Candida BakerJune 5, 2026 — 12:12pmWhile a single mystery lay at the heart of psychologist and writer Lauren Keegan’s debut historical work, Bees in the Hollows, her new novel, The Woman in the Seal Skin, offers layers of intrigue.Set in Orkney, Scotland, in the 1690s, the coldest decade of the “Little Ice Age” between 1300 and 1850, the story centres on a tiny community of fisherfolk, struggling against shifting weather patterns and vanishing fish stocks . Or, the locals begin to wonder, is something else – something perhaps more menacing – responsible for the disappearance of their major food and livelihood?Lauren Keegan’s new novel is set in Orkney and draws on the myth of the selkie.Getty ImagesThe Orkney Islands, of course, are home to the myth of the selkie – that mysterious creature who is pure seal in the water, and human out of it, a symbol, perhaps of that strange state of being we all desire to attain, of being able to journey easily between worlds.The central figure in the book, Malie, has grown up believing that her mother was a selkie whose attraction to the sea was so strong that one day she left her family to don her seal skin permanently. Brought up by her father, Malie’s childhood was full of stories of the seductive and wayward ways of selkies. As she grows older she is restless, and begins to feel the draw of the ocean. The second central figure is Henrye, a widowed farmer with a young son. Henrye’s wife – who was also Malie’s best friend – drowned at sea, and he has watched with distress as Malie’s life unravels after she marries a violent man.As her husband’s abuse becomes worse, Henrye’s feelings for Malie intensify as he sees her struggle with the grief of her mother’s loss and her own oppression. He is also drawn to Malie’s deep connection to the sea, and to the local seals, sensing an inherent wildness in her that her family, and particularly her husband, are determined to control. The novel is told in part from Malie’s point of view, and in part from Henrye’s, and it quickly becomes clearthat it is Malie who is somewhat detached from the complex layers of pain in her life, and Henrye who, despite keeping a physical distance from her, knows more than he can tell her about her past, realising gradually that he is in love with her.The pressure builds slowly, towards an inevitable explosion, involving, in part, the rescue of a strange woman from the sea, Malie’s pregnancy, the decision by the men of the community to club the baby seals once they are weaned, and Malie’s growing realisation that nothing she has been told about her mother’s death is true.The problem with the novel, despite its rich story, is a lack of emotional depth in most of the major characters, particularly Malie, who seems almost completely unaware, until the last third of the book, of what she’s doing or why she’s doing it. Despite the novel’s deep intrigues, this detachment leaves a hollow space at the centre of what is otherwise a complex and interestingly layered plot.However, there’s no doubt that for lovers of historical fiction, selkies, and the Orkneys there’s a lot to enjoy in Keegan’s second novel.The Woman in the Seal Skin by Lauren Keegan is published by Affirm Press ($35).The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday.From our partners