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1860s, 1990s: Based on a real nineteenth-century letter to The Times in which a Scottish clergyman claimed to have seen a mermaid…
Secrets of the Sea House
What you need to know before your trail
In 1860, Alexander Ferguson, takes up his new parish as a newly ordained vicar on the remote island of Harris.
As well as being a vicar, he is also interested in science and evolution and is particularly keen to discover the truth behind the legend of the selkies—mermaids or seal people who have been sighted off the north of Scotland for centuries.
More than a century later, the Sea House reluctantly starts to give up its secrets… A couple who have bought the grand but dilapidated building are alarmed by the discovery of a child buried under the house with its bones fused – like that of a mermaid.
The past and the future are living together in the Sea House – and they are not the most compatible house guests……
Travel Guide
“They built a nice pebbledash bungalow for the minister down in Tarbert. so its official address was the Manse, but the few people who lived in the scare and scattered village of Scarista always called it the Sea House Tigh na Mara. “
Evocative, spooky and haunting are just three words you could use to describe this island. The Sea House is dilapidated and whilst it should be a welcome escape from the rat race, it is instead an isolating prison. Note that in both times, the advent of modern technology was still a spark in someone’s eye. The sense that the Hebridean communities have so little contact with the outside world looms large. When Ruth starts to redecorate and finds the bones of a dead child underneath the floorboards, you can feel the sense of dread, haunting and sheer fear. Links between past and present come floating to the surface.
The setting on a remote Scottish island, mixing history, culture and folklore makes for a unique and utterly compelling read. Just don’t read in the dark or where you can see the sea….
Read the real story here on the author’s blog – the-secret-history-hidden-in-the-selkie-story
Booktrailer Review
Susan:
There’s always something about Scottish folklore and Scottish islands that fascinates me. When I read this book which weaves all of this along with a riveting story line I was hooked from page one. It’s as if there’s a ghostly silver thread woven in and out of each page so as you read it shimmers and glistens and leads you to the ghostly conclusion. I got to know Ruth very well and really felt as if I was actually stood beside her as she discovered things in that house and then jumping back in time, I felt privileged to meet the story from years earlier too. The writing was just as haunting and ghostly and the island came alive before my very eyes – the colour, the sounds, the chill of the wind and the Selkies…wow, just wow. This is a very unique read and one I am not going to forget in a hurry.
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