Thank you NetGalley and Sibylline Press for the review copy of Claire McDougall’s “Song of the Selkie.”
The premise of this book sounded very interesting: a family drama in which each of the siblings comes into their own in relation to their shared past (think “the Shell Seekers” or “The Story Sisters.”) Instead, it is a story of unlikable characters, barring the oldest sister Eddy, who has zero personality. Lailas is a self-absorbed, dimwitted twit who thinks nothing of sleeping with her sister’s husband; she wanted to, and apparently, it’s her right to do so? Her relationship with the resulting daughter is one of inconvenience and she isn’t invested in her child at all. Frances, the youngest daughter and main protagonist of the story is a snob, ashamed of where she came from to the point that she trains herself to lose her Scots accent while teaching at an American university.
Overall, I found this story dull and difficult to read. I knew not to expect adventure, but I was hoping for interesting characters.
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