The Marsh King's Daughter

Shirley J.                                     Adult Fiction                    Abduction, Seclusion, Michigan's U.P.

The  Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne      352 pages

Wow!  This was a GOOD book.   A thriller all the way.   It is the story of a girl who was abducted by a man who kept her trapped in a secluded marshland in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.   The story is like something out of the headlines or newscast.  He enticed the youngster to help him find his missing dog until he brutally overpowered her then took her to his cabin in the marsh where he repeatedly raped her and kept her in chains.   She eventually becomes pregnant and makes her give birth without any aid other than the occasional  glass of water he brings her.   When the child is coming breach he having no medical knowledge warns her it is going to hurt more than the contractions and proceeds to reach inside her to pull the baby out.   In so doing he damages her body to the point she will never bear any more children.   The story continues for the next 12 years describing their life and the child Helena.   Not knowing the back story Helena adores her father who often beats her mother and sometimes hurts Helena making the girl believe they deserved it.   The story keeps the reader's imagination captured all the way to the end.  It is a nail biter for sure.   I recommend this to mature teens on up because some of the content might be nightmarish to younger.