Reviews for The sirens : a novel
Book list
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Ireland, 1800. Sisters Mary and Eliza move far from the seaside after their mother disappears in the waves. Yet they are drawn to water, and when a violent encounter at a brook leads to deportation, they find themselves in horrendous conditions on a ship bound for Australia. In Australia in 2019, Lucy flees university after attacking her lover, who posted a nude photo of her online. Seeking refuge with her older sister, Jess, at Cliff House, Lucy arrives to find Jess has disappeared. All four women, across time, share a violent skin allergy to water, and as Lucy explores Jess’ history, the town, and the men who vanished from it, dark secrets emerge. Hart focuses on female bonds and the “unfairness” of the feminine condition, characters noting the “injustice” of being born women. Atmosphere is effectively evoked, Cliff House blooming with mold and near reclamation by the ocean. All melds through the supernatural premise of the Irish merrow (mermaid), which Hart combines with the sirens of Greek mythology, ensuring appeal for those who like their folklore Gothic in flavor and seasoned with feminism.
Library Journal
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In 19th-century Ireland, sisters Mary and Eliza were declared convicts and shipped to Australia. As they endured horrific conditions, they held on to hope and to each other. In 2019, recurring childhood nightmares continue to afflict first-year journalism student Lucy Martin. After waking up from a traumatic sleepwalking incident, Lucy escapes to her artist sister Jess's house in Comber Bay on the coast of New South Wales. Then Lucy discovers that her sister is missing but is reassured by a neighbor that her sister is fine and just needed a break before an important gallery exhibition. Comber Bay, known for its dark events from shipwrecks to missing men, piques Lucy's journalistic interest, and she begins to research while waiting for Jess to return. Lucy's dreams become more vivid as she comes closer to finding the truth of the mysteries surrounding the coastal town and her sister's complicated past. VERDICT Hart's second novel (after Weyward) weaves a lyrical story, intricately blending family dynamics with the magic of folklore. For fans of family relationship stories with elements of magical realism, such as the novels of Sarah Addison Allen.—Joy Gunn
Publishers Weekly
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Hart (Weyward) delivers a high-voltage tale of family secrets, fantastical occurrences, and Australian history. Lucy, a university student in present-day New South Wales, wakes from a recurring dream about two sisters drowning to find she’s sleepwalked into her ex-lover Ben’s room and is trying to strangle him. Horrified by her actions, she flees to her older sister Jess’s house in the seaside town where their parents once lived, but Jess is nowhere to be found. The town is notorious for the mysterious recovery decades ago of a baby from a nearby cave and the unexplained deaths of several local men. Growing up, Lucy wondered why their parents were so reclusive and why Jess refuses to talk about the past. After Lucy recognizes images from her dreams in Jess’s paintings, she reads Jess’s diary in search of answers. A parallel narrative set in 1800 follows twin sisters Eliza and Mary, who struggle to survive the cruel conditions aboard a convict ship sailing from their native Ireland to Australia. As Hart connects Eliza and Mary’s story with Jess’s diary, Lucy’s dreams, and Lucy’s reason for attacking Ben, the narrative occasionally veers from entertaining to exhausting (story elements thrown into the mix include murder, sexual predators, mystical bodily transformations, otherworldly orphans, and mistaken identities). Still, there’s fun to be had with this spooky page-turner. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, CAA. (Apr.)
