A MOON IN ALL THINGS

Old traditions and folk stories are not just tall tales in Comeau’s historical fantasy novel.

It’s the 1820s, and 16-year-old Morrigan Lane is living with her family in a small village in Ireland. With so many in her town heavily relying on fishing as both a food and income source, Morrigan dreams of sailing the sea and taking up the trade, but it’s not something women are allowed to do. While taking one of her frequent walks along the coast, Morrigan is struck by a vision of a man in a chariot with a sword at his side, calling out to her from the sea. The villagers whisper that she has seen Manannán mac Lair, Guardian of the Otherworld, one of the creatures from myths and folktales told years ago. Morrigan’s father thinks she may have “the sight,” as it runs in their family, but this will not help her in a world where women are only meant to be good Catholics and quiet wives. Worried about her future prospects and not wanting to stifle her, Morrigan’s mother sends her daughter to study with The Crooked Woman, Cathleen, who is the town go-to for remedies, medicines, and midwifery. It’s Cathleen who believes and calms Morrigan when a wolf comes and speaks to her, calling her An Fhoínse (a “spring from which the life force flows”). The Otherworld knows of Morrigan’s empathy and feeling for nature and her reverence for life, and it needs her help to flourish—but hiding her visions and calling from the Church and her frightening schoolmaster, Winnett, will be a difficult task. In this fantasy novel, Comeau uses the Irish setting—which always feels a little magical on its own—and tales of the Otherworld and Tuatha dé Danann to craft an ethereal, fablelike narrative. Morrigan, as well as her friends, family, and fellow villagers, come alive on the page, fitting perfectly into the picturesque village, a bulwark against the giant, tumultuous world around them—and the creatures that inhabit it. Morrigan’s frustration with the imposed limits on her gender adds a fascinating dimension to the spooky tale.

Atmospheric and beguiling.