Mother Sea

by Lorraine Wilson

Winner of the Society of Authors ADCI Literary Prize, 2024

'Complex, rich and beautifully crafted’ – Claire North

‘Lyrical, moving, and at times haunting… This is a book I will be thinking about for a long time. Just brilliant!‘ – Awais Khan

In an island community facing extinction, can hope rise stronger than grief?

Sisi de Mathilde lives on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. With the seas rising, the birth rate plummeting and her community under threat, she works as a scientist, reporting on the rapidly changing local climate conditions to help protect her island home. But her life is thrown into turmoil when she finds herself newly widowed and unexpectedly pregnant.

When a group of outsiders arrive and try to persuade her community to abandon the island, Sisi is caught between the sacred 'old ways' of her ancestors and the possibilities offered by the outside world. As tensions rise and the islanders turn on one another, Sisi must fight to save her home, her people and her unborn child.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Climate Change, Contemporary

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 18, 2023

About the author

Writer, biologist, photographer, herder of cats, drinker of tea. she/her.

A conservation scientist and third culture Scot, I live by the sea writing stories influenced by folklore and the wilderness. My books have won two SCKA awards and been finalists for British Fantasy Awards, the Kavya Prize and the Saltire Book Award, and longlisted for the British Science Fiction Awards. I have also won a British Fantasy Award for short fiction.
I have been stalked by wolves and befriended pythons, run the Rewriting The Margins mentorship scheme for marginalised writers, and can be found at https://linktr.ee/raine_clouds.

IG: @raine_clouds_writes

Reviews

[johnny ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

a heart wrenching, emotional tale of how an indigenous island community struggles with climate change and medication resistant tetanus. sisi is trying to save her island from disaster; the sea is rising and their crops cannot survive the salt content of the water. when her husband suddenly dies, she finds out that she is pregnant. she has developed an intricate plan in the form of artificial reefs and sea level measuring, yet it is not enough. meanwhile, kit, an englishman, has joined a team of doctors and researchers to study the people of l’ambre. when kit thinks about attempting suicide after his family threatens to abandon him for not studying to become a lawyer, sisi stops him. they develop a friendship. the religion of mother sea is matriarchal, and women as well as nonbinary people govern the island. with the extreme infant mortality rate, the white english people urge the native population to relocate, leaving their island and everything they own behind to start anew.

masterfully written and beautifully crafted, “mother sea” is a work of art that tackles the impact of climate change on indigenous populations. haunting and beautiful, wilson writes of love, family, community, and the preservation of both culture and land. each character has a distinct voice, with all my love going towards each and every one of them. the nonbinary representation is truly phenomenal. this novel left me with many thoughts i will ponder on for a long time. we need to combat climate change and support those who are affected by it more than others.

thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy in exchange for an honest review!

[LannaInTheLibrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do you reconcile faith and science when both fail you?

A tiny, remote island grappling with climate change, globalization and infant mortality finds itself on the brink, its tiny population fragmented as an Administrator with a hidden agenda comes to the island. Torn between science and tradition, Sisi believes that both are crucial to the survival of their people, but as crops continue to wither and infants continue to succumb to an antibiotic resistant disease, she finds herself under increasing scrutiny and staring down the barrel of losing everything she holds dear.

A story about how the climate crisis affects the most vulnerable populations shouldn't be a unicorn, but it is. Brother Island may be fictional, but the problems faced by its people are all too real...coastal storms, crop failures and saltwater intrusion coupled with food insecurity and exploitation under the guise of protection.

I thought the story was excellent, my heart hurt for Sisi, especially when her beloved community turned on her for trying to do the right thing although their grief was understandable. Every character was so nuanced and well fleshed out that even when they made questionable choices, you could see the hurt that put them on that trajectory.

Kit's story started off feeling like nothing more than a distraction, but became increasingly compelling as the story progressed and he grew into himself, especially when confronted with the choice between his family and his personal values.

I liked the ambiguous ending and the fact that while there were hints of a potential romance, the focus was on Sisi's relationships with her family and her community. In real life there are no easy answers and the choices we make don't necessarily lead to the solutions we hope for, and so while I enjoy a happy ever after as much as anyone, sometimes reality suits better than fairytales.

The paternalistic and exploitative nature of the foreign administration, pretending to act in the best interest of the community while secretly selling them out was infuriating, but ultimately unsurprising.

This would make an excellent book club read because its the kind that lends itself very well to discussion, to interpretation, where there are no right answers but everybody will take something different from it.

Mother Sea is out on May 18, 2023. Thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for this advanced copy.

[Amanda at Bookish Brews]

I'm told this book deals with themes of post colonialism & climate change, identify, family & belonging, set on a fictitious Indian ocean island faced with extinction. Um yes hello please sign me up that sounds incredible!!!

And by a mixed author too 🤍

[J.A. Ironside · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, poignant story of disaster and belonging, told in the author's trademarked exquisite prose. The novel follows, Sisi - a native woman, who is trying to save her island home from the consequences of climate change - and Kit, an Englishman who has joined a biological research team stationed on the island. A chance encounter during which Sisi prevents Kit from attempting suicide, leads to an unusual and challenging friendship, which embodies the differences between two cultures and the difficulties each of them have in fitting in.

As with all Wilson's books, this defies genres conventions, riffing off folklore and science, examining family dynamics and exploring exactly how much our cultures and the expectations of out families effect our own senses of identity. While Wilson never flinches away from the more unpleasant aspects of the story - in this case medicine resistant tetanus, rising sea levels destroying crops, plummeting birth-rates, cultural clashes - all her stories tend to end on a note of hope. I don't want to include spoilers so suffice to say that the difficult position Sisi is in highlights both loss and opportunity, in a very though provoking way. The setting is gorgeously rendered until you feel that you have actually visited this remote island in the Indian ocean. And the conclusion left me strangely uplifted. This is cli-fi at its finest, but its also a quest for personal and cultural identity, a look at how we connect with the land - does it belong to us or do we belong to it? And so much more. Highly recommend.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 Stars

TL;DR - An incredibly intimate exploration of grief, depression, hope versus fear, and the struggle between the way things were and the way things are. Also a visceral and timely commentary on climate change and its effects on island communities, and all of it beautifully and hauntingly written.

Big thanks to Fairlight Books and NetGalley for providing the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

‘Mother Sea’ by Lorraine Wilson is the story of a remote, fictitious island off the coast of East Africa, an island whose indigenous population is struggling with the effects of climate change and the rising sea, as well as a deadly strain of tetanus that won’t respond to vaccinations or traditional treatments, that takes any babies born on the island by only their ninth day. This book is told in two POVs, one from Sisi de Mathilde, a scientist born and raised on the island, now working to save her people and their home, and one from Kit Benedict, a British college student who came to the island to heal after personal tragedy. We follow both characters as they navigate their own pasts, fears, and thoughts on the future, and watch as they play their unique parts in the island’s future, dealing with crises both internal and external. Past and present collide, and the future is wholly uncertain.

**Trigger warning for suicidal ideation, attempted suicide, and the death of a child.**

A brief overview of the triggers in this book:

Kit comes to the island after surviving several suicide attempts, and when we meet him, he is still suicidal and extremely depressed. We’re inside his head for this, at least as much as we can be in third person, and speaking as someone who has been where he is, it’s very accurate to my lived experience. This culminates in him trying to take his own life again, on-page, and we do experience it with him, so if this is something you struggle with, I would not read this book. Please, care for yourself first.

I realize that this is a spoiler, but it involves the third trigger I mentioned above and I feel I need to state it. A character close to Sisi gives birth, and her child contracts the tetanus plaguing the island, and we see the child die in non-explicit detail. And, as Sisi is pregnant herself at this point, she experiences this loss viscerally, as does her best friend, and it’s hard to read even as someone who hasn’t experienced this personally. Again, please proceed with caution.

Those laid out, on with the review.

First and foremost, this book was not at all what I was expecting. The ARC of this book was listed on NetGalley under Sci-Fi/Fantasy, my preferred genres, but that’s not at all what I got. I would consider this Contemporary Fiction that includes science, but Sci-Fi it is not. There’s a good deal of climate and biological sciences, but it’s (in my opinion) totally within the realm of real science and not fantastical in any way. As far as fantasy, there are some incredibly brief mentions of strange presences that may or may not be imagined, and animals acting as omens or servants of the island’s deity, but again, nothing truly fantastical happens outside what I would consider normal aspects of faith and believing the lore of that faith. I didn’t dock any stars for this, because it’s a perfectly lovely Contemporary Fiction book, but I requested it because it was listed under my preferred genres, and I did not get what I was promised.

That said, I did enjoy the book as a tropical island vacation away from the kinds of books I normally read. If by vacation, I mean a tale that was both bleak and hopeful, depressing and optimistic, and left me pretty bummed out after finishing it. The subject matter is really heavy, which I don’t normally mind in a fantastical setting, but because this book is about real-life issues happening in the real world, it was hard to read in a lot of places. For me, personally, the hope and optimism didn’t outweigh the depressing subject matter, but your mileage may vary.

The writing is as lush and vibrant as the island. There are a lot of very hard-hitting lines, in that they’re written so beautifully and devastatingly well, and I was often struck by the deep truths this book delivers about grief, fear, depression, hope, and much more. The island’s flora and fauna and geography all take center stage in an immersive way, and the characters all have a unique way of speaking that I enjoyed as a boring American who’s never been anywhere cool in her life. The island itself (himself, actually) is a prominent character as much as Sisi or Kit, and I felt the heat and heard the birds and smelled the flowers through the author’s gorgeous descriptions.

Both Sisi and Kit are interesting characters, and though we’re privy to their innermost thoughts and secrets, I still found it hard to fully connect with them on a deep level. I’ve been in Kit’s shoes, struggling with a great loss and the depression that follows, combating suicidal ideations and giving into them, and then finding a reason to live again, and he seemed like a really solid guy, but I just didn’t connect in the way I had hoped. Sisi was much the same, even if I haven’t experienced the things she goes through in this book. I would consider her an actual strong female lead, but again, I didn’t have that connection so I didn’t enjoy her story like I thought I would.

Side characters are complex in their own ways, and there’s some great non-binary rep that I really enjoyed, but I didn’t really connect to anyone. I couldn’t even make myself fully care about the colonizer scumbag antagonist either, which is saying something, because I'm always down to read about colonizers being thwarted and getting their asses handed to them before being booted the hell out. This book explored some deep things, but it just didn’t make it out of the shallows for me.

The plot is what’s really lacking for me in this book, though. There is a traditional story arc, but it meanders a bit, and all the hard-and-fast plot points are often underwhelming and lost under the introspection and inner worlds of the characters, which is all well and good if you’re a fan of that, it’s just not my preferred kind of story. The climax was anticlimactic, and the tension that slowly rises during the course of the book never pays off. There are a lot of subplots that never get resolved, and the ending is wide open and leaves more questions than answers. Again, this book is meant to be character-driven and not plot-driven, and you would probably enjoy it if that’s your deal, but it’s not mine, so I was, unfortunately, bored and then disappointed.

Shoutout to the author, who mentions in the acknowledgments being disabled and chronically ill, and as someone who’s also in that boat and aspiring to be an author, I’m super stoked that she’s been able to put out books and win awards. You wrote a good book and I’m cheering for you!

Final Thoughts:

I would almost put this book into the ‘No Plot, Just Vibes’ category, but there is a plot, even if it wasn’t to my tastes. It definitely delivers on the vibes, though, and if you’re looking for a tropical hideaway to spend the weekend in, exploring the landscape and journeying alongside the characters in their grief and their healing, I would definitely recommend this book.

[Tom Thornton · Rating 1 out of 5]

A sort of science paper merged with a travel blog. Painfully boring with unrealistic dialogue. I'd make vague comparisons with books like "Bel Canto" (Ann Patchett) or "Malibu Rising" (Taylor Jenkins Reed) in that it's a perfectly nice read, with a good flow, but all told in one monotonous pace which sometimes ventures into a sort of middle-class condescending bohemia. I read this after being bombarded with it on social media for months. Unfortunately a good marketing campaign doesn't equate to a good book. I suppose the popularity is based on climate change being a fashionable topic

[Srivalli (Semi-Hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

One Liner: Great premise; not happy with the execution

Sisi de Mathilde lives on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. Climate change is affecting their lives in a million little ways. The yields are less, seas are inching closer, and babies die soon after birth.

Outsiders, scientists, and authorities want the islanders to relocate; to leave their homes and the only life they’ve known to become refugees in other lands. The community thinks otherwise and is determined to rely on their sacred ways to protect themselves.

Sisi is a scientist but also an islander. Widowed and pregnant, she needs to decide the best thing to safeguard her unborn child.

Kit arrives on the island with his uncle and aunt, a member of the authorities, but with heartbreak and grief of his own. Can Kit somehow help Sisi, or will it be the other way around?

The story comes in the limited third-person POV of Sisi and Kit.

My Thoughts:

The premise and the cover are interesting, so I knew I had to read this. The setting is beautifully described with a liberal dose of the dangers the islanders face every day. It makes the whole thing more real, instead of limiting the island’s role to being something like an ‘exotic holiday’.

The story comes in almost alternative POVs of Sisi and Kit. While Sisi’s chapters are easy enough to read, Kit’s are as messy as his mind (the poor guy is struggling with just about everything). The writing reflects his thought process, a great idea in theory, but hard to read at a stretch for a reader.

The book has a non-binary rep seamlessly woven into the plot. I like how this is done. There are quite a few non-binary characters, though Nuru gets the maximum space. I like Nuru’s initial arc, them being Sacare (a wise guide of sorts), but by the end, their character became predictable.

The book pretty much hinges on the science vs. faith dilemma. I see the merits and issues on both sides and understand the deep-rooted fear of Indigenous people in allowing outsiders to have more control over their lives (our ancestors have been there and done that). I also know the advantages of science and technology.

However, the writing also reminded me of a video I saw recently. We pretty much know the ending of the book. There’s only one way it will go despite all the drama, and that’s what happens here too. It did lead to disappointment, especially when the open ending leaves a lot of threads unanswered. Yeah, life’s like that, which is why I read books.

The book is tagged as lit fiction and is character-driven. But unfortunately, I couldn’t connect to either character. I understand Kit a lot more and feel sad for him. There are too many stories similar to his. Sisi has potential, but we have a screen between us and couldn’t reach other to each other no matter what.

The community aspect is very well done and quite realistic. Grief, choices, decisions- it’s not easy. While colonization is not explicit, wherever we see on the island is a result of it. We know we cannot escape the trauma of it even after generations (again, living proof).

I think the book couldn’t establish Nuru’s faith the way it should. We see it only through Sisi’s eyes, which is not the right approach since she is already struggling. Nuru’s faith is wonderful and dangerous for them and others. It should have been the driving force of the conflict. Yet, we get a third-party version of it. I don’t feel the certainty, the fear, the risk, the conflict, the pain… nothing. Observing something and being that are two different things, which becomes apparent as Nuru ends up as a mere tool to drive home someone’s point than assert themselves.

The execution, the little-too-convoluted writing, and the ending didn’t help. Most importantly, it took me a while to figure out why the plot feels wrong. This story reinforces the colonizer’s perspective of indigenous people. It’s white saviorism all over, albeit from a scientist’s POV (instead of East India Company, we have environmentalists and conservationists trying to ‘help’ indigenous people because they sure can’t do it on their own).

The book shows why we ‘need’ people like Sisi and Kat to show the right path because Nuru and Mothers are intent on surrendering in the name of faith. It re-establishes that the indigenous people rely on blind faith and going back to the old ways means doing nothing but believing (Mother Sea) wants sacrifices and essentially acting like ‘heathens’. This is sad because the book starts out strong as if intending to defend the islanders but nope... it has to invariably prove them wrong and in need of outside help to survive.

To summarize, Mother Sea has its merits and comes with some good writing, but it didn’t make me go wow or introspect the concepts as I wanted to. Please check the content warnings before you pick the book. (TW: suicide attempts, child death)

Thank you, NetGalley and Fairlight Books, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

#MotherSea #NetGalley

***

Going back to the old ways doesn’t mean one turns a fanatic. It means digging deeper into ancient knowledge and using today’s insights to combine the best of both worlds. It means to understand the ancestors’ wisdom without looking at it through the colonial lens. It’s a complex process of unlearning and learning and re-learning.

[Toni R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of this book is truly powerful. In a post-colonialism world, the indigenous inhabitants of a small island community are struggling to survive. Their babies are not surviving due to medication resistant tetanus and climate change is wreaking havoc on the island and the potential sustainability of the population. The British government is trying to get the indigenous people to relocate so they can survive, but are their intentions really that pure?

The book follows Sisi, a local inhabitant of the island who is trying her best to use the tools the outsiders have brought to help her people stay. She is fighting an increasingly uphill battle as her people are incredibly angry at the “outsiders” and no longer want anything to do with them. Will she be able to get the islanders to come together to help save themselves and her unborn child?

The book also follows Kit Benedict. He is being sent to the island to live with his uncle, who is currently the British ambassador to the island and trying to get its inhabitants to leave. He is very lost and the island and Sisi might just be what he really needs to follow his dreams and breakaway from overbearing family traditions.

My thoughts: Doesn’t that synopsis sound wonderful? This book had so much potential but I really did not like it. I had a very hard time following the writer’s style. I appreciated her efforts to make us experience Kit’s chaotic and depressed mind in the beginning of the book which seemed to become more clear as he became less depressed as the book progressed. But I barely understood any of the events that happened during those parts. The way the author used verbal communication followed immediately by thoughts was also very difficult to follow and sometimes felt incomparable. It took me about 3/4 of the book to get used to the style and by then it was just the big climax of the story, so I think I missed some important things.

Other things I really appreciated included the use of gender neutral characters and correcting someone misusing pronouns, themes of colonialism, strong themes of cultural importance and traditions, mental health issues, and contemplating the sense of identity/acceptance.

Overall, fantastic premise with really powerful themes, but the writing style just killed it for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Fairlight Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story:
On a small, isolated island in the Indian Ocean, Sisi de Mathilde is caught between two worlds. Her community is facing challenges harder than any in its history – climate change, endemic illness claiming their children, and the resulting strain making neighbour turning upon neighbour. Working as a scientist, Sisi has always trusted in facts. But when she finds herself both widowed and unexpectedly pregnant, she must make a choice not only for herself, but her unborn child – the traditions of her people, or the hope offered by the outside world?

My thoughts:
I was keen to read this book, having previously enjoyed author Lorraine Wilson’s novel “The Way the Light Bends”. This is a very different story, set in a very different location (an isolated Indian Ocean island versus a rainswept Scotland!), but what was very much the same was the author’s beautiful writing, and her deft handling of difficult subjects such as grief, family relationships and guilt.

Sisi was a character I found compelling to read about, torn between her worlds of science and tradition. The community of Brother Island, as it is known to its inhabitants, is struggling with climate change, but even more devastating is the loss of newborn babies to neonatal tetanus that is putting their whole future in doubt. Sisi at first believes the answer lies in the medical science of the outside world, but following another devastating loss she is thrown back towards her people’s traditions and their belief in Mother Sea to help them.

Another key character in the book is Kit Harrington, an outsider brought to the island by his uncle and aunt following an attempt to take his own life. Kit’s uncle is the island’s Administrator, whose aim is to relocate the community. Kit and Sisi strike up an unlikely and somewhat uneasy friendship, and Kit is able to draw strength both from that, and the island itself.

This is a book that tackles difficult themes, and doesn’t offer easy solutions. It contains many tragedies, and highlights the profound effects our impact on climate is having on the world. But it is not a bleak book, and ends with hope. This is an author I’m sure I’ll be reading more of in future.

[Janina (whatjaninareads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader copy of Mother Sea in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this opportunity.

After an attempted suicide attempt and disappointing them by not wanting to study law, Kit‘s parents make him join his uncle on a visit to a remote island in the Indian Ocean, where he is supposed to help convince the indigenous inhabitants to relocate elsewhere - to save themselves from the increasingly dire living situation, but also make room for a company to exploit the natural resources of the island.

I really struggled with the writing style in Kit’s chapters at the beginning of the book. It took me some time to figure out what exactly was wrong with him, and once I did I really appreciated the way the writing style reflected his state of mind, but that meant I was quite confused about the plot at first. It took me some time to warm to him, but I liked his quiet and serious character after that.

Sisi, on the other hand, was a character I felt immediately drawn to. As the island‘s scientist, she keeps track of the ways climate change endangers the islanders‘ existence, and then of course there’s also the looming threat of a vaccine-resistant version of Tetanus hanging over her unborn child. I felt with her when she was torn between science and religion which both failed to save her best friend‘s child, and when she was treated as someone apart from the rest of her people because she believed that science was the way to save them.

That’s actually something that really had me struggle with the book. I‘m not saying that these people should stop believing in Mother Sea, abandon their traditions and beliefs or anything, but - most of them have gone away to the mainland to study things like biology, and it absolutely blows my mind how educated people choose to turn their backs on science and instead decide to trust wholly on a religion that failed them just as much. I was very frustrated with that part of the plot and couldn’t understand the stance of the mothers.

I also felt like nothing really was quite resolved in the end, and felt left hanging a bit when the book was over. There were too many loose ends for my liking.

All in all, I felt very intrigued by the idea of the story, and although the writing style did take rather a lot of getting used to, I ended up enjoying that as well. However, I feel like overall the story could have been executed better, with a more defined ending.

3/5 stars.

[Tonya | The Cultivated Library Co · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Description:
Mother Sea by Lorraine Wilson is an incredibly moving, brilliant story about a people's fight for survival. Living on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean, Sisi de Mathilde and her people are facing the loss of their island, their culture, their very existence. Sisi, an ecologist, is caught between the world of science and society. How will she save her island and their way of life? How do you preserve the essence of your people if your home is destroyed? Especially when that home, an island, was so integral in making you who you are?

My Thoughts:
Mother Sea is rife with beautifully written prose. I was so touched by the story while reading the ARC, I ended up purchasing it as soon as it was released. I found myself in awe of the islanders' strength and inspired by their fight. Their fady (pronounced FAH-dee), or cultural taboos, are fascinating. These beliefs have governed their daily life for generations.

Before Mother Sea I had never considered how an island can change over time and found the science of it all intriguing. These changes can drastically affect the island's inhabitants. Readers will be devastated by the islanders' sacrifice and haunted by their grief. Lorraine Wilson has crafted such a thought-provoking story, perfect for book clubs and great discussions.

Read this if you like:
• Dual POVs
• Cultural fiction
• Beautiful prose
• Thought-provoking reads 

[Kayleigh | Welsh Book Fairy · Rating 3 out of 5]

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Mother Sea
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Lorraine Wilson
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Contemporary Dystopia
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 18th May 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 22nd April 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3/5

Content Warning: Child death, suicide

”What was faith worth if you believed the wrong thing?”

This was an extremely intelligent story that made my heart ache. Unfortunately, I really struggled to fully immerse myself into this book. I found the writing undeniably beautiful but also convoluted to the point where I found it difficult to forge connections with the characters.

Whilst this disappointed me—I really looked forward to this book after reading the synopsis—I found the exploration of very intense themes sharp, tender, and forthright. Mother Sea explores climate change, British colonialism, faith versus science, depression, grief, family, and community.

I actually really liked the ending, though the ambiguity wouldn’t normally be my cup of tea. The ending is left semi-open, as though the focus shouldn’t be on the resolution, but the questions themselves. And what important questions they are.

—Kayleigh🤍
@ Welsh Book Fairy🧚‍♀️✨

♡Booksta
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[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and intimate. This was an emotional story, and some of those emotions were grief, depression, hopelessness, and anger - but I felt there was always an undercurrent of hope. This wasn't a dark book by any means, but it was one that was intimately in touch with its characters feelings, and they were feeling a lot.

The setting and the overall messages - climate change, faith vs. science, colonialism, for example - were poignant, but more than that, I think the characters stood out in this book. They all felt real, and even if I didn't agree with all of them (or any of them, fully), I understood them.

I hadn't read anything by Lorraine Wilson previously, but if everything she writes is this lovely, I'll certainly be changing that.

Thank you to the publisher, Fairlight Books, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Fiona Erskine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lorraine Wilson writes like an angel. What set her apart from other great writers is that she also has something urgent and timely to say.

Set on a remote island ‘an ocean-speck atoll in Britain’s shrunken empire, far east of the Seychelles and further still from anywhere else’, Sisi de Mathilde is torn between the old ways of her ancestors and the new rigor of the scientific community in the wider world.

There were many points in this beautifully written, harrowing book when I was unsure which side the author was really backing. A testament to even handedness, she puts the case for some of the customs of the isolated fishing village every bit as persuasively as the case for modernisation.

The story is full of brutal reminders that modern medicine lacks cures for some terrible afflictions, be they mental illnesses or novel bacterial infections.

[Deborah Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written, moving story about the threat to a way of life and the effects of climate change on a small population whose future is being determined by others.

I found the story fascinating. As a person of faith myself, who does not see a contradiction between faith and science, I enjoyed piecing together the experiences of Lorraine Wilson's superbly drawn characters to understand how these kinds of issues affected them.

Wilson writes like a dream. '...a frigatebird hung in the air like a miracle made angular and black' was one thing I highlighted. '...her low voice slipping in-between story rhythms and brevity like a moth,' was another. There were many more.

If you enjoy books which combine beautiful writing with an urgent message, strong characters and a poignant plot, you will love Mother Sea.

[Tanya Kelly-Hadley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mother Sea was an incredibly interesting ride on the emotional train. This book is filled with so much suffering and hope, it definitely needs a trigger warning. The writing was very poetic and beautiful, the author captured the raw emotions of the characters very well.

Sisi is a scientist trying to convince both herself and the people on her island they need the help of scientific advances while still holding onto the culture of the island. After tragedy strikes those closest to Sisi she starts to question her way of thinking.

Kit is a transplant to the island who is there to recover from his inner demons. At the beginning of the story Kit is in a very dark place but slowly the island and his blooming friendship with Sisi pull him out just in time for him to help others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this lovely book.

[janne Boswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done! I enjoyed this book; a nuanced mixture of folklore with a modern twist. I enjoy books like this that highlight the current issues, specifically, global warming, presented in contemporary fiction.
My only criticism, is there were some 'hard turns; between the turmoil facing the scientists and the protagonist, Sisi.
My only criticism, is the blatant use of "leave the island' without explanation. I would have appreciated a more in depth discussion of why the community needed to leave.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

As teazel heads do, this prickled curiosity from the very start - who? and where? and why? as well as what is going on? Then, thanks to writing as lovely as the teazel's tiny purple blossoms, I gradually became invested in Sisi's concerns, and in her world; in Kit's uncertainties, and remained so throughout the many tensions and heartaches, problems and richnesses of this enthralling novel, delighted to be assured Lorraine has done it again.

[Harvey Hamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mother Sea is one of the most moving and well-crafted books I've read. It explored so much of what it is to be human through two varied POVs and their struggles. The fictional island of the story was so well built and fleshed out, it felt real, from the geography and the affects of climate change to the community's beliefs. This is a book about so many important things, science and faith, community, family, love in many forms. A beautiful piece of art.

[Sara Mcfadden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Fairlight Books for the opportunity to read rate and review this arc which is available May 18,2023.

Wow. What an incredibly powerful and moving story! It hits on climate change, being a mother, balancing modern society with the traditions of her people. Sisi’s battle to save her home, her people and her unborn baby was eloquently written. Highly recommend

[caitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- this was a solid story on the affects of post colonialism and the choice of people to find where they want to belong, and the book explored those themes in depth. my only nitpick with the story is that it was slow to develop, which made my reading experience a little sluggish, but did not take away from the message overall.

[Robyn Little]

I received a free ARC in exchange for an honest review

A surprisingly intimate drama that lures you into this tale of motherhood and morose alliances. The land shown has both pros and cons when it comes to the traditions and the unveiled culture laid out within the story. The air of depression hanging around the difficult decisions faced dominates the beauty making it a page-turning read.

[M. Stevenson]

A gorgeous and moving book, "Mother Sea" has some of the most beautiful line-level prose I've had the pleasure of reading. I enjoyed the island setting and the nuance with which the author discusses grief.

[Aravind Mahipani · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an interesting read but has mishaps at a lot of places. But still was a nice read. There were places where there was over exposition but i guess thats for the good

[Runalong · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very engaging and thoughtful tale mixing environmental themes, science with a community trying to have a future. I loved how all the decisions made sense internally and how the conflict gets resolved

Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning read

[Shona Kinsella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, powerful read. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

[Steffanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a hauntingly beautiful book.

[Jo Hartley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tricky because this is a well written novel, it just feels like it could have been even better

[Micayla Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really hard to get through mostly because of the writing style but also as it is very sad. But I finished it. Finally.