"The Sirens" | Reviewed by Susan Ferguson

“The Sirens,” by Emilia Hart, is a mysterious story of survival and sisterhood that incorporates fantasy and historical fiction. It focuses on two sets of sisters separated by hundreds of years and their strange transformations.

The story opens in 2019 with Lucy waking up in her ex-boyfriend’s dorm room with her hands around his throat. Frightened and confused, Lucy flees Hamilton Hume University where she is a journalism student. She drives to her estranged sister Jess’s house in Comber Bay on the coast of New South Wales. Lucy is hoping that Jess can provide answers to her recent unexplained sleepwalking and vivid reoccurring dreams.

Jess, who is significantly older than Lucy, is an artist. Lucy has moved to Cliff House to find answers about her birth and the mystery surrounding it. Both sisters suffer from the same skin condition, aquagenic urticaria (water damages their skin). Why? This question arises as they try to figure out where the gene originated.  

Lucy arrives at Cliff House only to find that Jess is missing. The house is unlocked, her car is there along with her phone and car keys. Lucy begins snooping, hoping to uncover some clues. She finds Jess’s diary and soon has answers to her many questions.

Lucy’s vivid dreams are about two sisters, Mary and Eliza. In 1800, Mary and Eliza are torn from their loving home in Ireland and put on a convict ship headed to Australia. The sisters try to survive on the ship, enduring starvation, beatings, illness and harsh conditions. The further the sisters travel from Ireland, the more they are drawn to the water. Their bodies even begin to change as the sea calls to them.  

The stories of two sets of sisters lead you to Comer Bay where they converge bringing the past and present together. The sisters connect generations of women across time. The multiple-perspective timeline adds appeal to an intriguing book of self-discovery featuring resilient women, a book that adeptly weaves history and fantasy.

“The Sirens” combines magical realism and dark Irish folklore which adds to its allure. If you enjoy strong women characters and an unusual mix of fantasy, this book is for you.  

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