Book: The Washwoman at the River's End by Megan Shade
Reviewed by Halliday in the Books
Rating: 3.5/5
In Scottish folklore, there is a story of the Bean-nighe, or the Washwoman. She washes the clothes of the dying to cleanse their souls for what will come in the After . In this version, her name is Bea, and she was once mortal. That was more than a century ago now. One of the Fates known as the Cutter cursed her into this role as punishment for her sins. Now, she must witness a vision of every death that comes to pass in her realm before their clothing floats to her down the river.
Six years ago, she escaped her captivity in desperation. It only served to make everything worse. She now wears a chain on her ankle and bloodstains on her hands, all impossible to remove. The fragmented memories she carries of that night continue to haunt her. It’s already the worst punishment she can imagine, and then Brennen arrives. He’s devoted to the Cutter and has orders to guard Bea to ensure she doesn’t disappear again, since women have been going missing. He’s meant to make sure she stays tethered until he can find a way to end her immortality and her life.
This was an incredibly atmospheric read. It was brooding and wistful with a leisurely pace, but a lot of moving parts. It was a perfect fit for the setting, which was fully immersive and breathtaking. I really enjoyed seeing so much folklore brought in from Scotland and Ireland as well as the languages. Pretty much all of it is easy to pick up from context, but there is also an extensive glossary in the back of figures and terminology.
Beyond that, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I wanted to. I would have preferred a faster pacing, or at least one that was more even. For the majority of the book, there’s little progress in the plot, but a lot of introspection and character development. This is only problematic because it forces a rapid series of reveals at the end that the reader doesn’t have time to absorb. Each subsequent reveal loses a measure of impact it could have had with greater spacing.
The romance didn’t fully hit the mark for me either. In an enemies-to-lovers romance ARC, it’s expected for the main characters to wrong one another in the beginning. In order to find that satisfying, I need to see the characters earn the necessary forgiveness. The starting point here includes nonconsensual touching. This, among other actions, leads to regret and apologies as usual. However, there are then subsequent moments of dubious consent. It felt incongruous, but more importantly, that’s simply not for me.
I’m not yet sure whether I’ll pick up the next installment of this series. There were a lot of elements here keeping my attention all the way through even if I can’t give this five stars. I am curious where the author is going to go with the mythology, and I did like the character that I expect the next book to focus on. Time will tell.