I haven't read a lot of romantasy to date, but Kell Woods' Upon A Starlit Tide (#1,294) was such an engrossing read that I'm going to have to change my mind about this genre. As Ms. Woods herself says, the plot is a mishmash of the Cinderella and Little Mermaid fairy tales and both Charles Perrault and Hans Christian Anderson would be proud of what they've inspired. And while we're at it, let's throw in a nod to Lisa See with her historical fiction discussion of Chinese foot binding.
Lucinde Leon grows up as the third and youngest daughter of a wealthy shipping merchant in eighteenth century St. Malo. It's a time when the fairy folk still inhabit Brittany, but their influence is waning as they gradually leave the region and their powerful thunder stones behind. With her crippled feet, Lucinde is most comfortable by the seashore and in the water itself to relieve their aching. She's been befriended by an English smuggler, Samuel, who teaches Luce to sail and spins stories of his adventures at sea. She dreams of seeing the world for herself. Then one day, she spots a handsome young man clinging to piece of driftwood off her cove and dives in to rescue him, changing her life forever.
What makes this story stand apart for me is the word painting of Ms. Woods. The words shimmer on the page. The life of a wealthy mercantile family of the mid 1700s is accurately described in way that plants the story in a France that could have existed, but the fantastical elements give her the leeway to take her story to new places where seamaids are real, and magic exists in the very stones.
I really hated coming to the last page of this book. I hope Kell Woods continues to work in this genre. I'll look forward to anything else coming from her pen. Highly recommended!
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