29. The Bell at Sealey Head

TBR #29. The Bell at Sealey Head by Patricia A. McKillip.

First sentence: “Judd Cauley stood in his father’s rooms in the Inn at Sealey Head, looking out the back window at the magnificent struggle between dark and light as the sun fought its way into the sea.”

Sealey Head is a sleepy town near the ocean with magic it doesn’t even think about.  Every sunset there is the mysterious sound of a bell tolling, which has many local legends explaining its origin but remains shrouded in hearsay and storytelling.

Judd Cauley is the young innkeeper who welcomes the traveling scholar, Ridley Dow, in search of the magical origin of the bell.  Gwenyth Blair, a merchant’s daughter, writes stories about the bell, trying to get close to the truth.  And in the great Aislinn House, where Lady Eglantyne lies dreaming, the housemaid Emma can open doors into another time and place, where a ritual is about to change everything.

This charming fantasy blends together fairytale, myth, and legend with hints of medieval romance in a vaguely Regency setting.  It’s for people who love beautiful writing, a bit of humor and romance, a lot of invented folklore, and a house with a spell on it.