Review: Hannah: Daughters of the Sea, Book 1 by Kathryn Lasky
Hannah: Daughters of the Sea, Book One
by Kathryn Lasky
Plot Description from Amazon.com:
Daughters of the Sea tells the story of 3 mermaid sisters who are separated at birth by a storm and go on to lead three very different lives. Book 1 is about Hannah, who spent her early days in an orphanage and is now a scullery maid in the house of rich, powerful family. She is irresistibly drawn to the sea and through a series of accidents and encounters discovers her true identity. Hannah realizes that she must keep the truth a secret but she also knows that soon she will have to make the choice - to be a creature of the land or the sea.
Hannah is a fantastic re-imagining of mermaid mythology. Normally, one reads of a fish girl who chooses to go on land to pursue true love or adventure, but in Kathryn Lasky’s new book the situation is reversed, with a ‘normal’ girl feeling irresistibly pulled toward the sea.
The story has the same mythic/magical rhythm as a classic fairy tale, and Lasky created beautiful imagery with her words. She also provided an extremely memorable villain in Lila, the daughter of the wealthy household in which Hannah works. Lila is unbalanced and cruel, and she has an unnatural, unhealthy attachment to her white cat Jade. Her bond with the feline mimics Hannah’s own relationship with the sea, but while Hannah draws strength from the ocean Lila seems to veer toward anger and madness. I finished this book in a single sitting. I’m many years out of the ‘tweener’ audience this book was written for, but I thought it was quite an enjoyable read.
I did have a huge pet peeve with the book, though: see that description from Amazon.com I posted at the beginning? There is no indication in the plot of this book that Hannah is part of a mermaid family. If the book cover didn’t tell mention that this was the beginning of a series, I think I’d be left unsatisfied at the end. Why was Hannah on land in the first place if she was a mermaid? How did that happen? Sure, we’re told in the plot summary that Hannah is one of three sisters separated at birth, but that isn’t actually in the narrative of this book! So even though I really liked Hannah I was also a bit irritated. The next book in the series better have some answers!
(Also, the cover is weird. The story is set in the early 20th century, but the girl standing in the puddle looks waaaaaaay too modern. But that's not the fault of the author.)
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