The Folk Keeper

Foundling Corinna, 15, is the eponymous 'Folk Keeper': disguised as a boy she tames the mysterious 'Folk' who would otherwise run amok ravaging crops and cattle. Sought out by the dying Lord Merton, she is taken to his estate in the Northern Isles where the Folk are particularly unruly. There she discovers her true identity as a sealmaiden, and falls in love with sensitive, down to earth Finian. With his support and her newfound powers, she courageously outwits Merton's treacherous brother, and emerges from the dark of the Folk Cellars to reveal both her seal self and her human heart, and make the choice which decides her future. A feisty take on the traditional Selkie story, the tale is cleverly constructed to allow Corinna to grow to womanhood on her own terms - a good rite of passage novel for girls reluctant to accept contemporary 'girly' stereotypes as they grow up, written in an appropriately youthful, lightly humorous style.