The Sea House is a fiction novel about a house on the Scottish island named Harris. In 1860 the house was occupied by a minister and his maid. A century later the house is bought by a young couple who are fixing it up to be a bed and breakfast. As the couple replaces floorboards, the body of a new born is found in a fox in the soil. The baby was born with fused legs. Elizabeth Gifford weaves the story between the centuries by telling the story by the minister, the maid, and the female owner in modern times. The minister was a science researcher as well as a cleric. He was especially interested in selkies because he was told he was a descendent of a selkie. A selkie is noted in Scottish and Irish stories about men who swim in the Atlantic with a seal skin covering their lower bodies. When selkie's want, they can shed the seal skin and walk with their legs. The minister believed the seal men were real. What I enjoyed most about this story was the description of the sea house and the island of Harris.
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