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Selkie Dreams

by Kristin Gleeson (Goodreads Author)

4.25 of 5 stars 4.25 · rating details · 16 ratings · 11 reviews

Belfast, 1895. Haunted by her mother's death, Máire McNair is lured by the selkie myth to the promise of the Alaskan wilds to fulfill her dream of finding acceptance. Cunning and determination get her there in the guise of teaching at the Tlingit Indian mission. But Alaska proves more complex and difficult than she imagined, and the hope that this new place would transform...more

Hardcover, 386 pages

Published June 7th 2012 by Knox Robinson Publishing

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History through Novels: 1900s/2000s India

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Jun 09, 2012 Lydia Presley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, graphic-novels, social_issues, historic-fiction, fiction

It's when I read books about the harsh clash between missionaries and those they seek to convert that I realize just how judgmental, harsh, and brutal colonialism is. Selkie Dreams by Kristin Gleeson is one of those kind of books.

Máire, an innocent young woman of Ireland, lives with her father, their cook, and two maids. Her mother is long gone, reportedly a selkie (seal-woman) who had been trapped on land for seven years and went back to the sea shortly after Máire's death. In order to escape a...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews rated it 4 of 5 stars

Maire was an only child whose mother died when she was a mere babe. Her father was a strict parent, but he had Cook raise Maire which was wonderful for them both. Cook had no children of her own and doted on Maire. Maire was a curious young lady and always wondered about her mother. There were tales that she had been a Selkie and needed to return to the sea...Maire overheard other stories as well. Since Maire always wondered what happened to her mother, she spent a great deal of time at the seas...more Maire was an only child whose mother died when she was a mere babe. Her father was a strict parent, but he had Cook raise Maire which was wonderful for them both. Cook had no children of her own and doted on Maire. Maire was a curious young lady and always wondered about her mother. There were tales that she had been a Selkie and needed to return to the sea...Maire overheard other stories as well. Since Maire always wondered what happened to her mother, she spent a great deal of time at the seashore looking for her.

Maire's home life was strict, and her father was trying to get her married off to an older man. Maire wasn't in favor of this match and was thrilled when the church offered passage to Alaska to work with the Missions. It was a hard sale to get her father to allow her to travel so far from Belfast, but in the end, she was allowed to become part of the Mission and made the long boat trip. The only hindrance was Mrs. Paxson...she was always there telling Maire what to do and when to do it, and she also made Maire change her name to Martha....she hated that name. This part of Maire's relationship never changed.....Mrs. Paxson was always in charge.

As Maire got settled in at the mission with Mrs. Paxson, she was very surprised at the comments made by the other folks and felt uncomfortable, but the connection she felt toward the land and sea was a comfort to her. She became close with some of the Indians, but others rebuked her.

This book is superbly written. The characters jumped out at you with all their colorful clothing and personalities because of the great detail and beautiful writing of the author. The author gives striking descriptions of the landscapes as well. You will be able to easily visualize everything. You will get a detailed account into how the people of Alaska lived in their villages and clans. You will learn a lot about their culture, and some of what you don't want to learn.

You will fall in love with Maire for her innocence and her attempt to make something out of herself other than becoming a wife to an older man which her father thought was the best thing that could happen to his daughter. The customs of the villages Maire needed to become used to were puzzling...especially concerning the ways the Indians solved problems and how they didn't want their children to attend school. You will enjoy Maire's adventures and hardships and feel what she feels when she knows she doesn't fit in and especially when she does things that are totally against the principles of the clans. Her Selkie Dreams get her into trouble at one point and follow her through until the end.

The book was very informative and fascinating in terms of learning about a different culture and their customs, but it got cumbersome as it continued on and on. I enjoyed the book for most part, but am rating it a 4/5 because of the length. It also is not the type of book I normally read, but I am glad I read it.(less)

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Jul 02, 2012 Itsjustme-wendy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a wonderful story that is beautifully written! I really felt like I was transported to first Belfast then Alaska (I have always wanted to go to Alaska! LOL). This story, although fiction felt very real to me. The history and traditions of the early Alaskan people were clearly described here. This book is both interesting and fascinating.

"It is a Deer Ceremony because deer are peaceful," Joseph said. 'After each side has agreed to the gifts to be given, they will have men pretend to be d...more This is a wonderful story that is beautifully written! I really felt like I was transported to first Belfast then Alaska (I have always wanted to go to Alaska! LOL). This story, although fiction felt very real to me. The history and traditions of the early Alaskan people were clearly described here. This book is both interesting and fascinating.

"It is a Deer Ceremony because deer are peaceful," Joseph said. 'After each side has agreed to the gifts to be given, they will have men pretend to be deer, to show peaceful behavior."

"Tlingits do not usually say people's names everywhere and all the time. Names are full of power, full of meaning. When a child is first born, it is weak and the people believe that the spirits in heaven would take the child back, if they knew the child's real name. Later, there are other enemies. You do not always want an enemy to know your power, they might use it against you."

So why only a 4 star rating instead of 5? The beginning of this is real slow, but it pick up once she got to Alaska. Also - This book was not really about Selkies except for the first few pages and a few mentions through the book and then again at the end. Some people expecting a story about Selkies might be disappointed. I was hesitant to read this book at first because I did think it was about Selkies so I was kind of glad that it didn't take over the story. This was more historical fiction about the Alaskan people.

The character development is excellent! I fell in love with Máire, Natsilane, Sarah, and Rebecca as well as all the other Alaskan people. However, I despised Mrs. Paxson. What a self centered, rude, controlling person she was. She was clearly not there to help them, to teach them, or to teach them about God. She was there to control them, change them, and rule over them. She also took it upon herself to judge people and even try to inflict punishment on them. In a very strange and twisted way it reminded me of "Island of the Sequined Love Nun" - I know, I know, you're thinking, huh? But, trust me you have to read both to understand.

All in all I really did love this beautiful story and could not stop reading the last 2/3 of this book.
I know that parts of this will stay with me a long time. (less)

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Aug 13, 2012 Shellie (Layers of Thought) rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: historical fiction and myth lovers

Shelves: time-victorian-or-regency, spec-fic-fant-fairytales-fable-myth, genre-historical-fiction, country-uk-ireland, country-native-american, read-in-2012

3.5 stars actually. Original review posted at Layers of Thought.

A historical novel set in England and Alaska during Victorian times. It has Native Alaskan mythology with a bit from the British Isles woven through it.

About: Marie is a young woman who has grown up without her mum. Living with her wealthy father in England, the household’s cook tells Marie stories that lead her to believe that her mum was a selkie – a mythological creature that is seal in the ocean and human on land. It becomes a k...more 3.5 stars actually. Original review posted at Layers of Thought.

A historical novel set in England and Alaska during Victorian times. It has Native Alaskan mythology with a bit from the British Isles woven through it.

About: Marie is a young woman who has grown up without her mum. Living with her wealthy father in England, the household’s cook tells Marie stories that lead her to believe that her mum was a selkie – a mythological creature that is seal in the ocean and human on land. It becomes a key belief for Marie and draws her to the sea.

When Marie’s father, decides to marry Marie off to a much older and overweight widow, Marie barely escapes by pretending to want to help in the efforts to Christianize the native population at a small mission in Alaska. It is after all close to the sea. Full of hope and wishing to connect with her selkie heritage, she arrives in Alaska to live with a very devout woman, who controls her every move and her kind husband who has an understanding for the Native Alaskan culture.

As the outpost’s teacher, Marie is asked to help the local children learn and become Christian with strict bible quoting lessons. However Marie has other ideas about how to teach the Natives and finds that she feels connected more to them than with her own people.

Thoughts: This was an engrossing historical novel that has mythology from two cultures embedded in it. I truly enjoy stories that contain myth, and with this particular novel one can almost consider it as having a slight speculative edge. Apparently the author has done some in-depth research into Native Alaskan heritage, so the novel has given a glimpse into a not very well know culture and created an intriguing subject mater to learn about.

Set during in the late 1800’s, when women had very little say about what they could do with their lives and were required to live within strict rules of conduct, our main character had to use indirect manipulations to evade things like her planned marriage. She goes even further to violate the cultural mores of the time but I will not spoil this dramatic story for you. But because Marie is a heroine who dares to go against these required behaviors, with consequences, it gives the story a feminist flavor.

I enjoyed Selkie Dreams with its romance, mythological core and its absolute drop-off-a-cliff shocker of an ending. I was completely blown away. It’s a 3.5 stars in my opinion and recommended for those who like strong female leads, reading about different cultures, stories set in Victorian times, and historical fiction with a touch of romance.(less)

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Aug 16, 2012 Karen Charlton rated it 5 of 5 stars

There is nothing more wonderful on a sunny British afternoon, than relaxing in the back garden with an excellent book. And ‘Selkie Dreams’ is just that: an excellent book.

This beautifully written novel is the love story of Máire, an Irish girl who travels to Alaska to escape an unwanted marriage and the claustrophobic atmosphere of Protestant Belfast. Here she meets Natsilane, an enigmatic native man who has spurned his American education and the attempts of the missionaries to ‘civilise’ him, a...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Knox Robinson Publishing rated it 5 of 5 stars

'I don’t know if Selkie Dreams is the first novel to combine the story of a lonely nineteenth century Belfast childhood, a Presbyterian mission in Alaska, and the life and culture of the Alaskan native people, the Tlingit, that the mission serves, but I do know that this is a beautifully calibrated and vivid and interesting historical novel about love and death in the North American wilderness, that the characters are fascinating, that the evocation of the natural world and the social customs an...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Diana Leigh rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Rating: 3½ stars

I've read several books lately that have left me with mixed feelings, and SELKIE DREAMS is one of them. Overall, I thought this was a well-written story set in a unique time and place. The protagonist is Máire is a lost soul desperate to escape a bad situation in her life. She grew up in Belfast without a mother, raised instead by a cold and distant father. The family cook told her stories about her mother being a selkie, returning to the sea shortly after Máire was born. It's be...more Rating: 3½ stars

I've read several books lately that have left me with mixed feelings, and SELKIE DREAMS is one of them. Overall, I thought this was a well-written story set in a unique time and place. The protagonist is Máire is a lost soul desperate to escape a bad situation in her life. She grew up in Belfast without a mother, raised instead by a cold and distant father. The family cook told her stories about her mother being a selkie, returning to the sea shortly after Máire was born. It's because of these tales that she felt a spiritual bond with seals. After learning about the seals living along the coast of Alaska, she feels drawn to this wild, far away place. Máire takes a job in Alaska as a teacher in the Tlingit Mission.

It's clear that the author did her homework on native Alaskans and the work of missionaries in the late 1800s. I felt like it was a realistic portrayal of both sides. Neither group was romanticized or vilified. It was interesting to read about the struggles of the Tlingit people as they tried to learn about Christianity and the ways of the white people, while trying to hold on to their traditional customs. I still can't get over the arrogance of missionaries in changing the names of Tlingit children to Christian names. Even Máire's own name was deemed inappropriate, and it was changed to something more "proper" for mission work.

I loved Máire's character. She embraced the Tlingit people and was drawn to their way of life. You could see her discovering her true self and finding a place to belong as the months went by.

Even though the story moved at a slow pace for most of the book, I still enjoyed it - until the last page! The ending was, I don't know. I didn't like it. It was abrupt and incomplete, and left me feeling confused. I read and reread the last page six times, and I'm still shaking my head. Now, I've read many other reviews of this book, and I think only one other person mentioned the ending, so maybe it's just me!

So, if I can eventually make sense of and peace with the conclusion, I would recommend SELKIE DREAMS to historical fiction buffs interested in Celtic myths, Native Americans and colonization in Alaska. Thank you to Knox Robinson Publishing for providing me with a review copy of this book.(less)

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Apr 24, 2012 Jean Gill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hauntingly beautiful, a book that takes you into 19th century Alaska from the viewpoint of a reluctant young Irish missionary, who cannot accept the colonial view of the native Americans she is supposed to teach, convert and of course patronise. When Maire throws off her corsets, she is abandoning more than physical constraints, showing once again the rebellious nature that Cook told her had come from her selkie mother. Maire’s search for her mother is a thread throughout the story and her selki...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Margaret rated it 4 of 5 stars

A truly beautiful story, a little slow and stilted to start with, but gaining in pace as the story unfolds. Once in Alaska the tale really takes wings. The portrayal of the native peoples of alaska is colouful, detailed and so interesting. The effect of over zealous Christian missionaries on native populations is extremely well drawn.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story is well outlined in other comments.

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Jul 07, 2012 Jane G. Harlond rated it 5 of 5 stars

The gentle pace of this novel is in keeping with its setting and location, it also enables the reader to appreciate the underlying theme and the beauty of the prose.

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Dec 10, 2012 C.P. Lesley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

A good story, well told for the most part, with a lovely sense of cultural differences and history. The ending is a real shocker, though. Very metaphorical, I am sure, but shocking even so.

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Shelves: 2012

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Apr 25, 2013 J.L. rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Shelves: alaska, coming-in-2012, historical-fiction

Sep 07, 2012 Frances rated it 4 of 5 stars

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About Kristin Gleeson

Originally from Philadelphia, Kristin Gleeson lives in Ireland, in the West Cork Gaeltacht, where she teaches art classes, plays harp, sings in an Irish choir and runs two book clubs for the village library. She holds a Masters in Library Science and a Ph.D. in history, and for a time was an administrator of a national denominational archives, library and museum in America. There she handled the l...more

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