Review: The Sea House: A Novel by Elisabeth Gifford

The Sea House: A Novel by Elisabeth Gifford

Published April 15th 2014 by St. Martin's Press

(first published August 1st 2013)

Hardcover, 320 pages

Series: Stand-Alone

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source:  I got a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange of an honest review.
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Summary from Goodreads

In 1860, Alexander Ferguson, a newly ordained vicar and amateur evolutionary scientist, takes up his new parish, a poor, isolated patch on the remote Scottish island of Harris. He hopes to uncover the truth behind the legend of the selkies—mermaids or seal people who have been sighted off the north of Scotland for centuries. He has a more personal motive, too; family legend states that Alexander is descended from seal men. As he struggles to be the good pastor he was called to be, his maid Moira faces the terrible eviction of her family by Lord Marstone, whose family owns the island. Their time on the island will irrevocably change the course of both their lives, but the white house on the edge of the dunes keeps its silence long after they are gone.

It will be more than a century before the Sea House reluctantly gives up its secrets. Ruth and Michael buy the grand but dilapidated building and begin to turn it into a home for the family they hope to have. Their dreams are marred by a shocking discovery. The tiny bones of a baby are buried beneath the house; the child's fragile legs are fused together—a mermaid child. Who buried the bones? And why? To heal her own demons, Ruth feels she must discover the secrets of her new home—but the answers to her questions may lie in her own traumatic past. The Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford is a sweeping tale of hope and redemption and a study of how we heal ourselves by discovering our histories.

A story about a couple, Ruth and Michael who buy a very old and run down Sea house in hopes of making their dream come true and turning it into a B&B. Unfortunate what Ruth and Michael did not expect was the amount of work the house would require with the bills piling up, nor that tearing the floor boards apart would have them discovering a small grave of a newborn baby and the mystery behind it.

A haunting story that takes us back through time to 1800s, and when the B&B used to be the house that a reverend Alexander Ferguson lived with his maid. Alexander was very fixated on finding the truth behind the stories and sightings of mermaids, or the selkie people. Having remembered a legend that has been passed out from his family that he is a direct descended of the Selkie people – it has became his life purpose to discover the truth.

Lovely story, very well done with beautiful writing and memorable characters that stay with you even after the very last page. Not only is it filled with magical realism that had me hooked chapter after chapter, but the engaging mystery behind the history.

I love Ruth's story and I especially enjoyed the author's smooth transitions from chapter to chapter with the three different characters who also had a story to tell – Ruth, Alexander and Moira. I felt bad for Ruth and her poor child with such a terrible memory of her mother and the last time she saw her. With a little persuasion, Ruth set out not only to discover the identity behind the newborns death but also about her family that she never knew. Alexander lived in the sea house for a long time and was once a reverend that the people of the island had looked up to until the day he had to evict Moira's family due to Lord Marstone demands and falling sort of in love with the wrong woman that changed him forever to come.

The ending was endearing and touching and I loved how everything had fallen into place for both Ruth, Alexander and Moira alike. Elisabeth did a wonderful job telling all of their stories and wrapping them up with an ending that put a little warmth In my heart. I am looking forward to more from this author in the future.