Bibliographic
Information
The Brides of
Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan. Knopf. (2012).
Price: $17.99 for hardback
Pages: 320 for hardback
Note: This book was originally entitled Sea Hearts. The name was changed to The Brides of Rollrock Island for the
United States’ edition.
Plot Summary
Misskaella has spent her whole life being teased or
otherwise overlooked as she is both the youngest in her large family and the
most overweight. However, her life dramatically changes when, at the age of
nine, she discovers that she can see things others cannot such as the true
hearts of seals. This power frightens her and ostracizes her more than ever
from her small island community. As she grows older, however, she decides that
her power is something special even though the town refuses to see it as such.
One night she decides to seek her revenge on her uncaring neighbors by drawing
forth a beautiful, perfectly formed human girl from a female seal. Enchanted,
slowly all the men want a seal-girl for their brides. This, of course, will
cost them a pretty penny something Misskaella emphasizes before she agrees to
find a seal-girl for each of them. In time, Misskaella grows rich although no
more happy and each man soon learns that their seal-brides will cost them more
than simply money.
Critical
Evaluation
*SPOILER ALERT*
The Brides of
Rollrock Island is the type of novel that will gnaw at readers’ thoughts
long after they have turned the last page. While many of the mysteries within
the novel are revealed by the end of it there are some that persist. For example,
it is unclear whether the selkies Misskaella calls forth from the sea actually
love their husbands or if there is truly any hope left for the town after
Misskaella dies. As such, the book can be a frustrating read. Additionally,
while it is presumed that readers are supposed to feel some sympathy for
Misskaella some will feel hard-pressed to muster up such an emotion as the
extent of the damage Misskaella inflicts upon the island’s populace is revealed.
True, the emotional distress Misskaella suffers during her childhood and teen
years is terrible with not even a kind word from her family to soften the harsh
insults she must endure on a daily basis. However, the punishment surely doesn’t
fit the crime. Is putting a wedge between everyone’s marriage, ridding the island
of all women, and ensuring that every man, woman, and child is miserable fitting
punishment? Absolutely not. While Misskaella states that she does not have the
option of traveling to the mainland to seek her fortune it’s doubtful whether
or not this is true. Surely she could have become a washerwoman or something,
couldn’t she?
True, there are elements in Brides that are compelling such as Lanagan’s lyrical descriptions
of both land and sea as well as the inner turmoil experienced by those who are
half-selkie, half-human but overall I found myself disappointed by Brides. Perhaps this can be attributed
to my aversion to stories with loose ends but whatever the case it will be a
long time before I pick up another one of Lanagan’s novels.
Reader’s
Annotation
Outcast Misskaella uses her magic to call forth beautiful
women from seals in order to wreak her revenge on the townspeople who make her
life miserable.
About the
Author
Australian author Margo Lanagan writes both short stories
and young adult novels with her most famous being the controversial novel Tender Morsels and short story
collection Black Juice. She has won
several prestigious awards including the multiple World Fantasy awards, a
Printz Honor, and a Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book nominee.
Margo Lanagan was inspired to write Sea Hearts by some fabric she stumbled upon that reminded her of
seaweed. From there she imagined a witch making blankets out of seaweed. The
book was originally a novella but grew into a novel as Lanagan further explored
Misskaella’s motivations behind her magical work.
Read more about Margo Lanagan at her blog: http://amongamidwhile.blogspot.com/
And in the following interviews: http://bookonaut.blogspot.com/2012/01/margo-lanagan-interviewed-about-sea.html
Genre
Fantasy, Retold Fairy Tale
Readalikes
Beauty by Robin
McKinley
·
Another well-written novel with retold fairy
tale elements
The Scorpio Races by
Maggie Stiefvater
·
Also well-written with mythological creatures
Ingo by Helen
Dunmore
·
Another mermaid novel
The Scorpio Races by
Maggie Stiefvater
·
The atmosphere is similar to that found in Brides.
Tags
Bullying, fishing, island, outcasts, seals, selkies, sons,
storms, witches, wives
Awards
Won/Lists On
2013—Carnegie Medal Nominee
2013—CBCA Book of the Year Shortlist (for older readers)
2013—Stella Prize shortlist
2012—Kirkus Reviews Best of Teen’s Books
2012—Publishers Weekly Best of Children’s Books
Professional
Reviews
Booklist
(starred review)
Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
School Library Journal
(mentioned in the Someday My Printz Will Come blog)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred
review)
The Horn Book (starred review)
Booktalk Ideas
Why Misskaella Did It
·
Her dismal prospects (52-54)
·
Her lot in life (59)
Description of Selkie (84-85)
Why You Shouldn’t Take Selkie as Wife
·
Daniel’s Mam’s advice (222-223)
·
Everyone is unhappy (232-35)
Bibliotherapeutic
Usefulness
This book could be used to discuss parental infidelity
towards their spouse and/or children.
Reading
Level/Interest Level
Reading Level: 6th grade
Interest Level: 9th-12th grade
These levels are according to AR Bookfinder
Challenge
Issues
This book includes the following potentially
controversial elements:
·
Adultery
·
Foreplay
·
Having a child out of wedlock
·
Infidelity
·
Lying
·
Magic
·
Mention of testicles
·
Selkies
·
Sex
·
Suicide
·
Witches
Librarians can point out that this book has many positive elements including exploring how detrimental infidelity in a marriage can be as well as the impact bullying can have on a person.
Why Was This
Included?
I had been wanting to read this since December 2012
because it received lots of hype from the YA community. Some felt that it had a
chance of winning the prestigious Printz award and it has an impressive number
of starred reviews.
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