Black and White Publishing The Bone Diver.

by Angie Spoto

A gothic tale of family, the legend of the selkies - shapeshifting mythological creatures - and a young woman who is offered an impossible choice.

The only daughter in a family of Scottish seal-hunters, Kier Sealgair is becoming a burden. She cannot kill, and
the family are facing hard times now that her father is ailing. On the neighbouring cliffs stands Erskine Manor, home to a mysterious and wealthy family. Servants arrive in town to buy supplies, but the family is never
seen, and waves of rumour spread in the struggling small-town community.

Then, one day, after a chance encounter, Lady Erskine finds Kier and offers her a bargain that could save Kier's father and change the town's impending fate. But questions remain. Who lives in the five towers of the manor? Is the Lord of the house alive? And are the children of the manor even human, or are the tales of spine-toothed monsters who roam the grounds true?

A period gothic tale of legends, secrets and monsters in the deep, weaving myth and folklore, The Bone Diver is perfect for fans of Jenni Fagan, Sarah Waters and Sarah Perry.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Gothic, Audiobook, Mythology, LGBT

336 pages, Hardcover

First published October 10, 2024

About the author

Angie Spoto is an American writer living in Scotland. She grew up near Chicago, lived in the Netherlands, and eventually moved to Scotland to get her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. She loves stories that are dark and surreal, strange and magical, and is inspired by writers like Ursula Le Guinn, Octavia Butler, Leonora Carrington, and Naomi Novik. She loves fairy tales, especially Scottish ones. She lives beside the shore with her husband and son.

Reviews

[C.E. McGill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dark and dreamy gem of a novel, perfect for fans of Gothics and Scottish folklore! The fairytale-esque atmosphere and the creepy, rotting vibes of Erskine Manor were glorious; I also really enjoyed the subtle queer rep, and the complexity of the relationships between Kier and her parents and between the members of the Erskine family. I'd definitely recommend reading on a dreich autumn day by the seaside :)

[Moise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ik wilde in Edinburgh een boek kopen waar de heerlijke Schotse vibe in terug te voelen was. In the Rare Bird Bookshop (aanrader!) werd mij deze aangeraden. Het onderwerp sprak me aan omdat dat over Schotse mythen ging.

Het schrijfwerk en de verhaallijn was echter echt slecht. Het verhaal wordt van voor naar achter verteld zonder goede opbouw en spanning. Het lijkt alsof de auteur snel naar de ontknoping wilt werken terwijl het mij veel leuker leek om te verdwalen in het verhaal en de storybuilding. Het verhaal werd ook in hoofdstukken van 3 pagina’s verteld, dat geeft misschien al weer hoe weinig in detail wordt getreden.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

• I picked the bone diver up on impulse for the cute cover of seals and the words gothic and folklore on the front, and was surprised to find in the first few pages it was centred around a family that made a living killing seals for their pelts (I didn’t read the back). However, I’m glad I didn’t read the back as it might have put me off (I love seals) and I really enjoyed this book!
• It had a beautiful eerie quality to the writing, and the timeless feel from not being able to workout when it was set added to the folklore/monsters and fairy tale feel. I particularly loved the descriptions of the ever present sea, it felt very familiar and somewhat comforting.
•My only gripe was the ending felt a little rushed. I still liked how it ended, its pace just jarred a bit with how the rest of the book had been slowly teased out.
• Also a little bonus I spotted in the acknowledgements was that it’s by a local writer.

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was dark and atmospheric, just as I like books best. I also thoroughly enjoyed the folkloric elements and, more generally, I love the premise of the book. Unfortunately, the ending felt a bit anticlimactic, the characters a bit underdeveloped, and the plot at times meandering, so that I can’t help but feel like there’s some loose ends that should’ve been resolved.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angie Spoto’s new novel The Bone Diver is a gothic fantasy inspired by the Scottish landscape and an Orkney folktale The Seal Killer. Kier is from a family of seal-hunters but has been cursed and cannot kill. She feels she is a burden and accepts a commissions from Lady Erskine, seeing it as a chance to support her family, prove herself and have a fresh start.

This is a Scottish fairytale with selkies, kelpies and other monsters of the sea, deep cold ponds, dark creepy forests and a brooding eerie manor. I loved the gothic setting of Erskine Manor perched high on a cliff, surrounded by dense woods, where odd things happen and which has weird servants and is occupied by a secretive aristocratic family who no-one in the nearby town ever sees. Naturally, this leads to much speculation about the mysterious residents with rumours and myths abounding.

One of the clever things about the way Angie Spoto has written this is that it seems timeless, by which I mean it’s not entirely sure when the story is set. The language of the majority of the characters feels quite modern but there are no cars or phones – although there is a chippy! Lady Erskine and her family have a much more formal way of speaking and dressing creating a disconnect and adding to the eerieness and fairytale feel.

Kier’s task, as you might guess from the book title, is to dive for bones in deep, dark pools. I won’t tell you why of course as that is one of the mysteries of the book. The diving scenes were so intense and vividly described that I felt myself holding my breath as though I was underwater myself. Water and the sea is central to the book as it often is in Scottish folktales. It creates and destroys, provides and takes, and is a truly liminal and other-worldly place.

Although The Bone Diver is very different from my usual kind of read, I thought it was wonderful and was gripped by the mystery and tension throughout. If you are looking for a beautifully written Gothic tale this spooky season, look no further.

[Harry Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bone Diver is a gothic tale that draws upon Scottish folklore, in particular the myth of the selkie. A selkie is a mythological shapeshifter that can transition between human and seal by the addition or removal of their seal skin. Once in human form they are vulnerable as they need the seal skin to transform back. Legend tells of occasions where humans would steal the seal skin and trap the selkie on land but usually these stories end with the selkie reclaiming their skin and adhering to the relentless call of the ocean and returning home.

Kier is the daughter of a family of seal hunters however is the unfortunate recipient of a curse that prevents her from killing. As such she is unable to join them and she finds other ways to contribute, namely through diving to harvest molluscs.

Kier happens upon a meeting with the mysterious Lady Erskine who lives in the foreboding Erskine Manor situated on the cliffs nearby. Lady Erskine offers Kier a job diving for her and after an injury to her father, she takes it so as to ensure the family are able to survive the winter months. Taking the job also requires her moving into the imposing Erskine Manor.

Kier encounters a lot of strangeness along the way. Ghostly pale surprisingly intelligent horses, a magical forest, a creepy mute maid who seems to never age, pools of water dripping through the ceiling, and that’s not counting the children of Erskine Manor. Stories told in the village suggest that the children of Erskine Manor are monsters, never seen outside of the Manor; it has been easy for imaginations to run wild and tales to be told of them.

The Bone Diver is a lovely tale about judging people based on your interactions with them, not by what you have heard of them. It is a tale about being yourself and not trying to change for anyone else’s sake. Most of all it is a mysterious atmospheric gothic tale that will have you entranced and ensnared the whole way!

I enjoyed the writing of Kier’s relationships with those around her. Her relationship with her parents and the strain that her curse puts upon that, especially with her mother, is very well written. The relationship with her best friend Fie and how they are fiercely protective and loving of each other (even extends to Fie sneaking into the spooky Erskine Manor just to check in on Kier) is a nice counterweight to the strained relationship Kier has with her mum. I also really enjoy the relationships she has with each of the members of the Erskine family and the ways she interacts with each of them.

The descriptive writing is top tier. It is so atmospheric. The spooky manor and grounds where everything feels like it is not quite what it seems, the almost horror movie vibes I got from some of the sequences really made me question what direction things would go in and kept me on my toes, and I love the way Spoto talks about and describes the sea. The allure of the sea is a real thing and Spoto does a fantastic job presenting that.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s rare that I engulf a physical book. Having made the switch to audiobooks, I’ve been trying to train myself to read physical books — I should’ve started with this. It was gothic, visceral and had me craving fish and chips on two separate occasions. I wish it had been three times as long, but even then, it wouldn’t have been enough.

[Sophie Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was great

[Grace Baird · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, immersive and enchanting. A perfectly woven tale

[TheHighlandBookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE BONE DIVER

Author: Angie Spoto

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: YA, gothic, folklore, mystery

Review:
A dark YA fairytale woven with a homage to Scottish tradition and legend. As someone who grew up reading selkie stories, I would've gone feral for this as a teen and probably made it my entire personality.
Our main character, Keir, comes from a family of Sealgairs - seal killers - and yet is cursed with an inability to kill. Frustrated and ashamed, she accepts an offer to work as a Bone Diver at the mysterious Erskine Manor, where it's rumoured a family of monsters live...

An unsettling atmosphere permeates the novel alongside surprising moments of the uncanny and some elements of downright body horror! The setting is marvellous, a blend of a gothic portrait and a classic fairytale backdrop. A place where forest and sea meet, and the rural and the grandiose combine.

The Bone Divers takes a slower paced approach leaving ample time to set the scene and flesh out the folklore at the centre of the novel. I enjoyed the simplicity of the story; nothing felt over written, and despite the dark subject matter, the writing had a light ease to it. It reminded me a lot of the classic Scottish folk stories and I love that it stayed quite close to 'source'* material (*if there is such a thing as a source when talking about folklore).

If you've ever felt a connection to the sea. If you enjoy your YA with darker themes. If you'd like to escape into an enchanting gothic tale where anything is possible. Then The Bone Divers is your perfect read this season 🍂 publishing this Thursday (10/10/24). Thank you very much to @bwpublishing for this lovely review copy 🖤🤍

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I literally could not put this down!!! Scottish folklore set in a seaside town...and sapphic undertones!!! What more could u ask for🫰

[Simon Gosden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A darkly Gothic tale told by someone who clearly loves the sea, as I do.
There are elements of Moby Dick, there are undertones of the little mermaid but above all else this is a deeply gritty tale of love and retribution set against the backdrop of a decaying, brooding, Gormemghast like, mansion overlooking a small Scottish fishing village.
The seal killer’s daughter is our heroine and she faces some very tough choices.

[meg_in_fiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book with a slightly vague ending in my opinion, however I still enjoyed the fairytale vibes and the depths of the characters, not quite evil, not quite angelic. Reminiscent of The Brothers Grimm tales if you enjoyed those!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those who love and fear the sea, and who dream of myths and monsters in its depths, will be drawn to this eerie, gothic tale of family bonds and personal identity.

It follows Keir Sealgair, the cursed heir to a family of seal-hunters. Her curse – to never be able to kill – makes her feel like a burden to her family. When they fall on tough times and her father is injured, she takes a job at the ghost-storied Erskine Manor to help him get back on his feet. She agrees to dive for the reclusive Lady Erskine, but little does she know she’ll be searching for bones in the depths of the tide pools and undersea caves. As she gets to know the Erskines and their secrets, and learns why the bones are so important, she discovers the truth behind the selkie myths, and begins to wonder what other monsters haunt the shores…

I love the way this story is written – it’s slow, brooding and full of suspense, with the sentences lilting and crashing like waves. It takes questions like ‘how far would you go to prove yourself to your family?’ and ‘can you have two homes at once?’ and weaves them into a dark fantasy of self-exploration and budding relationships. The characters are diverse and interesting, each struggling to find their path and realising they have more choice than they believed. Scottish folklore and small-town coastal culture are alluded to often, from dances to superstitions, and there’s a real sense of atmosphere that helps you to picture everything, from the wildness to the weather.

Fans of retellings and gothic folklore, and the works of authors like Frances Hardinge and Erin A Craig, will be grabbing for this. Thank you to @bwpublishing and @angiespotowrite for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read on Audiobook.

I'd highly recommend the audiobook format of this work, as the narrator that was chosen has a lovely Scottish accent, which sounded lively, melodic and clear and gave a perfect voice to Kier and the other cast of characters. It really helped with the immersion.

The atmosphere was incredibly well done here; the sea is a huge character in the story and is given a lot of narrative weight, wrapping every detail in a rime of chilled sea salt. It feels ever present, which makes sense given the focus on the selkies. I enjoyed my time with this story, and with the characters - it was a fairly slow-paced, relaxed read. However, something about the ending fell flat for me, and it just seemed too convenient.

Some nice, low-key queer rep also!

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 🌟. An atmospheric, gothic mystery set in an eerie, waterlogged mansion on the Scottish coast with a seal hunter/selkie lesbian romance in the mix? What's not to love?!

[Erpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, 4,5⭐

[MyNeverEndingTBRList · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! I was quickly immersed and loved the mystery, the folklore, and the gothic vibe at the manor and caves. The narrator was great as well.

4⭐️

[Ericafh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun surprise, full of secrets, selkies and dark and drowning halls. I've never read a gothic book before and I think I'd like to read some more. At points listening to the audiobook I was on the edge of my seat. I loved how the tale of the selkies was woven into the story, it felt new and refreshing. The easiness in which queerness was slipped in was also nice. Keir's romance was sweet and you're left hoping they find a way to make it work. I found the climax a little underwhelming as it was a classic "incredibly strong foe, how will we ever beat it - oh, with a stroke of luck we did it" type thing which was a little disappointing because I felt the book had held tension nicely throughout it. I also wished there was a little more debriefing and regrouping between Keir and her parents when their relationship and tensions kind of spur the whole story. Especially between Keir and her mother, I felt like that needed to be a tad more resolved.

But the real show stopper was how effortlessly and seamlessly Scottish culture was woven into the page. I couldn't believe Spoto is actually American (though she now lives in Scotland). This book lived and breathed what I feel like is a fairly accurate representation of some aspects of Scottish life, from the emphasis on midsummer, the sticky, humid heat, the dark undertones, the small fishing town, how myth and legend blur between stories and real life. The scene that stood the most and what I keep coming back to is the penultimate ceilidh. I felt so alive listening to the dances and it made me long to finally attend one myself.

[Lizzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5! I do have high expectations for coastal gothic novels as it's my favourite genre and this one fell a touch short for me but was still enjoyable overall. The moody scottish coastline was beautifully described but the story seemed to meander slightly and the characters felt flat, especially the description of the monster.

[Liv Neale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this but I also think it could’ve been so much more. The characters, storyline, Scottish setting and magical elements were all beautiful but all deserved further elaboration and depth and the ending felt rushed. A rare case where a book would benefit from 50 ish more pages just to round it off!

[Dan Bassett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kier Sealgair is the only daughter to a family of seal hunters, those who risk their very lives to ensure a tradition as old as their blood going back many generations is upheld yet catches that were once bountiful are on the decline, seals are becoming more tricky to catch, outsmarting and moving further away from those who wish to capture them which in turn sees the small town struggle to survive.
Kier cannot kill what her family hunts and becomes more of a burden to her parents, especially now that her father is ailing. Her one friend in this world is Fie, the town’s tailor’s son who lives in the full knowledge his father longed for a daughter.
High on the cliffs lies Erskine Manor. Servants come from this looming, crumbling monstrosity to buy supplies but the family itself is never seen, and with them rumours have only multiplied over the years; did the Lord kill the Lady? Are the five gothic spired towers for the five daughters? And are the children even human? Gossip can be hurtful and cruel….
One day a woman arrives in Fie’s shop wanting the impossible for one of her daughters. She claims to be Lady Erskine herself and when Kier has a chance encounter with the Lady, she is given the opportunity to prove useful at last. She must dive for bones on the Erskine estate. But for what purpose? Well that would be asking far too much. But perhaps through listening to the house itself and those within, Kier may find answers to questions that have been waiting years to finally be heard….
Haunting, gothic, and dripping with unease, The Bone Diver makes for incredibly addictive and imaginative reading!

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. This was a cute, quick, and at times exciting read. It is a very simple linear story with fairly one dimensional characters, but it was nice to just be paced through a folkloric story with a pinch of magic and adventure. Given its simplicity and characterisations, it reads much more like a YA, I’d recommend it to fans of Frances Hardinge for sure, it has that vibe. Overall I enjoyed it, but the pacing at the start was slow, and too quickly wrapped up in the end. The middle 150 pages was definitely the most enjoyable. I like the queer rep without being a queer focused story. Was a little bit disappointed with some of the cultural missteps, it’s clear this author is not Scottish!

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning read. I deeply enjoyed The Bone Diver, and will certainly be picking up more works by Spoto. The prose was excellent, the diving scenes intense and gripping, and the characters were written beautifully.

As someone who deeply enjoys Scottish mythology, this did not disappoint!

[Agno · Rating 2 out of 5]

but did she get paid??

an important point to overlook, given the plot was driven by financial necessity and the threat of starvation.

[Noone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. What I liked most was how unconventional the story felt.
It didn’t follow a formula, which I deeply appreciate.
The story thrives on its atmosphere, and in that regard, it was very successful.
That said, it’s slow—intentionally so, I assume.

The book did an excellent job of putting me in the right mindset for a slow, contemplative story, but it’s probably not for everyone.
The weaker part was the actual plot.
The first half of the book was really good, easily 4 stars, but the latter half felt a bit aimless—and not in an intentional way.
The ending wasn’t bad per se, but I was hoping for more—not necessarily in terms of events or additional story, but in terms of leaving an impact on me as a reader.
It all feels like a bit of a nothing-burger, very much in line with what you often find in slice-of-life stories.
Multiple story threads are just left dangling with no explanation or conclusion. To some degree, this can work for a story with these kinds of vibes—especially if it applies to vague background stuff—but here, some of it felt too central and too important, which made these pieces seem unfinished.

The book carries a strange tension that’s both uncomfortable and intriguing.
The story doesn’t shy away from, for example, the casual, mundane brutality of fisher-folk and what they do for a living.
For example, the MC’s family, as well as she herself, are proud of hunting and killing seals.
Her family is even called the "seal-killers," a name that always felt like an insult or accusation to me, though in the story, it’s not really treated as such.
This created an interesting tension surrounding their profession.
However, the ending does away with all of this. They give up seal hunting and simply move on to a different livelihood.

I kind of understand what the author was aiming for here, especially given the major supernatural reveal, but it came across as too simplistic.
In the end, the book didn’t have the guts to let the ambiguity stand, and the author couldn’t resist steering her characters toward "the right thing."
To me, a large part of the book felt pointless because of this. It seemed like the story was setting out to explore a somewhat uncomfortable perspective (killing seals for a living) but ultimately backed off, retreating to a conventional, modern Western moral stance.
As I already mentioned, they abandon their three-generation-deep profession just like that. The book doesn’t explicitly say that they stop killing seals because it’s cruel and all that, but it’s strongly implied.
It wasn’t preachy per se compared to other literature, but given the context, it still felt like it.
It all left a bit of a bad taste in the end, but even without that particular aspect—which I’ve already spent way too many words on—I still probably wouldn’t have rated this higher than 3 stars, just because the rest of the plot was kind of all over the place and ultimately went nowhere.

In conclusion, the atmosphere was top-notch, the plot was meandering with very little payoff, and the end felt like a bit of a cop-out in terms of uncomfortable moral questions.
If you’re up for something slower, with Scottish fishing village vibes, you might still want to try this one.
It very much feels like a story that can be a precious gem to some. I’m just not one of them.

[Heather - Just Geeking By · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on Just Geeking by.


Content warnings:
This book contains scenes of seal hunting, animal/bird death, graphic descriptions of animal/bird hunting, rotting carcasses, blood, bones, blackmail, threats, boat accidents, and death (off page).

The Bone Diver by Angie Spoto is a historical fantasy set in Scotland. The daughter of seal hunters, Kier was planning to join the family business until she was cursed. Since then, she has not been able to kill anything, not even squish a bug. Beginning to feel like a burden on her family, Kier keeps house and cooks meals; anything to feel useful.

When her father is seriously injured during a hunt, Kier feels even more helpless. His injury means that he will be unable to hunt for a long time, and with a hard winter on the way, their family is going to struggle. An offer from a mysterious source that comes out of the blue could save the day, but it would mean leaving her family to live in the strange Erskine Manor. Lady Erskine wants Kier to dive for her, which is the one thing that Kier excels at.

Kier has no idea what to expect when she accepts the offer. No one has seen the Erskine for years, and the village is rife with stories about them. What will she find at the manor, and what does Lady Erskine want her to dive for?

This is the second novel by Angie Spoto, and just like her debut, The Grief Nurse, The Bone Diver is a mysterious gothic thriller. Selkies have always fascinated me, and Spoto has woven an incredible tale of magic and the sea. This sapphic romance will capture your heart and imagination, whisking you off to the remote Scottish coastline with every page.

In addition to a sapphic relationship, there is a transgender main character and a disabled main character who uses a cane. The historical period of The Bone Diver is left vague, and based on the use of oil lamps and legal seal hunting (banned in 1970), it is set before the 1940s (when electricity was common in homes).

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[Elysian Fields · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bone Diver is another hit! It’s gothic, atmospheric,exciting, has strong family bonds, lovely characters, dark and dreary settings, hints of magic and subtle moods.

The almost sultry story line plays wonderfully into the settings and the weather, the moods, the plants and the animals. The air to the sea, it all had its effect on the pages of the story and the characters as they moved about. I could feel every description, every moment, every breath! Not to mention the dividing! Oh man,
I am not a diver, but I wasfeeling a bit claustrophobic during those dives. Kier, the bone diver and maincharacter in the story really excelled at coming to live in these pages. She really shined, especially in her dives. I would have liked to read more of them.

I don’t want to give anything away, so I will just say this was an extremely entertaining and engaging story, filled with uniquecharacters, and a plot like that kept me turning the pages. The ending was especially very sweet, and I loved it. 

Read while drinking a cup of Nettle leaf from Traditional Medicines for a more interactive experience, or if you're feeling brave, try Cup of Sea tea by Maine Seaweed Teas!

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s nothing I can fault in this gloriously dark, gothic, atmospheric, imposing tale of seals and selkies.

The Bone Diver is pure escapism but at the same time it feels relatable and real. The descriptions of Erskine Manner are detailed, leaving your skin almost crawling. I can imagine the scent and scenes that greet you as the huge reception doors open, revealing the dilapidated, rotting remnants of a house that once teemed with life. The Lady of the house, Lady Erskine is very Miss Havisham-esque; intriguing, eccentric, unnerving.

When Kier dives, you’re diving with her, the feelings of anxiety and tension increasing the deeper she searches. The way in which the push/pull, give/take nature between Kier’s family and the Erskine residence, is brilliantly written and I feel the characters are perfectly placed within this Scottish folk story. I particularly enjoyed the fact that I couldn’t pin a “time” on The Bone Diver. There are many modern elements to it, but just as many aged, traditional ones too.

Angie Spoto writes cleverly in this book and I really can’t wait to read more of her work.