The Marsh King's Daughter

Written by Karen Dionne

Narrated by Emily Rankin

Praised by Lee Child and Karin Slaughter, and sure to thrill fans of The Girl on the Train and The Widow, The Marsh King's Daughter is mesmerizing psychological suspense, the story of a woman who must risk everything to hunt down the dangerous man who shaped her past and threatens to steal her future: her father.

At last, Helena Pelletier has the life she deserves. A loving husband, two beautiful daughters, a business that fills her days. Then she catches an emergency news announcement and realizes she was a fool to think she could ever leave her worst days behind her.

Helena has a secret: she is the product of an abduction. Her mother was kidnapped as a teenager by her father and kept in a remote cabin in the marshlands of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. No electricity, no heat, no running water, not a single human beyond the three of them. Helena, born two years after the abduction, loved her home in nature - fishing, tracking, hunting. And despite her father's odd temperament and sometimes brutal behavior, she loved him, too...until she learned precisely how savage a person he could be.

More than 20 years later, she has buried her past so soundly that even her husband doesn't know the truth. But now her father has killed two guards, escaped from prison, and disappeared into the marshland he knows better than anyone else in the world. The police commence a manhunt, but Helena knows they don't stand a chance. Knows that only one person has the skills to find the survivalist the world calls the Marsh King - because only one person was ever trained by him: his daughter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Little, Brown (Hachette UK) Audio
• Release date: Jun 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781405536899

Reviews for The Marsh King's Daughter

[jrlibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Warning. This review contains one minor spoiler not mentioned on the book jacket summary. A woman is kidnapped as a very young girl and taken to live in isolation as the wife of the abductor. She eventually gives birth to a daughter, Helena, who grows up in the marsh being trained by her dad in all kinds of wilderness survival including tracking, what plants are edible wild, and the killing of game through traps, knife and rifles. His parenting is harsh, cruel and often both psychologically and physically abusive, but Helena just accepts it all as normal. She knows her dad and when she defies him, like the time she refuses to shoot a wolf, she is well aware that there will be severe consequences for her disobedience but rebels anyway. Helena’s mom helps her when she can but can’t risk the wrath of her husband because everyone knows he would not hesitate to kill her. Mom and daughter have an opportunity for escape (one of my favourite parts of the book) which is brilliantly written. I swear I was holding my breath for several pages. They do escape and when the book begins Helena is now a grown woman with a husband and two young daughters who know nothing of her harsh wilderness upbringing. She hears on the radio that The Marsh King has killed two guards and escaped from prison. She listens to the details of the futile chase for the escaped convict and realizes that the only person who has a reasonable hope of tracking and capturing him is her. She knows she has to hunt her dad and do whatever is necessary to keep her family safe. The book alternates between flashbacks to her young life growing up in the marsh and present time as she begins to track her dad.The Marsh King’s Daughter is hands down my favourite book read in 2021 so far. I loved the fierce determination of Helena. At one point she’s injured and does something she knows will REALLY hurt just because it’s the only option she has. I was awestruck and cheering her on the whole time. This is definitely not a book for those with delicate reading tastes who are upset by violence. If you can’t watch Rambo movies (Sylvester Stallone)… you probably wouldn’t enjoy this either. However I LOVED her capabilities and how she applied her skills when needed and just did what she needed to do to survive. Plus, there’s a dog and those who know me know that’s pretty much a guaranteed like.In case I haven’t been crystal clear… I highly recommend this if you’re looking for an original psychological thriller.

[charon07 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Some parts of this book were pretty harrowing and stressful to listen to. But a very interesting conceit to use H.C. Andersen’s fairy tale of the same name to parallel the plot and, in a way, the psychological and moral dilemmas of the protagonist.

[purple_pisces22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well that was definitely a ride. They were all kinds of ups and downs, twists and thrillls in this one. It wasn’t perfect, but it kept me on the edge of my seat. In fact, the whole book was a bit crazy, but in a good way. I think the characters behaved exactly as they should have...And the ending was perfect and very fitting.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne was a rather confusing mesh of a thriller about a daughter tracking her escaped convict of a father through the wilderness and the coming-of-age story about how this same daughter grew up under the care of a psychopath in a remote swamp in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.Helena’s father had kidnapped her mother when she was 14 and had taken her to a remote part of the wilderness. Helena was born and raised there. Not knowing the back story of her father and mother, she actually idolized her father and considered her mother weak. It wasn’t until she was twelve that she started to question why they lived the way the way they did. Helena and her mother escaped, but even as an adult, Helena still felt guilty about leaving her father. She has created a good life for herself, married a fine man and has two children, but she could never bring herself to tell her husband the story of her childhood or who she really is. Now that her father is loose, she knows she is the only one who has the skills to track him and she soon finds out, he needs to be stopped as he has his sights on her family.As much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t connect with the present day story. I actually preferred the flashbacks about her growing up years and how she slowly started to understand what was really going on with her family. I found the mature Helena to be smug, unsympathetic and secretive. I realize that in order to find closure Helena needed this final confrontation with her father but it was frustrating as her conflicted feelings about him caused her to hesitate repeatedly. At this point she knows he is a cold blooded murderer, has already wounded her, and makes it very clear that he intends to take her and her daughters into the Canadian wilderness so I found her continual hesitation quite unbelievable. I do applaud the author for both her original story-line and some great nature descriptions.

[n.w.moors-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good suspense story. It was somewhat predictable but I liked it because it was a different premise from other thrillers I've read.Helena Pelletier lived with her parents in an isolated marsh growing up. She didn't realize it was because her father had kidnapped her mother. She learned everything about the wild environment from her father. Now she's grown, having escaped from the marsh, and with a husband and children of her own. Her father has escaped from prison and Helena is the only one who can track him.I liked the Hans Christian Anderson quotes; they fit in with the story really well. The story itself goes back and forth between the present and the past. I happened to like the bits about the past better as I found the present sections a bit unrealistic. (She never tells her husband about her father and her past life growing up). It's a quick read and enjoyable though you can see what's going to happen.

[katiekrug · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A decent enough quasi-thriller with literary pretensions. Some of the writing was good, but I couldn't warm up to the main character and so can't rate it more than 3.5 stars.It has a great setting - the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - which Dionne describes beautifully.

[susan0316 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This fantastic novel takes place in a remote cabin the the marshlands of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. If it seems strange to the reader that anywhere can be as remote as this cabin was, let me assure you that there are still areas like this in Michigan's UP where a person could hide for years. This book grabbed me on the first page and kept me enthralled until the end. It was interesting to see how the attitudes of the main character towards her parents changed throughout the book as she grew up and became a mother too.The story is told by Helena as an adult with a lot of flashbacks to her younger years. She didn't realize it until she was 14 but her mother had been kidnapped by her father at age 14 and held captive in a remote area of northern Michigan. Helena worshiped her father when she was growing up - she hunted and fished with him and spent most of her waking hours with him. She had him on a high pedestal. She also mirrored her father's negative opinion of her mother and didn't have much regard for her mother when she was growing up. The hero worship of her father in her younger years could have been difficult to understand but Helena didn't know any better, she didn't realize that their lives were any different from other people because she never saw anyone but her parents as she was growing up. Twenty years after she and her mother escaped and her father went to prison, she has buried her past and kept it a secret even from her husband. When her father escapes from prison, she knows that she is the only person who can find him before he inflicts harm on other people. The way that the story is told with Helena's search for her father as an adult and flashbacks to her childhood in the marsh, helps to make this novel very suspenseful. Helena is a well down main character who changes throughout the novel. The setting is beautiful even though the circumstances are horrific. This is a beautifully written, suspenseful novel with a main character that I won't soon forget.

[carol420 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The book excels on a couple of counts. First, the author creates suspense by alternating chapters between the past and present. Sometimes that is a little confusing but in this case it works very well. Secondly, the characters are excellent...especially Helen. As she learns more about her parents her character grows and develops into someone that you can't help but like and admire. The story is chilling and psychological, but one of the most original...gripping... and beautifully told that I have read in some time.

[readingover50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a child, Helena was unaware of the circumstances surrounding her upbringing. Her mother was kidnapped as a teen by Jacob Holbrook, and held captive in a cabin in the marsh. Helena spends the first 12 years of her life living on the marsh with her mother and father, and never interacting with other humans. For her, life is normal. Until an event occurs when she is 12 that allows Helena and her mom to escape. As an adult, Helena has changed her name and made a new life for herself. She is married with 2 children and a husband who knows nothing of her past. That is until her father, the so-called "Marsh King" escapes from prison.

The book alternates between Helena's present and her past. In the present, she is tracking her father, trying to find him before he can hurt her or her family. In the past, we learn the story of her childhood, with a father who is abusive and controlling, but also teaches her how to survive in the wilderness. I really enjoyed the parts about her childhood. They were fascinating. It felt like a whole different book. The storyline set in the present was interesting, but read more like a thriller.

I feel like the abuse of her childhood was downplayed a little. As a child, Helena loves her father and idolizes him. It is only as she grows older that she begins to see his flaws. Helena's mother is very under-formed. It would have been nice to see more of her story, but since this is Helena's story, we see the mother through her eyes.

I recommend this books to fans of thrillers, and look forward to reading more from this author.

I received a free ARC from Penguin's First to Read program in exchange for my honest review.

[techeditor_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two stories are going on in THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER. One story is Helena’s past when she grew up with her father, dubbed “The Marsh King,” after he kidnapped and raped her mother; the other is Helena’s present after she learns of her father’s escape from prison. At first, I thought I was not going to like THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER because the first quarter of the book contains too many details that do not advance the story. But I continued reading because of Karen Dionne’s skillful descriptions of life among Michigan’s Upper Peninsula’s marshes and navigation in the area. Throughout THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER I wondered how she was able to do this so well that I felt like I was there, even getting cold when Helena fell in the marsh and when she was forced to spend three days in a well.But, I promise, the two stories do become tense and unputdownable. Dionne’s ability to describe tracking someone in the marshy area does this in Helena’s present-day story of searching for her father (although I wasn’t convinced she couldn’t have left this to the police). And the story of Helena’s interactions with “The Hunter” and of bringing her mother and herself to safety is equally as tense and unputdownable, especially because Dionne tells both stories at the same time.So I was glad I finished reading THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER and upgrade my original rating of three stars to four.

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER by KAREN DIONNE has been on TBR for a while now and when I saw that my library had it available in audiobook, I jumped at the chance to listen to this one. It is a fast-paced suspenseful psychological thriller that hooked me from the very beginning and didn't let go until the last page. I couldn't stop listening and found myself doing chores (baking, dishes, folding laundry) just so I could keep listening.

THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER is told from Helena’s point of view, alternating between the past and the present. In the present, Helena is happily married with two little girls living on her grandparent's property. She hears the news that "The Marsh King" has escaped from prison. What we learn is that he is her father, who has been in prison for kidnapping her mother at a young age, fathering a child with his captive and murder. She knows she has to keep her family safe and in her mind the best way to do that is to have a showdown with her father. In the past we learn all about her childhood of being raised in captivity where she is actually oblivious to the fact that she and her Mother are being held captive by her father. The way that Helena lived and survived while growing up in the marsh was actually quite amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed her story. Her story from the past and present were both equally compelling to me.

This story is described as a mystery and thriller, but I found it to be an excellent drama that was very character driven. There is a rather brutal hunting scene described that many people my find upsetting, but it was used to describe how the native people hunted. Overall, this was a riveting, suspenseful, fast-paced read with a wonderful ending. There was some angst, dark situations, and suspense all rolled into this atmospheric story. The narration of this book was wonderful. Emily Rankin did a great job building tension and displaying the emotion that Helena was feeling. I definitely recommend this story to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers that are very character driven.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story of a girl born in captivity (her mother was kidnapped and forced to live an isolated existence as her father's "wife" for fourteen years in the Minnesota Upper Peninsula marsh) and dealing with the aftermath of her childhood reminded me just a little of Educated by Tara Westover, which I recently read. This is quite often suspenseful, but I found the writing to frequently be choppy and repetitive. I understand Helena's conflicted love for her father, but her continued lack of empathy for her mother even into adulthood disturbed me, and I don't think she ever really addressed the enormity of the trauma she suffered. I found the final "hunt" to be a bit of a letdown, as well, but overall this was a decent read.

[nancyadair-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After I read The Marsh King's Daughter on First Look Book Club, and did not win a copy of the book, I requested the galley but did not get one. It has garnered rave reviews. It is set in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan and mentions places I have seen on vacation: Tahquamenon Falls, Seney, and Newberry. Karen Dionne is a Metro Detroit author. Last spring, I put my name on the waiting list to borrow the ebook from the library through Libby. It finally came to me this week!I read it in two evenings, staying up late to finish it. Helena has kept her past a secret from her husband. She needed to escape the public eye so she changed her name and created another past. Her carefully constructed world come toppling down when the police come to her door because her father has escaped from prison. Helena's husband learns she is the daughter of the infamous Marsh King who had kidnapped her teenaged mother. and held her, and their child, hostage for years.Helena grew up in the marshes, admiring her father who taught her to hunt and survive on the land. He had a brutal side and dealt out harsh punishments. She did not know anything else until she saw a happy family at Tahquamenon Falls--the first outsiders she had ever seen. When Helena was fourteen her mother tells her the truth, and Helena orchestrates their escape.Helena knows she is the only person who can find her father. While she tracks her father through the territory she explored at his side we learn of her childhood and understand her turmoil. Helena knows too well her father is a narcissistic psychopath, but she also recalls how she loved him and the wilderness survival skills he taught her.The novel is informed by Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale The Marsh King's Daughter. Michigan is beautifully portrayed in Dionne's descriptions. The wildness, the flora and fauna, the tourist traps, and the brutal deforestation are all encountered. The Marsh King’s Daughter is in development as a feature film.

[mjspear_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Helena Pelletier seems to have a normal middle class life: a loving husband, two beautiful daughters, and a side business selling home-made jams and jellies. Life in Michigan's Upper Peninsular is tough... little does the reader know how tough. Helena has a secret: she is the product of rape when her mother was abducted as a teen. She is raised in the wilds of the UP without electricity, heat, or modern conveniences and totally isolated from all other humans. In an effort to distance herself from this terrible past, she has not told her husband. And then the day comes when her father escapes from prison. He is headed straight for Helena --and her family. Part wilderness survival tale, part thriller, part psychological study (mixed feelings re: her dad, indeed!), part fable (ties in with Andersen's fairy tale of the same name). Unlike other readers, I did not always find the book gripping. And while not an expert at who-done-its I thought there were some plot gaps (just how did she learn to read so well with no formal schooling and only National Geographic magazines?) I found the father to be pretty one-dimensional (he's dismissed as "narcissistic"!) He was truly evil and mentally ill... a more skilled writer might have been made him more sympathetic and believable. Nonetheless, I read it in three sittings and the Michigan setting, for this 'gander, is an added bonus.

[musichick52 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wilderness man kidnaps a young teenager who births a daughter. Daddy Dearest trains the girl in survival techniques. He is abusive in all ways. Fast forward twenty years and this daughter has a family of her own. Daddy has been in prison but escapes by killing his guards. Problem: She has not told her family about him and now she knows he is coming for them. She sets out alone to track him, which is just what he wants. The end is a shocker. My thanks to the author and the Penguin First to Read program for a complimentary copy.

[linda.marsheells · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have to admit that the name alone was part of the attraction, despite that idiocy, i loved this book......one of the best i've read in a while! Dionne has created a unique, breath-holding novel. Helena grew up in the marshy wilderness of the upper peninsula of Michigan, she knows no other life. Her mother was abducted as a young teenager by her Native American father. They lived for 12 years in an abandoned cabin, eating what they shot or grew and jams her mum taught her to make. She grew up simply, on her fathers stories, old National Geographics and violence. It was the norm for all her life.... till one day when a stranger arrives. Fast forward years later when she herself has children and she learns that her father has escaped prison. And she knows where he is headed.....

[bookczuk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was hesitant to read this for a couple of reasons, but ended up really glad I did, and even learned a few things, to boot, among which was how little I knew of the UP.

[tangledthread · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the story explores the life of Helena who was born to a mother who had been kidnapped and sequestered by her father. Helena is the primary narrator of the story which opens as she learns that her father has escaped from prison and has murdered a prison guard in the process. She knows that he is coming for her. She also knows that she is probably the only one who would be able to track him down.Her father raised and educated her to be strong and self reliant, sometimes through extremely abusive means. The story jumps back and forth from Helena's memories of growing up, to the present day where she is a wife and mother, living in a remote area. She knows how her father's mind works and she has every reason to fear him. The author has done an excellent job of creating a suspenseful story, where the main character is well drawn and held true through out the story. She also does a great job of capturing life in the Upper Peninsula.

[smik_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Extracts from the Marsh King's Daughter, a fable by Hans Christian Anderson, appear at the beginning of some sections of the story. They appear to be directing the reader to the conclusion that girl in the fable had dual personality, or perhaps that every one of us is capable of ambivalence.I kept thinking of how things have changed culturally throughout history, that if Helena's father had committed this abduction, the choosing and taking of a wife, two hundred years earlier, in Indian culture this would have been an acceptable way of doing things.Helena grows up unaware that her father has done anything wrong although she recognises that he has an angry side to his personality, that he is capable of meting out swift and cruel punishments to her and her mother.Although Helena adores her father, and despises her mother, she eventually escapes and is responsible for his captures and imprisonment. Her narration in the book swaps between her experiences as child and the life she has built for herself since her escape. Now her father has escaped after 15 years of imprisonment and she knows he is looking for her.

[brangwinn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a page-turner. That’s all I’m going to say. I don’t want to ruin the story by telling you more.

[she_climber · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book brought together some of my favorite things: A thrilling suspense, living in nature, survival skills, and a creepy villain that you love to hate. And one thing I dislike: the ending of a story you hope never ends. This story will just grab you and not let go until the very end. The back and forth between Helena of yesterday, a child born and raised out of horrendous circumstances, to Helena to today, a woman/mother/wife brought back to face the duplicity of her upbringing from a cruel but worshiped father. The biggest hole in the story to me was her mother after they made their way back to civilization. I know the story wasn't about her, but I craved to know more about what she was going through as well. This book would throw me back into the William Kent Krueger/Cork O'Connor world of the Ojibwe Native Americans and Gitche Manitou, which was fun for me as I love those books as well.

[seasonsoflove_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In The Marsh King's Daughter, Dionne deftly and deeply explores the bonds and breaking of families, through the unique lens of a narrator who is the daughter of a kidnapping victim and her kidnapper.Helena has formed a family of her own, with a new last name and a past she has hidden away. She is the daughter of a woman kidnapped and held captive for years, and the kidnapper. But when her father escapes from prison, Helena must confront her past and all her father taught her, because she is the only one who can track him down.Dionne does a really good job of alternating between past and present to build suspense. Readers learn of Helena's upbringing and all her father taught her about hunting and tracking, and then see her put those skills to use in a high-stakes chase of the self-same father.What is particularly compelling about this book is how much Dionne makes you think as she spins a highly suspenseful tale. Helena's father was not only a kidnapper and captor, but a brutal one, but he was also the only father Helena ever knew. Helena's mother seemed so passive and meek during Helena's childhood, but she was also a woman forced to live as wife to the man who had stolen her from her life. Helena must figure out what she feels about the people who created her, and what this means for her future with the family she has chosen.

[jane3phillips-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I could not put this expertly written novel down. Helena, the daughter of the Marsh King, is the product of an abduction after her father had abducted her mother as a young teenager. Raised in the marshes of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Helena and her mother eventually escape and her father sent to prison. Years later, Helena is married with too small girls. The Marsh King escapes from prison and Helena knows that she must hunt him before he can hunt her and her family. The novel weaves the past and the present chapter by chapter, revealing Helena's childhood story and eventually climaxing with the original escape from the marsh and the present day escape from her father.

[jenn88-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

A notorious child abductor, known as the Marsh King, has just escaped from a maximum security prison and Helena immediately knows that she and her two young daughters are in danger. Helena is the Marsh King's daughter. She was born into captivity and didn't leave the cabin or the surrounding area until she was twelve.

I won this through a Goodreads giveaway and was so looking forward to reading it once I got my hands on it. But after reading about SO MANY dead animals and every excruciating detail about every little thing, especially the chapters about when she was a kid growing up in the wilderness, I had to set it aside. I would pick it up every now and then but it wasn't holding my attention and at a third of the way through I didn't care anymore. It was too tedious so I skimmed. While skimming I came across more dead animals and decided to just skip to the end, which came as no surprise to me.

[janarose1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Helena's mother was abducted and gave birth to her in captivity. Until she was a teenager, Helena lived with her parents in the middle of the swamp without electricity, running water, or modern conveniences. As an adult, Helena has put her past behind her and now has a devoted husband and two beautiful daughters. When her father escapes from prison, her life is turned upside down.This is one of those books that you stay up all night reading. I couldn't put it down. It was well written, the characters were dynamic and the story moved quickly. I can't wait for the author's next book. Highly recommended.

[flourgirl49 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Engrossing. Stunning. One of the best books I've read this year.

[twink_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Karen's Dionne's newest novel, The Marsh King's Daughter has been getting so much press - I was eager to listen to it.Helena was born to her sixteen year old mother and her mother's kidnapper, a survivalist known as The Marsh King. The three lived deep in the marsh, in a rustic cabin, hidden for twelve years. Helena did escape and is now a mother to two little girls. She has changed her name and hidden her history - not even her husband knows her background. But when she hears a news report about her father's escape from prison, she knows he is coming for her. He trained her in wilderness survival and she will now need all her skills to find him and......There seems to be more and more of these real life abduction stories in the news, with movies and books following. And somehow it is hard not to want to know more. Dionne takes a real life situation and puts her own (great) spin on things.The Marsh King's Daughter is told from Helena's viewpoint, both past and present. Because she has only her mother and father as references, her early views of the world and relationships are skewed. She adores her father, not realizing that their family unit is not normal. Her treatment of and attitude towards her mother is not pretty. We get to 'know' her father better through her adult memories. Those memories are triggered by the need for adult Helena to find and capture her father. Are her skills equal to his? Or better.....Dionne has written an addictive thriller - I ended up listening to 'just one more chapter' long into the night. And the final few chapters made it impossible to stop listening. Readers will be firmly in Helena's camp, holding their breath as a cat and mouse game plays out - in both the past and the present.Cut between chapters are excerpts from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale - The Marsh King's Daughter. The excerpts used often mirror what is currently happening in the book.I was thinking as I was listening to The Marsh King's Daughter that it would make a great movie. Dionne just announced last week that screen rights have been sold.Emily Rankin was the narrator for this audiobook. Her voice suited both young and adult Helen - innocence and later determination. She communicates the tension, danger and suspense of thise novel well. Her voice is easily understood and pleasant to listen to.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Warning: Be prepared to lose all track of time immersing yourself in this exceptional read! Author, Karen Dionne took me on a journey. Instantly, I shared a connection with Helena and her father aka "The Marsh King". This book was equally balanced between the past and the present. The flow from the different time lines was seamless. What drew me towards Helena is that she showcased both love and hate for her father. Yet, as a reader, I slowly got to experience each emotion and how it affected Helena as she grew up. She is a fighter. She has her father's spirit. So, it only made sense that she would be the one to face off in a battle of the hunter and the hunted with her father. As the story progressed, I came to see Helena's father as a person and not just a monster. Thus, I came to appreciate their story more then just the game. I loved everything about this book from the beginning, middle, and ending.

[cburnett5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Marsh King’s Daughter was an interesting but disappointing read for me. While I liked the fairy tale aspects of this book, I could have done without the endless descriptions of living off the land and Helena’s father’s cruelty. I recently saw a blurb comparing this to Room, and had I seen that earlier I doubt I would have read the book. I prefer thrillers that move along at a quick pace; instead, this one spends so much time on the very depressing backstory. I was also frustrated that she never seemed to understand how horrible her father had been. I am glad I read The Marsh King’s Daughter since there has been a fair amount of talk about it, but I was happy when it was over.

[arthistorychick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen DionneSource: NetgalleyMy Rating: 4/5 starsMy Review: A little backstory . . . . . If you are a Netgalley frequent flyer, you know some books just aren’t available to US readers. When I found this title, I read the synopsis and knew I absolutely wanted to read it. As I went to click “request” I noticed this book was reserved for UK readers alone. Well, damn! But there was hope and let this be a lesson to you, if you keep looking through all the pages and if you get really, really lucky, you’ll find a second version of the book that’s available to US readers!And so it begins . . . . my review of The Marsh King’s Daughter ?From the beginning, this book reads like a memoir more than a work of fiction and that memoir unfolds just as Helena discovers her father, the Marsh King has violently escaped from his maximum-security prison. No one, literally no one in Helena’s life knows she is the daughter of the infamous Marsh King and had he simply died in his cell as he was meant to, Helena would have never had to reveal her secret nor hunt down her father. As a child, Helena knew only the world her father allowed her to know. She lived with her parents in a small cabin so far off the grid humanity has all but forgotten about them. With no electricity, no plumbing, and certainly no amenities or creature comforts of any kind, Helena learned to live off the land, to survive in places and situations most would never understand. To Helena, her little world was as large and expansive as the known universe and it wasn’t until she was 12 years old that she understood just how evil her father really was. He was cruel on a level rarely seen, and when Helena was finally old enough to understand the extent of her situation, she was also old enough to know she had to change her identity of she had any hope of living a somewhat normal life. With the authorities out in force looking for her father and her husband now privy to her darkest secret, Helena knows with absolute certainty she is the only one who can track down her father and bring him to the justice he deserves. As Helena begins the slow process of tracking her father, she has time to reminisce about her life with her father and the atrocities he perpetrated upon she and her mother over more than a decade of captivity. The moments Helena relives in her memory are some of the best and the worst of her entire life. As an adult, she now understands the lessons her father taught her, both good and bad are the very lessons that will allow her and no other to find him. When the moment comes, even Helena isn’t sure how she will react, but she’s certain her choices and her decisions won’t be based on the fears of child she once was, but on the wisdom of an adult grown from that fearful child. The Bottom Line: I’m not entirely sure this book would have been nearly as good if it read as something other than a fictional memoir. Helena’s present is very much shaped by her childhood experiences and she recounts those experiences in a stony coldness as she tracks her father. To be sure, this read isn’t sunny or happy, but a cold recounting and child/woman’s horrifying experiences and her determination to see her nightmares ended and not revisited on her own children. Because of the subject matter, I can’t say I enjoyed the book, but I certainly appreciated the message. Ultimately, The Marsh King’s Daughter is a story of survival, determination, and the triumph of the human spirit.