Saturday Review: “What Blooms in the Wildwood?” a review by Amber Knox of Marly Youmans’ book Seren of the Wildwood (2023) in NCLR Online Winter 2025
Marly Youmans narrative poem, Seren of the Wildwood, tells the compellingly mysterious tale of Seren, a girl whose life is “haunted by tragedy yet still blessed by the love of her family and the beauty of the wildwood.” Over the course of the narrative, we watch as Seren grows from a baby born in tragic circumstances into young girl better able to cope with “family, love, trauma, and all of the confusing, conflicting realities that life contains.”
Knox highlights both Seren’s transformation from innocent child into knowledgeable adult and the “liminal boundaries of the wildwood” which feature heavily in the story. Within these boundaries “Seren grows and matures through her interactions with the mysterious denizens” and is given a chance to “reach a better understanding of herself, her family, and the world around her.” Knox states “Seren of the Wildwood is a captivating narrative” which “reaches back in time and reconnects with the classic tales that have served as the foundation of so much of our modern literary world.”
Read the entire review in NCLR Online Winter 2025. And buy a copy of the book here!
