Secrets of the Sea House

When LitFuse offered The Sea House for review, I jumped at the chance. Although I didn’t know anything about the author, Elisabeth Gifford, I love reading fiction by authors outside of the United States. They generally have a unique perspective that makes the reading experience even more meaningful. Then I got an email allowing for an opt-out of the review tour due to objectionable language and difficult subject matter. Now I really was intrigued! Instead of opting out I decided to give it a go and give you an honest review of her debut novel, The Sea House. So here it is –

Ruth and Michael are a young couple determined to bring an old manse on the wild coast of a Hebridean island back to life. Its transformation into a B&B is the show more focus of their life until the body of a deformed child is found buried beneath the floor boards of their home. The find affects Ruth deeply and she endeavors to discover the history and identity behind the mystery. With nothing more than a journal from a curate who occupied the house over 100 years before, Ruth embarks on a journey that will help her confront her own demons.

Gifford’s writing style is beautiful. Life in the Hebrides, both past and present, is vividly depicted. Her characters are complex and wrestle with real life trauma, guilt and questions of faith. The Sea House is not always an easy read. There are lots of difficult subjects explored — physical and sexual abuse, suicide, and depression among them. But I never felt overwhelmed by the emotions produced. Gifford always held out a glimmer of hope. Three points of view are presented, all told in first person. Ruth is a modern woman struggling with anger and guilt from childhood trauma, Moira is a 19th century maid with plans of revenge following the loss of her family and home, and Alexander is a 19th century curate who never feels good enough for the grace offered by his savior. The stories seem disparate at the beginning, but end up becoming a beautiful whole in the end. The setting of the Hebrides and the Sea House in particular serves as a character of its own, impacting the characters and speaking to the reader through its heartache and beauty.

I would not characterize The Sea House as Christian fiction. It is published by a secular publishing house and it contains language that can be deemed offensive to many. One character has an outburst that hit me like a slap in the face. But the language suited both the character and the scene. Also, while most of the characters have problems, only one really turns to God for answers. Alexander’s struggle with being good enough, doing enough, was wonderfully depicted. I also really enjoyed the examination of the evolution debate from the point of view of scientists and clerics contemporary with Charles Darwin. And while you may think the book is going one way, you may be surprised with the outcome of that examination. The legends of the Selkies and mermaids indigenous to the western islands of Scotland are fascinating and create a great framework for the story.

All in all, I liked The Sea House and would recommend it with the qualifications of profanity and adult subject matter.

Recommended: please note there is profanity and adult subject matter that may be offensive . This is not Christian fiction.

Audience: Adults.

(Thanks to LitFuse and St. Martin’s Press for a review copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.) show less

First time novelest, Elisabeth Gifford has crafted an entertaining tale based on Scottish legends of the selkies. In 1992, Ruth and Michael purchase the dilapidated Sea House overlooking the ocean on one of the Scottish isles. As they renovate the home, they find the remains of a baby girl with not fully developed legs, looking very much like a mermaid. Interwoven with Ruth's story and research on the baby is the tale of Alexander Ferguson, Moira, and Lady Marstone, Ferguson being the reverend who lived in the Sea House in 1860. The story moves along; the harshness of the character of Ruth is difficult to take at times. Overall, a decent read.

A young couple, Ruth and Michael, has bought an old manse. While renovating, they discover a baby buried in the house. Unusually, the baby's legs are fused together. The story goes back and forth among the couple, a vicar, Alexander Ferguson, who had ministered to the people there, and his housemaid, Moira. The couple wishes to discover the wife's background; she had been raised in an orphanage, not knowing who her father was and her mother allegedly committing suicide. The vicar wishes to find out the truth about the legends of selkies, mermaids, and Finnmen. Darwin's theory has just exploded on the world and the reverend wants to find out how these legends might be real people and fit into the evolutionary chain. Moira carries a torch show more for him. The novel kept my interest all through and the different viewpoints added to it. A satisfactory ending was very logical. show less

This seems a simple story well told on the surface. In fact the book is dealing with the ghosts of the past, myths and legends, fairy tales and the nuggets of truth we need to find in the past, our stories and our own lives.

Ruth is young, newly married and trying to renovate the Old Manse on one of the islands of the Hebrides. Her mother came from there, but Ruth has no happy memories of her past. The discovery of a trunk under the floor with a baby's skeleton starts Ruth's journey into the past, the past of the house and her own.

The book works as a delightful look at the present day Island life. Ruth, her husband, brother-in-law and girlfriend are welcomed in. Then there is the 1860s diary extracts of island life with the clearances show more going on and the poor minister haunted by mermaids and silkies and doing the right and Godly thing. The maid and the minister are 3D characters we come to care for.

The conclusion of the story, the finding and weaving all the truths to satisfactory endings was well done. I particularly enjoyed the theory about mermaids and silkies which makes so much sense to us today.

A good read for anyone who enjoys a story about a character who has to face the truths she fears. Ruth did it well and readers are left feeling satisfied and hopeful. That's a good way to end reading a book. show less

This book is set both in the 1860s and the 1990s on the Scottish island of Harris. In 1960 Reverend Alexander Ferguson is the new minister with an interest in mermaids, Selkies and other similar creatures. In the 1990s, Ruth and her husband have moved to the Sea House where Alexander once lived to start a holiday business but not long after moving in they find the bones of a baby whose legs were fused together. Ruth is a troubled character with many problems in her past to deal with and the discovery adds to her troubles, but also makes her intrigued to try and find out more about the history of the Sea House and its former occupant.

It's a lovely read and one which I found thoroughly enjoyable. I loved the interweaving of the two show more stories which had little to connect them but worked well together. I particularly liked the character of Moira, the woman who worked in Alexander's house and how she learned so much from him.

I love to read books about the Scottish islands and this is a gentle read which carried me along. I found myself drawn into the two stories and the beautiful, if harsh, backdrop. I'm looking forward to this author's second novel whenever it may come. show less

This novel is a bit hard to pigeon hole as it is part historical fiction and half almost chick lit. It is mostly set in the islands off Scotland, with the descriptions of the setting making the islands themselves a large feature of the novel. Another common theme in both periods are the selkies or mermaids.

1860's - Young Reverend Alexander is in charge of the parish of the Hebridean island Harris. He has an interesting young maid, Moira, who resides with old Maggie who knows all the old selkie and mermaid stories. The owner of the land, Lord Marstone, cares little of the livelihoods of the local people and evicts them from his lands. They are put on boats to Canada, the land given over to sheep. The Reverend has an interest Selkies and show more Mermen which becomes a bit of an obsession.

1990's - Ruth and her husband Michael have bought the Sea House, formerly the parish manse. During their renovations they discover a small body buried under one of the floors. It looks like the skeleton of a mermaid. Ruth won't rest until she finds out how it came to be there. The stress of the renovations and the mystery may be more than she can bear when memories of her own troubled childhood come to the surface.

I really enjoyed the selkie part of this novel, especially the 1860's component. show less

See full review @ The Indigo Quill

Special thanks to St. Martin's Press and Litfuse Publicity for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Elisabeth Gifford has emerged on the scene as a gifted new author who is on her way to master the art of storytelling. Not only does The Sea House possess a captivating cover, but Gifford writes with a flow so smooth and intrinsic that you'll have no choice but to resolve to wanting more. Being a first novel, I was very impressed, and I hope to see more from Miss Gifford in the near future.

The Sea House is a haunting tale that intertwines lore and verity to where the two are no longer decipherable. Readers will enjoy the mystery and chilling nature of the premise, and become show more enchanted with this story. It pulled me in quickly. I love the style of writing and the smooth transitions. Not to mention, it's always exciting to read a book from a different country because the linguistics are so different and fresh compared to what I'm used to. I find myself looking up meanings to words and learning something new. Then I can go and look cool in front of my friends. Just kidding...kind of. :)

The book is a dual-time narrative that takes place on the Hebrides Islands of Scotland where the young married couple, Ruth and Michael, are renovating an old sea house. Ruth is struggling to break free free the chains of emotional damage from the past as the two try to build a home together. In the process, they discover old bones of a baby who seemed to have been born with its legs fused together...like a mermaid. Thus begins the story of Alexander Ferguson, who was a newly appointed vicar in the 1800's with a scientific background.

There were many things I liked about this book. The tone of it was enchanting and interesting. I honestly wasn't expecting so much mystery to be weaved into the plot, but I loved every bit of it. If I had one thing to pick out that was weak, it would be the present-day characters. I liked them, but I felt more attached to Alexander and Moira than I did Ruth and Michael. However, this being the author's first novel and being a dual-narrative at that is still impressive and I applaud Gifford for a successful start.

This is definitely a great read! show less