Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Seaspell

Seaspell
Seaspell
Author: Bronwyn Williams
Genre: Romance
Book Type: Paperback
jjares avatar reviewed on + 3413 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2


On the death of Mariah Deekins' wealthy parents in a double drowning, she has become penniless and shunned by her community. Eventually, she finds a job as a schoolteacher in an isolated area near Cape Hatteras. Ashamed of her situation, Mariah uses her mother's maiden name and says she is a widow.

The author did a marvelous job describing the odious Maxwell Newbolt; a person who proves the Peter Principle ("The Peter Principle is based on the notion that employees will get promoted as long as they are competent, but at some point will fail to get promoted beyond a certain job because it has become too challenging for them. Employees rise to their level of incompetence and stay there." Investopedia) Newbolt is a pompous little tyrant who is magistrate' of the community and the person who hires Mariah.

The Lightkeeper, Waite McKenna, is horrified that another woman has been hired (each woman teacher has been married within weeks of arriving) and predicts Mariah won't last 3 weeks. For someone who is angry with a woman teacher, Waite spends way too much time with her. This book is just too predictable.