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{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=The Brides of Rollrock Island
|sort=Brides of Rollrock Island
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=320
|publisher=David Fickling
|date=February 2012
|isbn=0857560336
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>0857560336</amazonuk>Lanagan_Brides|amazonusaznuk=<amazonus>0375869190</amazonus>0857560336|videoaznus=0375869190
}}
'''Longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2013'''
But magic comes at an even greater cost than the fishermen have conceived. The lovely brides long for the sea and their seal skins must be locked away. And the love is drowned by grief and loss and lies, while each chink of light is remorselessly extinguished by a witch consumed by cruelty and bitterness...
I could attach a reviewful review full of complimentary adjectives to ''The Brides of Rollrock Island'' but I'll try to stick to a reasonable list: powerful, beautiful, dangerous, unsettling, truthful, earthy, challenging, poetic, wonderful, absorbing. I can't recommend it highly enough. Margo Lanagan has a unique, uncompromising and lyrical voice and she brings it to the folk myth of selkies in a soaring journey of passion and pain. I can't do it justice at all, and frankly, I feel quite embarrassed to try, so just read it, ok?
I would like to have a moan. I think Margo Lanagan is one of the most exciting, individual authors around, and I'm just so glad she's decided to write literary books for young people. I want her to write lots of books. I keep up with her blog (link in the infobox on the right) and found it very disheartening to discover that she can't write fiction full-time. Her books aren't commercial enough. Ok, they aren't genre-tastic and they probably won't sell in their millions, but they are ''important'' books of startling originality and quality. They are transformative for the people who read them and Margo should be able to support herself by writing them. It seems unequal rewards permeate every sphere of our lives, not just banking. Meh.
Anyway. Read this selkie novel. It's heartstoppingly gorgeous. And you won't find anyone else with a voice like Margo's.
Don't miss [[Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan|Red Spikes]] or [[Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan|Tender Morsels]], also by Lanagan. For more slightly dangerous, unnerving writing, you should look out [[The Book of Human Skin by Michelle Lovric]]. We also enjoyed [[Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan]] if you're in the mood for short stories.
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[[Category:Fantasy]]
