WOW! This beautifully written novel grabbed my emotions and stole my breath from the very first page to the last, when I could finally breathe again! Taking place in a wild, immersive setting on the North Yorkshire coast in the late 19th century, Daughter of the Sea is a mesmerizing love story wrapped in an enchanting cloak of fantasy. There's plenty of excitement, mystery, suspense, conflict and danger--a magical combination I always search for but seldom find. I'm so happy I discovered this perfect gem!
Here's a bit of the plot. (WARNING: Some spoilers ahead, but I won't reveal the ending.) When our heroine (Effie Cropton) finds a fur-wrapped infant bobbing along the coast in a wicker basket on a cold Midwinter's Day, she takes the baby to her cottage, where she lives with her husband and their five-month-old son, Jack. The foundling girl is Jack's age, so Effie nurses the babies together. The next night, Effie's friend (Walter Danby) brings news that her sailor husband has died in a mysterious shipwreck, caused by something that "rose up from beneath and struck the ship." Widowed and almost penniless, Effie takes in sewing and paints pictures to earn money as she cares for both babies, forming a strong bond with them.
Exactly one year after she found the baby in a basket, Walter brings news that seals have been spotted nearby. Soon after Walter leaves, a handsome stranger knocks on Effie's door, wearing a coat wrapped in a dark-brown fur--a sealskin. Speaking in a Scottish-like accent, he calls himself Lachlan and claims to be the foundling girl's father. Effie can't deny it.; the kinship is apparent in their similar features. But Effie wants to keep the child she loves, and Lachlan agrees to leave her for a while, especially when he learns that Effie still has the fur that was wrapped around the baby in the basket. He carefully examines the fur--a sealskin--before he leaves, telling Effie to keep his daughter safe. He names the baby "Morna," gives Effie a pearl in payment, and promises to return in six months, on Midsummer's Eve. He returns as promised, giving Effie another pearl and promising to return in another six months, on Midwinter's Night.
These twice-yearly visits continue for several years, and as the children grow, so do Effie's lustful thoughts about the mysterious Lachlan. But Lachlan never stays long, passing "in and out of their lives like sea foam over the sand." Meanwhile, little Morna develops an unsettling craving for the sea, showing no fear of water. The two men in Effie's life--Walter and Lachlan--have cravings of their own. No longer content to be Effie's friend, Walter wants to make her his wife. As a wealthy heir to the local alum works, Walter can offer her a life of luxury and respectability. Unfortunately, the guy is a stuffed shirt who obeys society's rules--just the opposite of Lachlan, who grows jealous of Walter.
Torn between her friendship for Walter and her yearning for Lachlan, Effie yields to her body's needs and kisses Lachlan on a Midsummer's Eve. She asks him to tell her the truth about what he is and where he lives, because Lachlan is no ordinary man. Reluctantly, he comes to Effie's cottage the next morning and tells her that Morna craves the sea because "We are of the sea, she and I. It calls to her as it calls to me." Running a hand over his sealskin, he explains, "This skin is mine, Effie. It is part of me. When I don it, I become the seal. When I remove it, I become the man you see before you. The name of our kind is Selkie." He's from Skailwick, an island in the north of Scotland. Effie refuses to believe him at first, but when he's badly injured by abandoned nets and hooks while swimming in his seal form, she can't deny the evidence of her own eyes. She's falling in love with a mythical creature--a selkie--and her foster daughter is one of them as well.
Lachlan eventually grows weary of his brief, twice-yearly visits and moves into an abandoned cottage at Boggle Cove. Effie joins him one evening to go swimming and sailing in his small boat, where they finally make love. But their happiness doesn't last long. When Lachlan reveals the shocking truth about the brutal death of Morna's selkie mother and Lachlan's subsequent participation in the shipwreck that killed Effie's husband, she rejects Lachlan and reluctantly accepts Walter's offer of marriage.
Will Effie marry Walter and consign herself to a life of suffocating respectability, or will she forgive Lachlan and join her wild nature with his? I'm not saying, but those suspenseful final chapters just about did me in. I've never wanted a Happily Ever After ending so badly in my life! (If you decide to read this book, don't forget to breathe toward the end.)
Kudos for flawless proofreading and almost nonexistent profanity (I found just one swear word in the entire book). The sex scenes are beautiful without being overly explicit, leaving much to the reader's imagination. With memorable characters, immersive scenery, and a gripping plot, this enchanting story easily earns five stars and MY HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!
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Reviews with images
A wondrous tale of finding one’s heart and place.
Will she decide with her heart’s contents or her head …This is the third different style of stories I have have read by the author, after historical romances, and a WWII narration, now, a combination of historical, woman and fantasy fictions all wrapped in one tale.I just loved it.From the first page I was sucked into the story.Who is this baby girl, what of the skin she came with as a blanket and what destiny awaits Effie for rescuing her.Many Thanks to the author for offering us for this end of year such a beautifully woven tale, filled with magic and love beyond differences.Effie is no demure followed the rules young woman, if she had been, she would not have had to marry, else her son would have been illegitimate. And while she did not love her husband, she liked and respected him.Yet her life is once more turned upside down when in the span of one day she found a baby girl floating on water and learned of her spouse lost to the sea.From this moment, her life will never be the same, after a period of adaptation with two children to take care of, her time becomes rhythmed by the arrival of the child’s father and his half-yearly visits.This so rushed tale nor quick read story, the narrative as the love story take them time to develop, it follows the emotions and heart’s love of Effie.She is a woman torn between many worlds, she longs to be accepted, to not be anymore an outcast, yet she wants to continue the way her life is unraveling, she wants someone to rest her head on, but is torn between her heart’s desires and her head.She is no paragon, a much flawed being, one who makes mistakes, who chooses wrong, who runs away, all for the love of those under her care but by the end she finally gives her heart free reign.I smiled with her, I cheered her but I was also upset and angry with some of her decisions, yet it is from her errors she learned. And she is taught no happiness is easy, so she must grasp all the ins and outs before being able to follow the right path.And while this is Effie’s story, it is a demonstration that love is acceptance of one’s difference, a child not from your blood, a disabled kid, a man from an other realm…5 stars for this tale of love in all its forms, of resilience, forgiveness and courage to pursue one’s happy ending.𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 non-descriptive lovemaking scenes.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2022
Sweet story about a woman's evolution into a strong, independent mother with an impossible decision.
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2022Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2021
Top reviews from other countries
John Jackson
Super storytelling.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2022
celtic
Wonderful and unusual. Quite brilliant!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2023Vicki
Captivating and beautifully written
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2022