The Bell at Sealey Head (edit title)

• Rated 5 stars

“This book is wonderful. I love how it combines fantasy with a Jane Austen feel. If anyone knows of any similar books please suggest them.”

• Rated 3 stars

“It was OK. It didn't really hold my attentions. I actually couldn't care less about the princess.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Typical of McKillop's exquisite, really lovely writing. Strong and compelling female characters. Also a beautifully developed sense of the natural world.”

• Rated 5 stars

“'ve always liked Patricia McKillip most of her books are amazing...some not so much...this one is in the amazing catergory. the plot was a little obvious and maybe a little predictable but then again it is considered YA (Young Adult...i'll rant about that some other time) and you're not really looking for plot but more for story. and this one had story, actually multiple stories. Unlike most books where you have many characters that usually help one main character finish their story, Sealey Head had multiple characters with multiple stories and all with completely different endings. (most happy) PLUS there was also all the little side stories told in order to answer the mystery of the bell and where it comes from. GOOOD book.
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• Rated 5 stars

“Sealey Head is a quiet seaside outpost with one unusual feature; every day at the moment of sundown, an unseen bell rings out. No one knows its origin. A stranger comes to town, eager to solve the mystery of the bell. Ridley Dow calls himself a travelling scholar and he suspects magic may be afoot. Sealey Head townspeople believe the bell may be connected to a ship that went down at sea long ago. Dow is more interested in searching a crumbling mansion called Aislinn House. Will he discover what Emma, the young housemaid, already knows? That any door in the house might open into an enchanted other version of the house, complete with knights and murderous crows?

It is nice to come across an absorbing, shorter (277 pages) fantasy for adults. I also liked the characters very much, especially the strong women. This book will interest teens from Grade 8 and up.”

• Rated 3 stars

“ The Bell at Sealey Head, by: Patricia A. Mckillip encloses the magic just as powerful as all her other books do. In this book, Emma, who works in a house as maid. Her job contains of opening many doors through out the day. Once, when she was a little girl, the door opened to a different world, and that is where she met her best friend, Yasbo. This magic of the house, in which there are two different sides, has been studied by only the people who knew about it. Until a scholar from a far away land comes in search of the bell. This bell has never been seen, but only heard every night at sun down as it chines over Sealey Head for all to hear. This scholar, Mr. Dow, some how has come to connect the magic to the house where Emma works, to the ringing of the bell.
As the story continues, you enter the characters lives, from a different perspective in each new chapter. I f you have read any other of Mckillip's books, then you are sure to enjoy reading this one. It is magical like in a fairy tale, but interesting like in a mystery.
One of my favorite scenes is when Judd (the local Inn keeper) is talking to Gwyneth (a girl in town with whom he used to be friends with until she went away to school) and he gets all flustered because he is starting to fall in love with her all over again. I just find it so sweet, how they both love to read and care for people, how Gwyneth writes stories that Judd loves.
This book shows you, if you never say what you are thinking, then you might not know that others have the same idea as you. Also, that you might find friends in the strangest of places, and even when you least expect it, just like opening a door in to another world.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Sealey Head is a quiet and seemingly ordinary village, save for the mysterious Bell that tolls at sunset. The townsfolk have made up tales to explain it (a lost ship beneath the waves), but truly no one knows what it is.

Judd Cauley runs an Inn overlooking the sea. He has a love of books and is happy when his often vacant Inn gains a visitor, Ridley Dow, who is a scholar with many books who is interested in the mystery of the Bell. Ridley is stylish for a bookish researcher, having come all the way from the great and bustling city of Landringham.

The mystery seems to involve Aislin House, where the elderly Lady Eglatyne lies abed, waiting to die. There is a hesitancy to call the heir living the high life in Landringham. There are rooms that sometimes open to another place that only some of the House's inhabitants can see. One of these is the maid, Emma, whose mother is the village's wise-woman who lives in the woods in a house made from a living tree. Emma can see the Princess Ysabo, from that other world, who seems caught in a strange enchantment.

There is a nice mix of Austenian drawing-room romance and classic fairy tales with beautiful Princesses and handsome Knights, along with an evil sorcerer and dark enchantment. The characters are sympathetic and well-drawn, even if we don't really become intensely involved with them due to lack of on-stage time. McKillip is an old hand at creating fantasy with a magical, fairy-tale feeling, and this certainly shows well here.
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• Rated 4 stars

“I do, do love this book. It is fantastical and the twists in the plot are fun and intriguing. But I dislike of McKillip has grasped onto the habit of writing from the perspectives of multiple characters. All of which are beautiful creatures that are seemingly flawless. I never did get to know or love any one character in this book. I know McKillip could write a fantastic book if she just tried something different. As with her dialogue, which has gotten a little contrived. And the feeling of rightness fills the book giving it no real suspense.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Another great mysterious fantasy from Ms. Mckillip. I shall soon be reading more of her books!”

• Rated 5 stars

“Charming fairy tale - even though by the end you realize the whole thing could have been put into a 20-30 pages children's book, it is by all means worth reading. The mystery of Aislinn House is truly enchanting and simply draws you in - I can't answer for its being innovative, just for the beauty of it - and you can't get enough of the very colorful, flavored and melodious telling of it.”