The Sea Child

The Sands is an area now thought to be uninhabited after the sea cut it off from the mainland and covered its houses. It is at this edge of the real and substantial world that Jennie and the book exist. Her father, Danny, now looks after her alone, since the disappearance of her mother who was, perhaps, a mermaid. Jennie's life is mirrored in many ways by Lisa, who lives in the nearby 'real' world of the mainland village. The story and what follows is perhaps conjured up by the isolated Lisa who has known of Jennie and her father through stories told to her. Jennie is allowed, briefly, to visit the mainland and finds herself caught between two worlds and the pull of a third, mermaid, life. The confidence of the telling and the skill of the writer make this short book memorable for its dreamlike quality. It's a richly suggestive and beautiful story.