Reviews and Honors
The
Executioner's Daughter
From a Reader
A haunting novel
set during the Middle Ages., August 3, 2000
reviewer: Rebecca - a top 50 reviewer. This novel was
built upon the fact that during the Middle Ages, executioners and their families
were shunned, forced to live outside the village walls and forbidden to attend
church and social gatherings. Thirteen-year-old Lily, the fictional main
character, is cursed from the moment she was born - her father is the village
executioner. But because her mother is the one to assist her father in his
duties, Lily keeps to herself in the forest near their cottage, gathering herbs
and healing wounded animals, and taking comfort in her mother when her father
distances himself from them. Lily loses that one comfort when her mother sickens
and dies. Now Lily is doomed to be her father's assistant at executions. A
gentle, quiet girl, Lily cannot bear to see an animal in pain - she doesn't know
how she can ever watch executions. But Lily won't resign herself to the fate
assigned to her. This was an excellent historical novel that brought the time
and place of England in the 1400s, gruesome details and all, to life. It was
inspiring to read a story about a young girl who chose to fight her place in
life in a time when most people were forced to accept whatever their
circumstances in life turned out to be, whether they liked them or not. I highly
recommend this novel to fans of historical novels ages twelve and up (the more
gruesome details might disturb younger readers).
From
Booklist
Set during the thirteenth century, this is the story of Lily, whose
father is Lord Dunsmore's executioner. Lily's parents, especially her mother who
helps with the executioner's duties, try to shield Lily from the horrid
particulars. But when her mother dies, Lily realizes that she is the one who
will now be assisting as her father sets off the gallows or chops off a head. In
some ways, this reflective piece is more about mood and place than action. Lily
lives quietly, tending her animals and learning herbal medicine. A young boy
becomes something of a friend, but mostly Lily is reviled by the villagers.
Williams captures both the beauty of the forest where Lily lives and the
isolation of her life. The scene where Lily attends her father at an execution
is vivid and horrifying. Lily's resolve to leave her father and escape her fate
seems somewhat rushed, and readers will be longing to know more about the kind
of life she forges for herself. An epilogue gives a hint, but a sequel would be
welcome. See the Read-alikes column on the opposite page for more fiction set in
the Middle Ages. Ilene Cooper