The Wild Swans
core novel 1999 The Wild Swans
Record
| First published | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.73 (439 ratings, collected 2026-11-02) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780446673662 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
Two stories run in parallel. In 1689, Eliza Grey's stepmother, who practices sorcery, drives her from home and turns her eleven brothers into swans. Eliza must weave enchanted shirts to free them and keep a vow of silence while she works, even when she is accused of witchcraft. In New York in the early 1980s, Elias Latham, a young gay photographer, is thrown out by his father and taken in by Sean Donnelly, a freelance writer and street musician. The two become lovers and build a life together, but friends begin to fall ill as the AIDS epidemic spreads. The novel is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the wild swans.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Wild Swans
- Series: The Wild Swans core; position 1 of 1 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Peg Kerr
Awards (verified)
- Mythopoeic Award (Adult Literature), 2000: nominated
Notes
- From the series record (The Wild Swans): A standalone retelling of Andersen's The Wild Swans in two intertwined timelines.
Sources
← The Wild Swans dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.