Witch Daughter by Tanaz Bhathena * * * *
The story takes place primarily in Samangan, a small kingdom ruled by a king whose daughter, Tahmineh, is considered a witch. However, she is not exactly the kind of witch we would usually imagine. Her mother is a daeva, a supernatural being who lives in a lake and can disguise herself as a human. She once took on human form, married the king, and gave birth to Tahmineh, but eventually had to return to the lake, leaving her daughter behind.
At the beginning of the book, Tahmineh is thirty years old and unmarried. There were plans for her to marry, but they fell through, and now the court whispers about her strange heritage and her supposed witchcraft. Her stepmother particularly despises her, partly because she blames Tahmineh for the accidental death of her son, and partly because Tahmineh is the daughter of a daeva. I also suspect that there is some jealousy involved, because I got the impression that Tahmineh's father never entirely got over his first wife.
Tahmineh's position becomes increasingly precarious when her father falls seriously ill. As an unmarried woman whose protection depends largely on her father, she knows that his death could leave her at the mercy of a court that already distrusts her. She needs to secure her future, and marriage seems to be the most practical way to do it. Tahmineh does possess supernatural powers of her own, although I won't go into their nature because I think discovering them is part of the pleasure of reading the book. Eventually, she marries a powerful warrior from Iran and has a son, but her story is also shaped by a prophecy that threatens everything she loves.
And that brings me to something I always find interesting about prophecies in fiction. Once a prophecy has been spoken, it almost inevitably comes true. In fact, the actions people take to prevent it often become the very things that bring it about. By learning their supposed fate and trying to escape it, the characters set themselves on the path that leads directly to it. This is a recurring idea in mythology, and I thought it fitted this story particularly well.
One of the most interesting aspects of Witch Daughter is its literary background. The novel draws inspiration from the Shahnameh, the great Persian epic poem by Ferdowsi, in which Tahmineh is also a character. The Shahnameh is one of the longest epic poems ever written, and it's something I now want to learn much more about. Bhathena uses the original story as a starting point, expanding Tahmineh's character and incorporating her own interpretations and supernatural elements.
The writing itself often has a distinctly fairy tale quality. At times, I felt as though I were listening to an ancient story being told, except that this was a fairy tale for adults, with complicated relationships, difficult decisions, tragedy, and the constant presence of fate. I really enjoyed that atmosphere. The supernatural elements are plentiful, but they never feel like something artificially added to make the story more exciting. They belong to this world, and the characters accept them as part of their reality. The daevas, the magic, the prophecies, and the religious beliefs all contribute to a world that feels very different from the Western fantasy settings I'm accustomed to.
I listened to the audiobook, and I think that was actually beneficial. There are quite a few Persian names and unfamiliar terms throughout the novel, and hearing them pronounced by the narrator made the experience much easier. I would recommend the audiobook, although I suspect that tandem reading, following the written text while listening to the narration, might be the best way to experience this particular book. That would allow readers to hear the pronunciation while also becoming familiar with the spelling of the words.
However, while I loved the cultural and mythological elements, I also felt that there simply weren't enough of them. This was my biggest disappointment with the book, and ultimately the reason I gave it four stars rather than five.
For example, I was particularly interested in the Zoroastrian religion, but I finished the book feeling that I had only learned a little about it. There were references to religious practices, beliefs, and garments that I would have loved to understand better. At one point, certain types of girdles were mentioned, and I still need to look up what they were and why people wore them. These details fascinated me, but I wanted the story to explore them more thoroughly rather than simply mention them in passing.
The same problem applies to the setting. Although the story takes place in a fascinating historical and mythological world, most of it is confined to Samangan, particularly the palace where Tahmineh lives. We spend a great deal of time within its walls, surrounded by court politics, family tensions, and Tahmineh's personal struggles. All of that is important to her story, but I would have loved to venture beyond the palace and see more of the kingdom and the wider world. We do eventually travel a little farther towards the end, but not nearly enough to satisfy my curiosity.
And I think this is where the book's greatest strength also becomes its limitation. At its heart, Witch Daughter is a very personal story about a woman trying to survive in a world where her position is uncertain and her choices are limited. Later, it becomes a story about a mother who wants to protect her son, even when forces much greater than herself seem determined to shape his future. As that story, it works beautifully. It is emotionally complete, and Tahmineh's motivations are understandable throughout.
As a mother of a little boy myself, I found her fears particularly relatable. Tahmineh worries about her son becoming a warrior and dying on a battlefield, and that is something that struck surprisingly close to home. With everything happening in the world, I sometimes find myself thinking about how I can teach my own son to value his survival above any ideology that might demand his life. I want him to grow up knowing that no cause, no political ambition, and no abstract idea of glory should be more important to him than staying alive. So I could understand Tahmineh's desire to protect her child from a fate that other people might consider honourable or heroic.
The story is quite tragic in places, but I didn't mind that. Tragedy is very much a part of the mythological tradition that inspired it, and it would have felt strange if everything had worked out perfectly. Nevertheless, I thought the ending had a certain sweetness to it, even after everything the characters had endured. It brought Tahmineh's personal journey to a satisfying conclusion.
My other criticism concerns the pacing, particularly in the middle of the novel. I found the beginning fascinating, and the ending was also very engaging, but the middle section suffered from a noticeable slump. It wasn't exactly bad, but it became rather slow, and at times I was almost bored.
Bhathena has mentioned that she tends to know the endings of her stories before writing them, and I think I could feel that here. The beginning is partly established by the original epic, and the ending feels carefully planned, but the middle sometimes seemed to exist primarily to connect those two points. Events happened, relationships developed, and the plot continued moving, but that section didn't feel as fully realised as the rest of the book.
What makes this particularly frustrating is that I think the middle would have been the perfect place to expand the world. There was room for more exploration of Persian culture, more religious detail, more encounters with the supernatural, and perhaps even some travel beyond Samangan. All of that could have made the middle more engaging while also giving the reader a deeper understanding of the world Tahmineh inhabits.
Instead, the novel remains very tightly focused on her personal journey. That is a perfectly valid storytelling choice, but it wasn't quite what I had hoped for when I picked up the book.
And I think that sums up my feelings about Witch Daughter. It is a beautiful, interesting, and sometimes moving novel, with a compelling protagonist and a fascinating mythological foundation. I enjoyed the fairy tale atmosphere, the supernatural elements, and the way the story explores motherhood, fate, and the struggle to protect the people we love. It also introduced me to a literary and cultural tradition that I now want to investigate further.
But I couldn't help feeling that it had the potential to be even more. I wanted to explore this world, to understand its beliefs, to see its landscapes and its people, and to immerse myself in a culture that was so unfamiliar to me. The book made me curious about all of those things, but it didn't quite satisfy that curiosity.
I would definitely recommend Witch Daughter, especially to readers who enjoy mythology-inspired fantasy, adult fairy tales, and stories about women trying to shape their own destinies. I'm also interested in reading more from Tanaz Bhathena. Her storytelling has certainly made an impression on me, and I'll be keeping an eye on her future work.
Ultimately, I feel as though I dipped my toes into a fascinating world when what I really wanted was to dive in and swim.
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