Song of the Selkie: A Novel

Some Secrets Only the Sea Can Fathom

In the old Scottish tale of the Selkie, a seal woman slips from the sea at night, sheds her skin, and dances on the shore. A man, bewitched by her beauty, steals her skin and forces her to remain on land. But the Selkie’s heart belongs to the ocean, and no captivity can quiet her longing.

In Song of the Selkie, the three McFarland sisters are bound by a similar ache—a pull toward the wild, essential selves they have buried. Frances, the youngest, chose the life of the intellect, chasing tenure at an Ivy League university in America. On the brink of professional triumph, she returns to Scotland and finds herself face-to-face with the part of her that has lain dormant for years. Lala, the middle sister, lives in restless motion—moving from lover to lover, chasing passion and the creative life she believes is always just out of reach. And Eddie, the eldest, pours pints for fishermen in a seaside pub, quietly tethered to the small island of Roansay, the place their late mother once called home, drawn by a force she cannot name.

When the sisters reunite in their childhood house on Hogmanay, Scotland’s ancient New Year, the past surges like a rising tide. Old wounds split open, long-hidden truths surface, and each woman must decide whether she will remain captive to the life she has built—or dare to reclaim the skin she once shed.

Claire R. McDougall was born in Edinburgh, and then raised mainly on the west coast of Scotland. She gained an MA from Edinburgh University and an M.Litt. from Oxford. After an early start as a newspaper columnist, her career in creative writing moved through the genre of poetry before settling on novels. She has five novels with Sibylline Press: Mrs. McPhealy’s American, Song of the Selkie, and The Veil of Time series, Dunadd, Druid Hill, and Iona. Claire holds a black belt in karate and is a fierce supporter of Scottish independence. For the past thirty years, she and her family have made her home in Aspen, Colorado.