A River Enchanted

Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to outdated and offensive terms for children whose parents are not married, which are replicated only in direct quotes of the source.

“This place was dark and quiet with dreams.”

Jack’s description of the town of Woe on the mainland sets the tone for his journey to Cadence. He has dreamt repetitively of returning home, even though he claims Cadence is no longer his homeland. The seaside town is dark and ominous, but the ominous tone is immediately contradicted by the serene imagery of dreams.

“The women—one dead and one living—were connected by love and blood and soil. Three cords that were so interwoven that Sidra was not surprised that Donella appeared to her and her alone.”

The connection between Sidra and Donella is important to Sidra’s character development. Donella helps Sidra realize that she needs to heal herself and her lost faith before she can heal Torin and that Torin does love her. The friendship between the two women, though one is a ghost, empowers Sidra as a mother, wife, and healer.

“And her faith in the folk of the earth ran deep. It was because of that devotion that Sidra could heal the worst of wounds and illnesses in the east. It was why her herbs, flowers, and vegetables flourished, empowering her to nourish and heal the community and her family.”

Sidra’s faith is integral to her character arc. Through the spirits she can heal, but when her faith is lost, she struggles to heal Torin. In order to heal him, she must regain her faith in the earth spirits and reconnect to the land that means so much to her.