Out Now!
There’s a certain wild magic in the salt air and the thrum of the sea. Beet MacNeill has known this all her life. It added spice to her childhood adventures with her cousin Gerry, the two of them thick as thieves as they explored their Prince Edward Island home. So when Gerry comes up the path one early spring morning, Beet thinks nothing of it. Not until she realizes that he brings with him the scent of blooming roses, even though the garden is bare. He is dripping wet and silent, but he plays a haunting tune on his fiddle that chills Beet to the bone. Something is very, very wrong.
Things only get worse when Marina Shaw saunters into town and takes an unsettling interest in Gerry’s baby boy. Island lore is filled with tales of a vicious shape-shifting sea creature and the cold, beautiful woman who controls him—a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Marina. Beet is determined to find out what happened to her beloved cousin, and to prevent the same fate from befalling the handsome boy who is winning her heart, whether she wants him to or not. Yet the sea always exacts a price . . .
"A captivating historical ghost story ..."
".. an eerie story filled with magic and music,"
Publishers Weekly
"... immersive"
".. an eerie story filled with magic and music,"
Kirkus Reviews
" ...an intriguing, often thrilling tribute to the bonds of love and friendship. It’s also an eloquent ode to the wild beauty of PEI and a testament to the power of facing what confounds us."
Bookpage
"Hansen renders historical Prince Edward Island tangibly, vibrantly alive, awash in traditional musical and maritime culture. "
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Ethereal and enchanting ..."
"Hansen's lyrical prose achieves stunning worldbuilding"
Shelf Awareness
... darkly charming ...
Hansen's sense of place and time is particularly outstanding. She takes a small happening, a bit of suspicion, and hint of malevolence, and creates something quietly extraordinary."
Colleen Mondor, Locus Magazine
... a tale that will make readers keep their
lights on in the dark.
Winnipeg Free Press
Folk creatures, ghosts, rivers and the sea, relived moments and revenants are part of the texture of the whole, with richly imagined moments of danger and family closeness, and deep family secrets, some revealed and some withheld. This might be originally for teenagers but like work by Suzy McKee Charnas, and Holly Black, whatever age you are you will be caught like Morag’s skirts in the kelpie’s scales, and have to read it to the end.
Dissections: The Journal of Contemporary Horror
