Daughter of the Storm

April 4, 1994
This engaging follow-up to The Island Harp returns to the 19th-century Scottish Hebrides, where the hardworking, oppressed crofters of Clanna are now faced with eviction by rapacious landowners, who want the acreage for deerstalking, a sport made popular by the Prince Consort. When Mairi MacDonald loses her unborn child while attempting to aid villagers who are being forcibly removed, neighbors entrust her with the raising of an orphaned baby girl whose parents are victims of the Clearances. But Little Christy never feels totally accepted by her foster mother, turning for affection to the MacDonalds' son Davie and to Gran, who shares with the girl her inexhaustible store of folk wisdom and prophesizes that Christy has the gift to play the Cridhe, the magic harp. When an accident befalls Davie, Christy's life is sadly altered and she comes to doubt Gran's prophecy, until events sweep to a happy conclusion. Williams is an adept writer who endows her quickly moving plot with unexpected twists. Her novel satisfies as a first-rate historical adventure, an evocation of the beauties of the Scottish landscape and a fascinating glimpse of a little-known culture.