REVIEW: The Sea Child by Linda Wilgus
In this enthralling, adventurous debut novel, a band of seafaring smugglers lands on the Cornish coast, where a young widow with a mysterious past becomes entangled in their schemes—and with their charismatic captain.
England, early 1800s: Destitute and forced to leave her home in London, Isabel, a young widow of the Napoleonic Wars, returns to the village on the rugged Cornish coast where she was found as a small child, dripping wet and alone. Hoping to learn more about her enigmatic origins, she’s shocked to find herself at the center of a local legend claiming that she is the daughter of a sea spirit.
As Isabel adjusts to life in her rented cottage, the coast is rife with smugglers and the Revenue Officers who hunt them. One evening, a group of dangerous raiders arrives at her door, carrying their wounded captain, Jack. Remembering her late husband’s fatal injuries, Isabel decides to care for Jack and soon feels a powerful connection to him. Even after Jack recovers, Isabel finds herself unable to forget him. Meanwhile, the sea calls to her, and a Revenue Officer who likes to hang smugglers poses a threat in more ways than one. Before long, Isabel finds herself caught on the wrong side of the law, with violence and heartbreak looming.
From the coves of Cornwall to the wild coast of Brittany, during perilous raids at sea and society dinner parties, Isabel fights to understand her kinship with the ocean while seeking answers about her past. But when the threat catches up with them and Jack’s life hangs in the balance, she must draw on all her courage and delve deep into the mythical heart of the Cornish coast. For only a sea child can turn the tide . . .
Dear Ms. Wilgus,
I’ve been looking for more Old Skool historical romances lately. The blurb, even with its hints of possible folkloric elements, called to me. I like a lot of this book but at times Isabel made me want to shake her.
Kippling’s poem urges his listeners to “watch the wall my darling while the gentlemen go by” but Isabel, newly arrived back where she might have started at the far end of Cornwall, isn’t given this choice. A widow of a naval midshipman (his captain wanted George to take his lieutenant’s exam but George died at Trafalgar before getting the chance), Isabel now lives in ‘reduced circumstances’ in a tiny stone cottage. Nineteen years ago, Isabel was found, soaking wet, wandering around near a fishing village and was adopted. Rumors have always said that she is the daughter of a merman and Isabel has always felt a powerful draw to the sea.
Late one night she awakens to rough men hauling an injured man, Jack, into her house. Isabel should have insisted the landlady provide a lock for the front door. Something compels her to assist during the surgery (no anesthetic here) and be there for this man as she wasn’t able to be there for her husband as he died. As soon as possible, Jack is hauled back out leaving Isabel bewildered at her response to him.
Used to having others do for her, Isabel leans heavily on the help provided by her landlady in learning to cook, clean, and keep her cottage tidy. She’s also attracted the attention of an unsettling Revenue Officer who hangs suspected smugglers without bothering with a trial. But Sowerby brings Isabel to the attention of local Society and at a dinner party, she discovers who Jack really is. Now that she knows his secret, he enlists her aid by asking for the use of a shed on her property to hide his contraband. Grabbing her chance, Isabel makes a deal with Jack to take her on a smuggling run in exchange for helping him. When they return though, all hell is going to break loose.
So yes, there are aspects I really liked about this book. It’s very atmospheric and it’s clear that lots of attention has been paid to researching and getting details correct. There are also some nice turns of phrase such as when Isabel first arrives and becomes the object of interest of some of the wives in the village. ‘The women aren’t pointing [at her] but their looks are.’
Isabel is pretty much on her own as both of her adopted parents have died, her stepmother wants nothing to do with her, and her late husband’s debts have left her destitute. Untrue rumors drive her out of Greenwich and hoping to learn more about her past, she returns to where she was found as a toddler. Isabel knows nothing about doing for herself but by gosh with a little help she starts to learn and discovers pride in being self sufficient. The women in the story, several of them widows, help each other and it’s lovely to see.
On the smuggling run, Isabel decides where her interests really lie. She loves being on board the ship, pitches in to help where she can, learns to climb the rigging, and wins over the crew. This plus her newfound freedoms as a widow who is no longer being dictated over by either a father or a husband leave Isabel almost intoxicated and she’s not eager to give any of this up. Impulsively, she pushes for a night of sex with Jack and then is flustered by her feelings in the aftermath and Jack’s response. This was a “want to shake Isabel” moment. I can understand that she’s never been in this situation, she’s confused, and wants time but her dithering left both Jack and me impatient and also confused.
There are several morally gray characters in the book. At times the smugglers are ready to be threatening but as one tells Isabel, basically if you don’t mess with us, we won’t mess with you. But when Isabel conveys some information she’s learned and it might lead to a local being “dealt with” by the smugglers, she finally realizes that her rosy tinted view of them might be incorrect. Only for her to flip her mind again while on the ship. The lieutenant remains a disturbing asshole until the end. I would have liked for him to have presented Isabel with another moral option in life to choose from but he was repugnant from beginning to end. Jack is a nice stock hero but, to be honest, he remains a little bland and too perfect. The end is chock full of twists and danger. While everything might seem bleak, Isabel uses her freedom and intelligence to come up with a plan to save the day.
This is a fairly quick read. As I said, I like the exploration of women’s freedoms and Isabel’s growing self sufficiency. I wish Jack and Sowerby had actually had more shading to their characters and that Isabel didn’t become a waffling queen at times but I like that she is the main person behind the rescue with everything tied up neatly at the end. B-/C+
~Jayne
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