For centuries, a mysterious bell has tolled at the
precise moment when the sun drops below the horizon at
Sealey Head. The residents have never located the bell,
and no one seems to know when it first started tolling, but
they accept it as just another part of Sealey Head, like
the crying of the gulls and the roar of the waves. Then a
stranger, Ridley Dow, arrives in town and begins asking
questions about the origin of the bell. His questions lead
him to Aislinn House, where the great but ancient Lady
Eglantyne lies in her bed, slowly but steadily slipping
toward death, yet clinging to each day as though she's
waiting for something to happen. The heir to the house,
Miss Miranda Beryl, is summoned from the city so that she
can take her place as the new mistress of Aislinn House
once her great aunt passes on, and her arrival throws
Sealey Head into an uproar as a flood of city aristocrats
descend on the quiet fishing village.
But both Ridley and Miranda know that Aislinn House
holds a great secret, a magical link between the present
Aislinn House and a second Aislinn House which exists in
the same space but a different time and dimension. The
other house can only be accessed when doors in the first
house are opened by those with the sensitivity to detect
the magic. Ridley knows that this second Aislinn House is
tied to the mysterious bell because his ancestor, Nemos
Moore, a centuries-old sorcerer of great power, cast a
powerful spell over the magical realm which turned the once
pure and loving kingdom into a place of fear and mindless
ritual.
Ridley is determined to undo the damage Nemos has
caused with his greed for power, and free the lonely
Princess Ysabo, the brave knights, and the rest of the
kingdom from the spell which has trapped them within
Nemos's control, but he also must keep his ancestor, who
has also returned to Aislinn House, from realizing his
plans and using magic to destroy him and those he's sworn
to help.
THE BELL AT SEALEY HEAD is an entertaining
adventure into magical fantasy. I enjoyed the contrast
between the very pastoral life in Sealey Head and the rigid
and inexplicable ritual of the magical kingdom. Much like
The Chronicles of Narnia, it delves into the "what
ifs" of
opening an average door and discovering a completely
different world within, and how the actions of beings from
one world can impact the lives of those on the other side.
A fun read for those who enjoy mythical fantasy.
This review is from a previous edition.
Brand new from the World Fantasy Award-winning author
of Solstice Wood.
Sealey Head is a
small town on the edge of the ocean, a sleepy place where
everyone hears the ringing of a bell no one can see. On
the outskirts of town is an impressive estate, Aislinn
House, where the aged Lady Eglantyne lies dying, and where
the doors sometimes open not to its own dusty rooms, but
to the wild majesty of a castle full of knights and
princesses…
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