A review by louisekf
The Sirens by Emilia Hart

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Emilia Hart has written a haunting story in The Sirens. It is a dual timeline tale, one dating back to 1800, featuring two sisters who are being transported as convicts from Ireland to Australia. The other takes place in 2019 in Australia, also about two sisters, and, as you may imagine, is connected somehow to the tale from 1800. I loved this book with its mix of historical fiction and magical realism. 
 
The author says, in her acknowledgements, “Fundamentally, this novel is about the ability of water - and sisterhood - to heal and transform.” 
 
We get chapters from Mary’s POV in 1800. She feels responsible for her sister, Eliza, who is blind. They are being transported for attacking a man (who was attacking one of them). The details of their long journey at sea are disturbingly realistic. They make friends with many of the other women who are, quite literally, in the same boat. 
 
The chapters in 2019 are from Lucy’s POV. She’s in a journalism program but is prone to sleepwalking and attacked a male student while sleepwalking. Lucy flees to her much older sister’s house in Comber Bay. The town has seen a high number of disappearances, all men, over the years, and is also the site where a convict ship once went down, with many lives lost. But when Lucy gets to Jess’s house, she finds haunting artwork of two sisters, but Jess. We do get Jess’s story from some diary entries that Lucy finds, and it’s eye-opening. 
 
There’s a feel of mystery and foreboding through the entire story - what is special about the twin sisters in 1800, why did their mother disappear years before, why does Lucy dream about these sisters, where did Jess go, what is Jess hiding, what draws all of them to the sea, and more? 
 
There are quite a few creepy and/or vicious men in this story, so be aware of that. 
 
I confess that I was much more invested in the historical sisters than in the modern-day pair. In fact, I didn’t care for Lucy at all. 
 
I mostly listened to the audiobook version. As usual, Barrie Kreinik does a fabulous job with all the voices and accents. 
 
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own. 
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