Chardi Christian

"There was a fisherman who lived in a stone cottage on the cliffs above the sea. He lived there with his old mother, a woman who had lived long enough to know." So begins this lovely retelling of the Celtic "selkie bride" story, in which the lonely fisherman, happening upon a band of selkies dancing upon the beach in their human form one moonlit night, and becoming entranced with them, steals one of their sealskins, and forces its owner to come home with him. Instantly and deeply in love, he struggles to make his chosen bride happy in her new home, but all to no avail. Finally, turning to his wise old mother, he is reminded of a reality he would rather not recall - that he has taken something from the selkie, something he has no right to keep...

This Australian picture-book, with text by Chardi Christian, and artwork by Freya Blackwood, is rather difficult to obtain here in the states, so I extend many thanks to Kim, my pal from down under, who helped me to locate a copy! How glad I am that she did, as The Selkie and the Fisherman is just a marvelous book, simply but powerfully told, with breathtakingly beautiful illustrations. I loved the direction that the story took, with its acknowledgment of the violence - the violation, even - of this tale-type, and its depiction of how the harm caused by that violence (a violence of desire, I think) might be healed through love. The language itself is lyrical, with unexpected twists and satisfyingly perceptive turns, while the accompanying artwork brings out every hidden depth of emotion found in the story. The vulnerability of the selkie woman, when pleading for her skin; her sadness, when kept a prisoner in a dry and foreign world; the fisherman's agony, while wrestling with his conscience; his terrible loneliness, and longing for his lost love, after he sets her free; and the joy of their reunion, as loving and free equals - these scenes are beautifully captured! I will be looking for more of Freya Blackwood's art, and hoping for more stories from Chardi Christian! In the meantime: where's our edition of this brilliant little book, American publishers?… (lisätietoja)