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Cover of Sea Hearts

Sea Hearts

core novel 2012 Sea Hearts

Record

First published2012
Original language EN
Work typenovel
Canon statuscore
Reader rating3.69 (4,417 ratings, collected 2026-09-25)
First-edition ISBN9780375873362

Synopsis

Rollrock is a remote island of fishermen and their hard-working wives. Misskaella, a plain and unloved girl mistreated by her family and scorned by the other islanders, discovers as a child that she has a strange, frightening bond with the seals that gather on its shores. Growing up feared and alone, she eventually learns that she can draw a beautiful woman out of the body of a seal. For a price, she begins supplying the island's men with sea-wives, lovely and obedient, and one by one they set aside the human women who once mocked her. The novel moves between several islanders across the generations, the men, the wives and the children of these marriages, as the cost of Misskaella's bargain settles over the whole island. It was published in the United States as The Brides of Rollrock Island.

Where it sits

  • Universe: Sea Hearts
  • Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
  • Author: Margo Lanagan

Awards (verified)

  • Aurealis Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2012: won
  • Aurealis Award (Best Young Adult Novel), 2012: won; Joint winner (tie with Kaz Delaney's Dead, Actually).
  • Ditmar Award (Novel), 2013: won
  • Children's Book of the Year Award (Older Readers), 2013: won

Notes

  • On remote Rollrock Island, the outcast witch Misskaella learns to draw women out of seals, and the island's men buy themselves sea-wives at a cost that falls on every family. Published in the United States as The Brides of Rollrock Island.

Sources

← Sea Hearts dossier · All universes

Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.