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A review by mh_books
Call of the Undertow by Linda Cracknell
5.0
I really enjoyed this. I read it while on holiday in Sligo and Donegal, on the beach, while looking at the same Ocean (more or less) that the protagonist was walking beside in the story.
I found this a fast yet atmospheric read. The language is poetic and simply beautiful (my own language has failed me here). The feeling is of being isolated among the beauty Scotland’s most northerly coast.
The central protagonist is Maggie, a cartographer. She has left her in Oxford full of bakeries and social activities for a small cottage in the isolated far north of Scotland (in the white area of the map). She has run away from her past. Her ex-husband seems to understand this and her sister assumes it’s a temporary arrangement. She continues her work as a cartographer from home and becomes known to the locals as the map lady. Then as part of a school visit to the local primary school she meets Trothan, strange, quiet, longhaired child who also spends much of his time alone. Trothan also loves maps but his tell the stories of both the local legends and current goings on. This can only lead to trouble.
I love the nod to the Selkie myth contained within the novel and I actively choose to believe this myth is true for the purposes of this story. If you do not know the legends of Selkies I would STRONGLY recommend you look them up or you will miss something. [b:Sealskin|32713449|Sealskin|Su Bristow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481445836s/32713449.jpg|53293305] is a great place to start if you want to read about the central Selkie myth in novel form but Wikipedia will get you there too.
Like many others I read this as a result of the positive reviews of others who had purchased it as part of Moth Box (I was too late to purchase the moth box itself when it was on sale). I will definitely be reading this author again.
I found this a fast yet atmospheric read. The language is poetic and simply beautiful (my own language has failed me here). The feeling is of being isolated among the beauty Scotland’s most northerly coast.
The central protagonist is Maggie, a cartographer. She has left her in Oxford full of bakeries and social activities for a small cottage in the isolated far north of Scotland (in the white area of the map). She has run away from her past. Her ex-husband seems to understand this and her sister assumes it’s a temporary arrangement. She continues her work as a cartographer from home and becomes known to the locals as the map lady. Then as part of a school visit to the local primary school she meets Trothan, strange, quiet, longhaired child who also spends much of his time alone. Trothan also loves maps but his tell the stories of both the local legends and current goings on. This can only lead to trouble.
I love the nod to the Selkie myth contained within the novel and I actively choose to believe this myth is true for the purposes of this story. If you do not know the legends of Selkies I would STRONGLY recommend you look them up or you will miss something. [b:Sealskin|32713449|Sealskin|Su Bristow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481445836s/32713449.jpg|53293305] is a great place to start if you want to read about the central Selkie myth in novel form but Wikipedia will get you there too.
Like many others I read this as a result of the positive reviews of others who had purchased it as part of Moth Box (I was too late to purchase the moth box itself when it was on sale). I will definitely be reading this author again.