in 1929, Hexy Garrow is maid/companion to a widowed, blonde bimbo, who pulls a blonde moment and leaves and her expensive sable coat on the beach of the Scottish Coast. Hexy is sent to fetch it because her mistress is leaving for Italy and cannot leave without her coat.
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Hexy takes a few moments for herself at the beach, to shed a few tears - 7 to be exact - for the loss of her brother who drowned, for her failed romance, for the loose morals of today's (1929) young women, and because her nose is red from allergies. She has no notion the 7 tears shed into the sea summons the Selkie - in this case one Ruairidh O'Uruisg - or that the seal coat she mistakes for her mistress' is really Ruairidh's Selkie skin!
For those not familiar with Scottish Lore, the Selkies were/are magickal seals that could came ashore, shed the skin and take human mates. They were so beautiful that no one could resist them, but they were only permitted to live on shore for a year and a day, before they had to return to the sea. So you can imagine Hexy, a very practical modern-day girl has a wee bit of difficulty dealing with Ruairidh when he comes to reclaim his seal skin coat. He asserts he has no time to be her lover, maybe later when the time is right for such things, but is horrified to to learn HIS coat is on way to Italy via Wales. It is vital he gets it back.
The review of this Book prepared by DeborahAnne MacGillivray
Lovespell, Feb 2003, 5.99, 358 pp.
ISBN: 0505525313
In 1929 Scotland Jillian Foxworthy sends her American servant Hexy Garrow to fetch her misplaced fur coat. Hexy goes to the beach seeking the lost clothing while pondering reality vs. romance. She talks to the sea explaining how she has learned about life from the rejection of her beau for someone with wealth and not from a country rejecting the League of Nations. Hexy then returns to Fintry Castle with the coat.
Not long afterward, a panicked and irate Ruairidh cannot find his skin. He soon realizes a human female has completed the seven tears summoning and absconded with his skin. He follows her scent to demand she give him back his skin and to explain he has no time for the affair that she envoked as he must get back to his people in Avocmar to warn of the pending attack by the Finmen. However, Ruairidh is shocked that Hexy is not a crone, but a beautiful confused woman. Even more appalling is that he desires her and wants her to join him in the ocean where he resides, but somehow she resists his lure though she obviously is attracted to him.
Melanie Jackson's latest fantasy romance deserves cross-genre appeal as THE SELKIE provides readers with a whimsical charming tale. The story line insures the audience believes in Selkie, Finmen, and some other folklore species. The relationship between the magical lead couple is anchored by love though has rocky moments. This augments the feeling of two species crossing unfathomable depths, leagues, and barriers together.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
