"A delightfully whimsical tale"

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 convoked 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

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted February 15, 2003