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Kerrigan Chronicles #1
Of Sea and Seed
OF SEA AND SEED launches The Kerrigan Chronicles, the story of three generations staggered by love, betrayal, war, and the effects of a tsunami that ravages the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland in 1929. Family matriarch, storyteller, and ghost—Kathleen Kerrigan—confesses that heaven does not open its gates to women of her ilk. In her afterlife she is adrift, doomed, like some ancient mariner, to atone for mortal sin by telling repeatedly the story of her downfall. With the lyrical voice of Kathleen at the helm and through the voices of her children—the duty-bound Kevin and the strong-willed Clara—mysteries fall away until the core of Kathleen’s crime is revealed.
Set against the backdrop of the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean, The Kerrigan Chronicles is an unforgettable family saga with a riveting undercurrent of suspense, one that will capture the imagination of readers everywhere.
Set against the backdrop of the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean, The Kerrigan Chronicles is an unforgettable family saga with a riveting undercurrent of suspense, one that will capture the imagination of readers everywhere.
350 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2015
7 people are currently reading
402 people want to read
About the author
Annie Daylon
9 books68 followersJoy: reading.
Passion: writing .
Motto: "Just show up."
Annie Daylon is a Newfoundlander, born and raised on the Avalon Peninsula the main setting of her Kerrigan Chronicles trilogy. At the center of Book I, OF SEA AND SEED, is the tsunami that struck Newfoundland in 1929. In Book II, OF SEA AND SAND, the lives of the Kerrigan family are hurled into chaos when WWII uproots their entire community. Book III, OF SEA AND SOUL??? In progress. Stay tuned!
Annie was a long-time teacher before she delved into writing. Her novel CASTLES IN THE SAND won the 2012 Houston Writers Guild Novel Contest and received the B.R.A.G. Medallion for excellence in indie publishing. Her 2017 novel is a gripping modern-day thriller set in Vancouver: AT THE HEART OF THE MISSING.
To date, Annie has written forty short stories and has won, or been short-listed in, several contests. Her work appears in literary magazines and anthologies in Canada and the United States and she has published a picture book titled THE MANY-COLORED INVISIBLE HATS OF BRENDA-LOUISE.
Annie is a member of the Federation of British Columbia Writers and the Writers Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador. She lives in the British Columbia Fraser Valley with her husband David and their dog CoCo.
Passion: writing .
Motto: "Just show up."
Annie Daylon is a Newfoundlander, born and raised on the Avalon Peninsula the main setting of her Kerrigan Chronicles trilogy. At the center of Book I, OF SEA AND SEED, is the tsunami that struck Newfoundland in 1929. In Book II, OF SEA AND SAND, the lives of the Kerrigan family are hurled into chaos when WWII uproots their entire community. Book III, OF SEA AND SOUL??? In progress. Stay tuned!
Annie was a long-time teacher before she delved into writing. Her novel CASTLES IN THE SAND won the 2012 Houston Writers Guild Novel Contest and received the B.R.A.G. Medallion for excellence in indie publishing. Her 2017 novel is a gripping modern-day thriller set in Vancouver: AT THE HEART OF THE MISSING.
To date, Annie has written forty short stories and has won, or been short-listed in, several contests. Her work appears in literary magazines and anthologies in Canada and the United States and she has published a picture book titled THE MANY-COLORED INVISIBLE HATS OF BRENDA-LOUISE.
Annie is a member of the Federation of British Columbia Writers and the Writers Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador. She lives in the British Columbia Fraser Valley with her husband David and their dog CoCo.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 12, 2020
Historical fiction should do two things. #1 Portray the time period, culture, and events with accuracy (i.e. be well researched); #2 Entertain.
Annie Daylon’s “Of sea and seed” succeeds on both counts. She has captured Newfoundland’s history with articulate accuracy and she has captured the cadence of “Newfie” speak excellently. I know, as I have friends and family from Newfoundland. The pages are so well rendered that the reader forgets time and tasks to be done. When I did put the book aside for short periods, then had a chance to pick it up again, I told my husband that I was ‘going back to Newfoundland’.
The story begins shortly after World War I. During these early years, Newfoundland was not part of Canada. A land of fishermen and their families. A time when fishers worked not for money, but to be paid ‘in kind’. They were beholden to the merchants who ran the store and worked within the ‘truck system‘. This was a time when the skilled men and women of Newfoundland did everything themselves. They built their own houses and boats, made their own shoes and clothing, gardened for their own vegetables. A time when there was a huge disparity within the class system.
The title refers to seed: that is human offspring and the families that endured through years of hardship and disaster. Seeds that were born both in and out of wedlock.
This novel introduces the Kerrigan family. Irish Catholic immigrants who settled in Argentia, on the Avalon Peninsula and toiled the sea to put bread upon the table. The mother, Kathleen, the father, Alphonse (a veteran of the Great War), their son Kevin, a fisher like his father, their daughter Clara, who married a rum-runner, and baby Jimmy who died in infancy.
When baby Jimmy passed away, Kathleen never recovered from her grief and was eventually sent away to “The Mental” (the psychiatric hospital in St. John’s). Alphonse was left with his two children, work to do, and too many bottles to drink. Kevin escaped at the age of sixteen to fend for himself. Clara was not so lucky…
Kevin too had a life with more misfortune and misery than most men could endure. For he moved to the Burin Peninsula where he and his family fell victim to the 1929 tsunami that devastated the area.
When Clara was sixteen her life was irrevocably changed when she met Patrick. A few months later she was banished across the bay to live with her brother’s family… By the time she was seventeen her father had found her a husband, an Englishman, a gentleman, and a rum-runner named Robert Caulins. Clara had no choice in the matter. Rum-running was very lucrative as Newfoundland, Canada and the United States were living through the years of prohibition.
“The laws were made for men, by men. Women were chattel and baby-makers”.
The Kerrigan family were Roman Catholics. The priest wielded much power over his parishioners. He had the power to condone, or to vilify and to condemn. Clara considered herself a sinner and confessed her sins to the priest.
“Of sea and seed” is a story of family secrets, deprivation, atonement, sins, and guilt. This first installment in the author’s Kerrigan Chronicles, introduces us to memorable characters who have met life’s challenges with strength and stoicism. Mothers and daughter, fathers and sons.
I loved the writing. The author captured her characters with whimsy, realism, and a deep understanding. I loved the little “Newfoundlandisms”. “She was so tired she could have slept on a clothesline” ; “Won’t it be some grand, just the two of us?”; “Sure I didn’t know what I was doing”; “Just let me have at the kettle”; “She is the face and eyes of her mother”.
“There’s no accounting for the mood of the sea. It rocks you into a state of trust and then steals your soul”.
I read this novel within fifty feet of the ocean. The cadence of the surf was a fitting background for a book in which the sea was a character unto itself.
This delightful and poignant historical family saga will appeal to a wide audience. Within the narrative are a few plot twists that will please those whose tastes lean more toward thrillers and/or mysteries. I have read that it has been referred to as “literary suspense’. I heartily recommend this novel and plan to follow up by reading the further adventures of the Kerrigan family.
My heartfelt thanks to Annie Daylon for providing me with a digital copy of her novel.
Annie Daylon’s “Of sea and seed” succeeds on both counts. She has captured Newfoundland’s history with articulate accuracy and she has captured the cadence of “Newfie” speak excellently. I know, as I have friends and family from Newfoundland. The pages are so well rendered that the reader forgets time and tasks to be done. When I did put the book aside for short periods, then had a chance to pick it up again, I told my husband that I was ‘going back to Newfoundland’.
The story begins shortly after World War I. During these early years, Newfoundland was not part of Canada. A land of fishermen and their families. A time when fishers worked not for money, but to be paid ‘in kind’. They were beholden to the merchants who ran the store and worked within the ‘truck system‘. This was a time when the skilled men and women of Newfoundland did everything themselves. They built their own houses and boats, made their own shoes and clothing, gardened for their own vegetables. A time when there was a huge disparity within the class system.
The title refers to seed: that is human offspring and the families that endured through years of hardship and disaster. Seeds that were born both in and out of wedlock.
This novel introduces the Kerrigan family. Irish Catholic immigrants who settled in Argentia, on the Avalon Peninsula and toiled the sea to put bread upon the table. The mother, Kathleen, the father, Alphonse (a veteran of the Great War), their son Kevin, a fisher like his father, their daughter Clara, who married a rum-runner, and baby Jimmy who died in infancy.
When baby Jimmy passed away, Kathleen never recovered from her grief and was eventually sent away to “The Mental” (the psychiatric hospital in St. John’s). Alphonse was left with his two children, work to do, and too many bottles to drink. Kevin escaped at the age of sixteen to fend for himself. Clara was not so lucky…
Kevin too had a life with more misfortune and misery than most men could endure. For he moved to the Burin Peninsula where he and his family fell victim to the 1929 tsunami that devastated the area.
When Clara was sixteen her life was irrevocably changed when she met Patrick. A few months later she was banished across the bay to live with her brother’s family… By the time she was seventeen her father had found her a husband, an Englishman, a gentleman, and a rum-runner named Robert Caulins. Clara had no choice in the matter. Rum-running was very lucrative as Newfoundland, Canada and the United States were living through the years of prohibition.
“The laws were made for men, by men. Women were chattel and baby-makers”.
The Kerrigan family were Roman Catholics. The priest wielded much power over his parishioners. He had the power to condone, or to vilify and to condemn. Clara considered herself a sinner and confessed her sins to the priest.
“Of sea and seed” is a story of family secrets, deprivation, atonement, sins, and guilt. This first installment in the author’s Kerrigan Chronicles, introduces us to memorable characters who have met life’s challenges with strength and stoicism. Mothers and daughter, fathers and sons.
I loved the writing. The author captured her characters with whimsy, realism, and a deep understanding. I loved the little “Newfoundlandisms”. “She was so tired she could have slept on a clothesline” ; “Won’t it be some grand, just the two of us?”; “Sure I didn’t know what I was doing”; “Just let me have at the kettle”; “She is the face and eyes of her mother”.
“There’s no accounting for the mood of the sea. It rocks you into a state of trust and then steals your soul”.
I read this novel within fifty feet of the ocean. The cadence of the surf was a fitting background for a book in which the sea was a character unto itself.
This delightful and poignant historical family saga will appeal to a wide audience. Within the narrative are a few plot twists that will please those whose tastes lean more toward thrillers and/or mysteries. I have read that it has been referred to as “literary suspense’. I heartily recommend this novel and plan to follow up by reading the further adventures of the Kerrigan family.
My heartfelt thanks to Annie Daylon for providing me with a digital copy of her novel.
June 6, 2021
I was really excited to read this book when it arrived. I won a giveaway for the second book in the series and I was gifted the first as well as the second.
And I am extremely happy that was the case because I can’t get enough of the Kerrigan family. I love “family drama” type of books, dirty laundry is one of my favorite tropes for mystery/suspense novels. And boy, was this filled with plenty of family mysteries, drama and enough plot twists to keep me up all night reading.
I especially loved the author’s language in the book. I could “hear” the different perspectives of characters, as if each of them had their own voices in the story. Brilliant. The language also felt very authentic to the time period, since it’s historical fiction, as well as relevant to the setting of the story. I felt like I was in Newfoundland, watching this story unfold.
Definitely recommended to those big fans of historical fiction novels, like I am. Also anyone interested in Canadian literature.
And I am extremely happy that was the case because I can’t get enough of the Kerrigan family. I love “family drama” type of books, dirty laundry is one of my favorite tropes for mystery/suspense novels. And boy, was this filled with plenty of family mysteries, drama and enough plot twists to keep me up all night reading.
I especially loved the author’s language in the book. I could “hear” the different perspectives of characters, as if each of them had their own voices in the story. Brilliant. The language also felt very authentic to the time period, since it’s historical fiction, as well as relevant to the setting of the story. I felt like I was in Newfoundland, watching this story unfold.
Definitely recommended to those big fans of historical fiction novels, like I am. Also anyone interested in Canadian literature.
July 24, 2016
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
ALWAYS a pleasure to read a female Canadian author! I was immediately drawn into this story and I honestly could not stop reading. Annie Daylon has a very strong ability to generate a very rich community of characters and create a thick atmosphere and presence of emotion enmeshed with time and space that holds you in the story she is telling. She is a skilled writer and there is balance and careful meting out of details, everything is perfectly paced with no lulls or lags. I am hoping there is more to come of the Kerrigan Chronicles! I have so many questions and I am curious to find out what happens to these characters next as I feel I know them intimately -- a sign of a good writer! ;)
ALWAYS a pleasure to read a female Canadian author! I was immediately drawn into this story and I honestly could not stop reading. Annie Daylon has a very strong ability to generate a very rich community of characters and create a thick atmosphere and presence of emotion enmeshed with time and space that holds you in the story she is telling. She is a skilled writer and there is balance and careful meting out of details, everything is perfectly paced with no lulls or lags. I am hoping there is more to come of the Kerrigan Chronicles! I have so many questions and I am curious to find out what happens to these characters next as I feel I know them intimately -- a sign of a good writer! ;)
December 5, 2015
The Author gives us a riveting mix of a haunting, suspense-filled story with an unexpected exciting twist in the setting with her character Clara(a seed) who would sacrifice anything for her child and who’s determined to have independence in a male-dominated world and wants the inconceivable—to be paid for it. Kathleen, the mother, is brilliantly depicted by the author as the sea who watches her family from the thereafter. Kevin(a seed) splashes us with love and resiliency while he lives a life of survival after his losses from the tsunami, because his daughter needs him. I can’t wait to turn the pages of Book II! Thank you for this great read.
December 15, 2015
Goodreads Signed Win Copy
This is the story of three generations that is staggered by love, betrayal, war, and the effects of a tsunami which ravages the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland in 1929.
We meet matriarch Kathleen Kerrigan who tells their story and that of her own downfall. We meet her duty bound son Kevin and Clara her strong willed daughter. The secrets that each carry in their life asa it threatens to destroy them at times.
A sweeping saga that takes you on a journey of early immigrants battling an unknown climate as they struggle to survive from tiers Irish roots. An engrossing read that flows between the main characters that come to life.
This is the story of three generations that is staggered by love, betrayal, war, and the effects of a tsunami which ravages the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland in 1929.
We meet matriarch Kathleen Kerrigan who tells their story and that of her own downfall. We meet her duty bound son Kevin and Clara her strong willed daughter. The secrets that each carry in their life asa it threatens to destroy them at times.
A sweeping saga that takes you on a journey of early immigrants battling an unknown climate as they struggle to survive from tiers Irish roots. An engrossing read that flows between the main characters that come to life.
April 29, 2018
I loved this book!! Annie Daylon is a talented writer and storyteller who takes you on a journey through a family’s secrets and tragedy. When you read this book you connect with the characters in their struggles, hardships and torn lives that they’ve led. A great read! I can’t wait for the next one on the series.
May 5, 2016
Absolutely loved this book! I selected it as a read for a monthly book club I attend, and I had a hard time putting it down to pace myself so that everything to discuss would be in the forefront of my mind. The only disappointment is that I will have to wait so long for the second book in the series.
July 23, 2016
I downloaded Of Sea and Seed, trusting that a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree would be a good read. I wasn’t disappointed. Although I found Kathleen’s character a little confusing, the story of the Kerrigan family was very well written and highly enjoyable. Good job Annie Daylon.
February 10, 2016
Annie Daylon is a gifted writer and story teller. Of Sea and Seed is a literary masterpiece. I could not put it down. Deep, rich and fulfilling in every way. Truly a "Goodread".
June 12, 2016
Well done. Heart wrenching. Tragic.
April 15, 2016
We are proud to announce that OF SEA AND SEED: THE KERRIGAN CHRONICLES by Annie Daylon is a B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree. This tells a reader that this book is well worth their time and money!
June 8, 2021
Family secrets.
Wow. I really enjoyed this story. The Kerrigan family are rural fisher folk. Tragedy seems to dog them. Clara the daughter is left after a younger brother dies & then her mother and older brother Kevin leave for different reasons. It’s Clara & her father. The curves life throws her...
Wow. I really enjoyed this story. The Kerrigan family are rural fisher folk. Tragedy seems to dog them. Clara the daughter is left after a younger brother dies & then her mother and older brother Kevin leave for different reasons. It’s Clara & her father. The curves life throws her...
August 12, 2025
I was really enjoying the story and the writing up until the main character, a woman, decided to become a rumrunner. That seem a little far-fetched for me......so I didn't finish the book
October 31, 2021
Multi-generational family story. It took me a little longer to read because of the dialogue using terms I was not familiar with and had to use the dictionary several times. Definitely gave me a sense of the area of Newfoundland and their daily lives and dependency on the sea. Love learning about other cultures.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews