveness, enjoy historical fiction or are a fan of Rivers Solomon I'd recommend this to you. I say Solomon for the way they write protagonists you love and root for, while not at all shying away from the brutality of racism and what white supremacy will do because of their hate and to make claims of what they think is theirs.

I received an early ARC and had really high expectations because I absolutely loved The Monsters We Defy by the same author. Penelope yet again presents a MC that feels like a real woman who is both ordinary and extraordinary. Jane clearly has secrets and I wanted to know more, and there is a looming threat and lore that are revealed – and I am always a sucker for stories that bring the gods to the page – so I was quite hooked and invested from the beginning. Around 25-30% I began to have some pacing and abrupt transition issues, and felt like I was reading a tome even though it is far from it, and for me it picked up again around the 70% mark. There is also heavier on-page content in this release and I found it harder to compartmentalize so I took some reading breaks. Again you have characters that shine, but really it was Awenasa and the tertiary characters that eclipsed Jane and the secondary characters for me. Jane's dad and the townspeople felt like real people, yet they danced on page and brought so much life and joy to the story. Which is fantastic because it is a point. Even though the story is a first-person, (mostly) single POV about Jane, her trauma and journey of self-forgiveness, Awenasa and its people are equally as important as a character and all the things that come with a beautiful community: love, compassion, gossip, care, fear, joy, forgiveness, coming together and so much more. I so badly wanted a happy ending for Jane and Awenasa, and Penelope warmed my heart with such a powerful story where ancestry and familial and communal love radiates to your soul.

I understand that not every fantasy reader enjoys the historical-fantasy mashup, yet I will still say everyone should try at least one Penelope story. In comparing this new release and Monsters, I'd say for me the journey through Monsters was smoother than Daughter, but while Monsters is an all time favorite I think Daughter has deeply impacted my being and it is not one I will forget for years to come. Penelope is solidified as an auto-read author for me at this point and I strongly suspect we'll see a lot more from her. I look forward to exploring more of what she cooks up next AND I need to go back to her releases as L. Penelope.

Handle with care: Hanging – there is on-page of imagery of a man hanging after death and it is a very emotional and difficult scene. Slavery – there is depiction of a slave ship in a storm and lives lost to the sea across 1-2 pages.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook Publishing for an opportunity to do an early review of Daughters of the Merciful Deep. These thoughts and ramblings are the product of my nervous system (a.k.a. they are my own).