ARC Review: "The Fisherman's Gift" by Julia Kelly ★★★★

ARC Review: The Fisherman's Gift by Julia Kelly

Enthralling, touching and inspiring, this impressive historical fiction debut has a touch of magical realism and explores grief, healing, immorality, redemption and second chances. Kelly’s wave of narrative carries us up through the crests of joy and plunges us into the depths of sorrow, a voyage as beautiful as it is profound.

(play the song 🎵“Anchor” by Novo Amor🎵 with this)

she likes catching his smile as she turns away from him… When he’s not there, she imagines engaging him in conversation, being light, making him laugh, but when she’s with him, her heart beats too fast and the words fail on her lips.
But she knows in her heart that they both like this dance, his warmth and her coolness, her there in her navy dress now, pinched in at the waist, hair falling loose over her shoulders.

[Contains some spoilers]

PLOT SUMMARY
It is the 1900s in the fishing village of Skerry where, after a storm, fisherman Joseph finds a boy washed up on shore bearing a striking resemblance to the late son of the schoolmistress Mrs Dorothy Gray. Her son Moses was swept out to sea some 20 or so years ago. It is Winter and they must wait until Spring before finding his family. The Minister asks Dorothy to look after the boy until then, and she agrees.

This stirs up recollections of bygone days: when Dorothy first came to Skerry and met Joseph, whom she now does not speak to, and married William. Now, their paths cross and with it all their feelings and tension resurface. Through the gossip of the ever-judgemental villagers and memories of the past, secrets of what happened the night Moses disappeared are revealed.

But the child does so many things eerily similar to Moses it is almost like he *is* him. The villagers worry: she is treating and shaping the boy into her son, becoming quite possessive of him. Has God sent him back as a second chance? Or has the Devil appeared to punish her for the wrongs she did?

She had hoped the years would set down layers of silence, of forgetting.
But she knows the world doesn’t work like that. Bodies wash in on the tide years later. Wrecks disgorge their treasure. What was forgotten, returns, when the sea is ready.

This is told from the third-person present-tense POV of Dorothy and Joseph, as well as other people from the village: Agnes, Alaistair the Minister and Mrs Brown.

OVERALL OPINIONS
As a Scotswoman, I was thrilled to read this and this did not disappoint. I highly recommend you read this during a storm, like me – it was truly atmospheric! All the fear and tension poured from its pages and I was entirely enraptured.

ㅤ⚓the writing⚓
The title The Fisherman’s Gift is perfect. Not only does it emphasise Joseph being an important role in this story, but it is also symbolic of a few things. There are the literal gifts he has for both children: the toy boat for Moses (one he never gets the chance to give); the other the toy plover for Johan. But the greatest gift he gave was the child itself.

Through the excellent use of dual timeline, shifting from Now (the boy washing up on shore) to Then (Dorothy first arriving in Skerry), we are able to piece together everything that happens. The strange parallels between Johan and Moses help to add that seamless transition from past to present. It also presents irony: for example, Agnes’ POV from the past hoping that Joseph will finally see her as a woman and want her, when we know from the Now that she settles and marries Scott instead.

Very interestingly, one section is a non-linear structure: we get Dorothy’s wedding, the pregnancy, the birth – but then a very drastic shift to sometime after her wedding, where there is the huge reveal. Dorothy’s life goes from looking fine until it isn’t. It makes the narrator, just like the gossip within the village, an unreliable source and hones in on the devastation of everything.

While predictable (I had the secret about Moses worked out from the first chapter), this was an enjoyable read. There were clues along the way that were very intriguing and gave a glimpse into the future, dropping the right breadcrumbs through gossip by the townsfolk or the overall narrative that makes you want to know what happens, and how it does. The most fascinating element was William that when he leaves, he doesn’t undo the wedding knot as “he will not bring more shame to her” – shame? What shame? I did have my suspicions about it though.

ㅤ🌊the irony🌊
There were some incredible aspects in this book that make this a worthwhile read, which includes the very clever ironies.

The main thing is in some of the names, alone:
🧸Moses is swept away by the sea which contrasts Moses in the Bible, who (while he is also separated from his mother) is saved from water and parts the Red Sea, showing he is in control. The sea is this Moses’ enemy.
🎣Joseph in the Bible is a father and protector. In this book, Joseph directly contradicts both roles as he does not know the former aspect and he does not manage the latter, being unable to protect Moses from what happened.
‍♀️Dorothy means “God’s gift”, something she does not believe, considering all her misfortunes. Agnes means “pure” which is ironic considering her thoughts and treatment towards Dorothy is not. There is a very cruel streak about Agnes.
Then there are ironic elements in the narrative: like how Jane is protective of William because she lost 4 brothers and doesn’t want to lose him either – but all her struggles are in vain; and Dorothy would not run away with Joseph but for this new child she does so in a heartbeat.

Dorothy’s mother still has a hold over/influence on Dorothy, despite her being dead for years. She ironically keeps her mother alive in her mind because she was so used to being judged by her she cannot escape the things she would say.

ㅤ🐟the symbolism🐟
There are a few symbolic aspects. The first and most important is the symbolism through the use of birds to tell the story. This is through the black seabird cormorant and the plover.
Cormorant: Dorothy sees the cormorant the day she spends time with Joseph, the latter who remarks that they are the spirit of those lost at sea, which accounts for it showing up later just before she takes on the job of looking after Johan (almost like Moses is giving her an approval). They are generally considered a bad omen and are linked to sins like greed and gluttony, which is all a great foreshadowing of what is to come (respectively: what happens to Moses, and Dorothy and Joseph’s lust for one another despite her being married).
Plover: Dorothy and Johan rescue a young plover after discovering it in the snow with an injured wing. Plovers are believed to be spiritual guides encouraging people to appreciate the moment and beauty around them. Dorothy certainly does as she watched Johan look after the bird.
Not only are they opposite in colour (the cormorant being black and the plover white) but they also dwell in different places (cormorants primarily live in water, plovers on the beaches or shores).

We then come to the oak tree Dorothy and Joseph shelter under. Oak trees, because of their sturdiness, are often symbolic for strength, stability, and sometimes fertility. They can also represent the passage of time due to how long they live. This all harkens to the fact Dorothy and Joseph want this sort of relationship for themselves: something strong, stable, will last.

The lucky salt Dorothy accidentally knocks over. Its function is to “bless home and hearth, man and wife, child to come”. With the accidental breaking of this, no longer is evil warded off. Again, it provides brilliant foreshadowing as many misfortunes will happen after – whether or not it is from this alone is another matter. This is also ironic as this is meant to be a good thing to have in the house but breaking it brings bad luck. Their marriage is cursed before it has ever really begun – and as we discover more about William we discover it was doomed not to work.

Mrs Brown herself is an interesting symbol: she knows everyone else’s business, but nobody knows her. We don’t even know her first name – which is arguably intentional. The closest anyone comes to truly knowing her is Dorothy, though she doesn’t know it as Mrs Brown talks about that she has a “friend”, not her, who goes through issues.

ㅤ🦀the Scottish setting🦀
Though set in the 1900s, this book is timeless as the issues in this book are still relevant today: like losing children and grieving, abuse and committing adultery.

The village in this book, Skerry, I believe is a reference to if not the fishing hamlet Skerray in Sutherland in the north of Scotland, as they are rather similar. It would make sense, as far as the plot is concerned with the boy Johan being from Norway, if you look at a map you can quite easily imagine his journey (albeit a far one).

Other than the proper mention of location twice – and the rather Scottish names like Alaistair, Agnes, Scott, Jeanie, Lorna and William – this really could be set anywhere! Nobody really talks about any Scottish accent except Dorothy’s Edinburgh one. This could be intentional, to emphasise everyone else is the same but she’s an outsider.

ㅤ🐚the power of gossip🐚
Throughout the book, the perspective often shifts to the people who gossip from Mrs Brown’s shop, which puts ideas in our heads about what the story will be. We the reader are influenced by these exchanges. I did wonder about if Joseph did something in a fit of rage and the idea wasn’t there until the ladies said so. And this proves to show gossip can be a terrible thing.

It also greatly affects our main characters Dorothy and Joseph: if people hadn’t seen and spread rumours and judged, none of this would have happened – especially their misunderstandings. Ironically, if they had just talked to each other rather than listened to rumours and avoided, they would have been together long before. It is only because everyone (including Jeanie, Agnes’ mother) tells her Joseph and Agnes seem to be an item that she is heartbrokenly dissuaded from interacting with him. It is a pity it takes all this time later for her to discover this.

It is only when a character actually communicates privately to another character that others heal or come to realise something about their own lives, or finally understand the other person. One such example is Agnes’ unburdening to Alistair which actually makes him realise he has taken his wife and child for granted: after years of struggling to have a child, he loathes the noise and looks to escape from it. Now, he is compelled to go back home as soon as possible. And Agnes herself of course feels the weight of guilt lifted from her shoulders and no longer feels like it was all her fault.

The scene between Dorothy and Mrs Brown where she opens up about her worries and struggles was an emotional and incredibly powerful moment. They both help each other, though Dorothy doesn’t know it, heal. I loved that so much! I’m so glad everyone comes to a better understanding of other people.

ㅤ🫧the hostility 🫧
Pretty much everyone in the village dislikes Dorothy, viewing her as a threat as she comes in and disrupts their way of life. There is an interesting dynamic between Agnes and Dorothy: Agnes wants to be like Dorothy (seeing as Joseph is drawn to her) and Dorothy wishes she could fit in with other people, like Agnes. Agnes wants children but can’t. The two things she wants – Joseph and children – she cannot have, and blames Dorothy for it all (unfairly for the latter). It is a great pity that two women who have been through so much (Agnes receiving abuse from her father; Dorothy receiving abuse from her mother) who, because they both like the same man, unfortunately become enemies.

Agnes and Dorothy break the cycle of their toxic parents: Agnes leaves Scott, an abusive man, unlike her own mother Jeanie who stayed with Matthew; Dorothy becomes a better caring mother/motherly figure than her own mother was. I really wanted a moment between them where they speak to each other.

Mrs Brown resents Dorothy having a child and not treating him right, just like how Agnes feels about it, because she has also had several miscarriages and the one boy she did have, Fergus, didn’t live long.

ㅤ🪸the second chance🪸
Second chance is one of the largest themes in this story. Fate has given her a second chance by giving her Johan who is so similar to Moses. She can do everything all over again, but better – in fact, she is determined to: she says to herself “it must be different” and this is her mindset for not just the bird but for the whole situation.

Looking after the hoglet in the past with Moses goes wrong but looking after the plover with Johan goes right. She becomes a better motherly figure to the boy, learning from her mistakes in the past. And things with Joseph in the past went wrong but she is determined to try and make this right now.

<< Positives >>
🠚 A great character-driven story where they are such complex and realistic people that you keep changing from loving them to hating them. Dorothy and Agnes are great examples of this.
🠚 A beautiful and moving plot, I was rooting for a good ending and was so scared and eager to find out what happened
🠚 An intriguing cover
🠚 The use of non-linear narrative and symbolism to tell the story and provide appropriate foreshadowing and plot twists
🠚 Showcases how powerful misinformation/rumours can be
🠚 The interactions between characters becomes so wholesome

<< Negatives >>
🠚 Joseph and Dorothy’s kiss is so quick, I would have loved more description and build-up
🠚 I needed more scenes between Joseph and Dorothy in the Now part of the book, where they open up again, and smile etc.
🠚 Descriptions were basic at times, though the complexity of the plot and character makes up to a considerable extent.
🠚 I would have loved a conversation between them at the very end of the book. Of course, it ends on a very hopeful note but I would have loved to hear what he had to say to her. Or at least have the Epilogue as another chapter and then contain something else as an Epilogue
🠚 I wish there had been one scene or exchange between Dorothy and Agnes, though there is the positivity of them working together
🠚 The boy’s “garbled language” – you’d have thought Dorothy of all people would know he was speaking a different language altogether, though I understand she is determined this child is Moses sent back to her
🠚 The chapter with Moses’ POV feels like an unnecessary chapter in a lot of ways. It makes the mood grim again. I do love that he thought of both of them though so I understand why it was placed there - all the things his mother taught him, the fact he says “I need my mam”, thinks of how heartbroken she'll be, and the way he thinks of Joseph as he wedges his foot in the cleft of the rock, because he remembers Joseph saying the sea is a dangerous thing
🠚 I would have loved if more Scottish references had made its way into the book: the food, the accent, expressions. Some characters could hsve sounded more Scottish than others
🠚 Rab the dog is only mentioned a few times, I wish there had been a little more of him

CHARACTERS
-ˋˏ ꒰ Dorothy꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ “Never wearing quite the right thing, never quite fitting in” – I’m glad she eventually doesn’t care about what people think, and people accept her by the end. She ceases thinking of how ashamed her mother would have been if she could see her now: wearing that green dress, sleeping in Mrs Brown’s shop after one too many whiskeys. Johan was the best thing that happened to her, he makes her laugh and she becomes a better person.

She must look forward, not back, or not look at all.

-ˋˏ ꒰ Joseph꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ Joseph saving Dorothy reminds me a little of Willoughby saving Marianne, except with a different outcome. He is so sweet and kind, it makes you wish things had worked out sooner. I am a hopeless romantic so the fact he has only ever had eyes for Dorothy even now despite everything, is lovely.

“Please God, if you grant me one thing, let it be her.”

FAV QUOTES
• Because of her, love has escaped him.
• she can listen to the sound of the sea, washing in and out on the shore she’s not yet seen. She imagines it, black under the night sky, the waves catching the stars, till at last she falls into a deep sleep.
• Dorothy casts her eye over the villagers, the shuffling, nudging children, the families and couples, all the people she will have to learn to live with, telling herself that she isn’t seeking out one person in particular, the fisherman whose hand had shielded his eyes, the other raised in greeting, for a moment just the two of them on the Sands and nothing else.
• ‘Miss’ quickly becomes a symbol of her unassimilated position in the village, unnamed, unmarried, outside.
• It is the fisherman. Beads of rain cling to his jersey and hair. In the fading light and drizzle, she has the impression of warm brown eyes that show concern and something more that makes her look away.
• ‘Why North Star?’ she asks. | He points at the sky. ‘Look for it tonight, its position is always the same. A fisherman can always find his way home by the North Star if he needs to. Some call her Star of the Sea, because of that.’ He smiles.
• ‘Look,’ she exclaims and he looks and, up above, the light is such that a flock of birds flying out to sea glitters like stars in a constellation of flashing wings and rippling light. ‘It’s like the sun on the sea,’ and they look out then at the sun sparkling on the waves in just the same way, and he doesn’t want the moment to end
• he is thinking of the way the sunlight caught the dark red of her hair as it came loose from its bun; her grey eyes and quick smile.
• she sinks further into her chair, tightening her hands around her cup of tea, steadying fingers which are trembling because the past is at the door again, banging against the timber, louder and more insistent, trying to get in.
• *There’s always a plan, even when we can’t see it ourselves*, she reminds herself. It all means something, of that she is sure. The sea gives and the sea takes away, you learn that, here in the towns and villages that cling to the cliffs.
• And it occurs to her that maybe they are both looking for a place of refuge, an escape.
• nothing fills the space between them, only a sort of dreadful waiting.
• And suddenly, like a book that is accidentally knocked off the shelf – a story from childhood you’d forgotten about till that moment – she remembers
• Outside, a bright moon is rising over the black sea; clouds drift across it like smoke. Moonlight silvers the vetch along the cliff top as she hurries down the Steps, nightgown flapping, skin tightening with cold beneath the shawl. The white-foamed waves rush up the beach and then suck back in, and she allows her anger and disappointment to bubble up until she is standing in the icy, painful water.
• they cling to each other, their faces, mouths, hair, hands, legs entangled. They cling to each other like they are lost, like they are found.
• Her usual slight wariness had gone in the focus of her concentration and her quietness enveloped him. He’d watched her, bent over her work; her lowered eyes, the shadows of her face, the faint scattering of freckles across her cheek – it all enchanted him.
• Yes, how close the past feels. Yet how utterly beyond reach.
• In the winter of her voice, already the memory of the warm afternoon light is fading, along with Moses’ chatter, Dorothy saying let’s see by the brightly burning fire, till by the time he has closed the door and walked home, carrying the boat the child didn’t even see, it’s as though it had never happened at all.
• Even now, the pull of her feelings is like the pull of the moon on the tide as she remembers how close she’d come to letting herself have what she’d wanted.
• “There was no one for me but you, not ever.”
• How much she has learned from the simple, uncomplicated love of a child, about letting go.

══════════ ⋆★⋆ ══════════

I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and I’d like to thank Julia Kelly, Harvill Secker, and NetGalley for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way. A huge thank you to the Penguin Vintage Influencer program for providing me with a hardback copy.

“The Fisherman’s Gift” is out March 6th!