The Sea House in book reviews

author: Elizabeth Gifford

This book, set in the islands of the Hebrides, off the coast of Ireland, ties together the stories of two couples who lived in the same house over a century apart.

In the 1860's, a minister came to live in the house, which was then part of the church's property. His maid lived nearby. He had been told by his mother that he was a descendant of the Selkies or seal men... a fanciful tale of the islands.

In the 1990's another couple lives in the house. The woman has had a lot of trauma in her childhood. In re-doing the house to convert it to a bed and breakfast type inn, they discover, under the floorboards, the body of a child...a child born with "mermaid syndrome" - a mutation where the lower limbs are fused and the feet branch out as if they were flippers.

The book travels back and forth between the lives of these people - different "narrators" - the minister, the maid, the modern day wife. Eventually the stories come together. It's an interesting, satisfying read.