The Bell at Sealey Head (Hardcover)

by Patricia A. McKillip (Author)
Key Phrases: scrap bowl, wood witch, Sealey Head, The Bell, Miss Beryl (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
An unseen bell haunts a seaside town and a magical mansion in this delicate fable from World Fantasy Award winner McKillip (Od Magic). Inside the baffling Aislinn House, young chambermaid Emma, opening an ordinary cabinet door, might find a rack of towels or encounter knights, crows and a lonely princess. As Lady Eglantyne, the ancient matron of the house, lies dying, her long-lost grand-niece is sent for. The townspeople are delighted by wealthy, city-bred Miranda Beryl, but suspicious of her eagerness to make herself at home and inherit the house—spellbound bell and all. Meanwhile, vacationing academic Ridley Dow's interest in Aislinn House hints at another motive for his visit to the village beside the ocean. Romantic intrigue and touches of this fantastic make this light mystery an easy and pleasant read. (Sept.)
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From School Library Journal
The small seaside town of Sealey Head is home to a few families, an inn, and Aislinn House, an old mansion with a special power—its doors sometimes open onto the world of faerie, where princesses like young Ysabo occupy their time with a complex ritual and knights exist to marry the princesses. Each day at sunset, a bell sounds, heard by everyone, yet its whereabouts and the identity of its ringer remain unknown—until a few strangers arrive to unlock an ancient past. McKillip (Song for the Basilisk; Solstice Wood) weaves elegant modern fairy tales from simple themes, drawing the mythical and everyday worlds into an enchanted union. Elegant, deceptively spare prose and well-developed characters make this a good choice for adult and YA fantasy collections.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover; 1 edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441016308
• ISBN-13: 978-0441016303
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #129,610 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bell at Sealy Head, September 5, 2008

By	V. Kennedy "book crazed" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Sealey Head is no ordinary town. Every evening most of the townsfolk hear the tolling of a bell, no one knows why it rings or where it's at. It's been going on so long that many of the townspeople don't hear it anymore.

Aislinn House on the edge of town harbors a mystery. It's a place where two worlds coexist, with few privy to its secret. On one side lies the quiet manor with its aging servants and ailing mistress, while on the other a princess and her subjects must perform strange rites.

The links between two worlds are the princess, a maid and her mother who've been running into each other for years throughout the house. No one else in town knows their secret, but the arrival of a stranger in town sets off events that will change life in the house forever.

I've been a fan of Patricia McKillip's for years. This is a wonderful book bordering on high fantasy. Its charming fairy tale like character entertained me and held my interest to the very end. I highly recommend it.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A place without doors, without dreams, October 2, 2008

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A crumbling mansion with doors to another world, a small seaside town, and a mysterious bell that tolls every day at sunset where no bells are.

With that to describe it, it's no wonder that "The Bell At Sealey Head" is a book by Patricia A. McKillip, spinner of hauntingly lyrical fantasies. And her newest book is no exception -- an exquisite magical mystery full of humour, secret doors, and a sorcerous power that is creeping into Sealey Head.

A mysterious scholar -- Ridley Dow -- comes to Judd's run-down inn one day. He's come there to search for the magical bell that tolls every night.

Elsewhere in Sealey Head, Judd's childhood friend (and love interest) Gwyneth is fending off a boring suitor when she isn't spinning magical tales about that same bell. And up at Aislinn House, Lady Eglantine is dying, and her housemaid Emma is opening magical doors into another world -- a parallel Aislinn house, where the princess Ysabo is caged in a realm of mindless rituals and fearful traditions.

But things begin to change as Lady Eglantine's heir, Miranda Beryl, arrives with her friends and servants, and Ridley Dow's investigations take him into the magical other world. Someone strange and magical is lurking in the town, and old books and half-forgotten legends slowly unveil the sorcerer that cast a spell on the other Aislinn House...

There are actually two magical worlds in "The Bell At Sealey Head" -- one is a coastal town of tree houses, briny ships and folkloric mysteries. The other a dreamlike tangle of crows, rituals and spellbound knights, stuck in traditions with no meaning. It's a credit to McKillip's writing ability that she can make both worlds come alive, in their different ways.

McKillip wraps both worlds -- and all the subplots -- in her ornate rose-petal prose ("Little flecks of snow on the wind, and the last bitter black leaves falling in the lake, where the cold shield and the torn pennant lay..."). And she spins a complex, languidly-paced fantasy story that is far simpler than it seems, with people (good and bad alike) who are not what they seem, and magical passages that appear and vanish. And, of course, a bell ringing where no bells are.

But this is also perhaps McKillip's most humorous book -- she weaves in some mildly comic love triangles, an eccentric woodwitch living in a hollow tree, as well as Daria Sproule's romanticized fantasies ("Not my pirates. Mine would be well-brought-up, sensitive types...").

And the cast is as varied and likable as the settings -- Judd and Gwyneth are likable, down-to-earth types, with Gwyneth as something of an authorial insert. On the other side, Ysabo is an ordinary young girl who is struggling to break, especially since she's being forced to marry a cold knight. The fact that she never figures out what his name is tells you a lot.

It's the supporting characters who are more than they appear -- the seemingly chilly Miss Beryl, her creepy assistant, and the mild housemaid Emma. But it's Ridley Dow who really steals the show -- he's clever, secretive, funny and charming, but also incredibly strong-willed when the situation is dangerous and things are going strangely.

"The Bell At Sealey Head" is only one mystery among many, spun in silky prose and full of lyrical magic. Patricia A. McKillip hit the mark on this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not one of her besr, February 10, 2009

By	Buckshot "The Buckshot Kid" (The woods of Maine) - See all my reviews

I have read and enjoyed many of Ms. McKillips books. This was a major disappointment. The plot and characters never seemed to develop, I found myself struggling to make sense of what was there, and the ending left much unsettled. Not like for a sequel, just like she had forgotten things she had entered on, earlier. I will be sending this one off to the used book store, as I will not be saving it to reread. P.