Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Wicked Deep
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.sheaernshaw.com/
CITY: Bend
STATE: OR
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
| LC control no.: | n 2017047809 |
|---|---|
| LCCN Permalink: | https://lccn.loc.gov/n2017047809 |
| HEADING: | Ernshaw, Shea |
| 000 | 00294nz a2200109n 450 |
| 001 | 10525739 |
| 005 | 20170809140423.0 |
| 008 | 170809n| azannaabn |n aaa |
| 010 | __ |a n 2017047809 |
| 040 | __ |a DLC |b eng |c DLC |e rda |
| 100 | 1_ |a Ernshaw, Shea |
| 670 | __ |a The wicked deep, 2018: |b ECIP title page (Shea Ernshaw) |
PERSONAL
Married.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Oregon native Shea Ernshaw made her debut as a novelist with the young-adult story The Wicked Deep. “I have been writing stories and crafting characters since I was young—filling notebooks with stories,” Ernshaw declared in an autobiographical statement found on her home page, the Shea Ernshaw Website. “I love legends and folklore,” the author revealed in an interview found on the Children’s Book Review website, “and wanted to create a town and setting with its own legend. I wanted to explore how a curse on a town can affect the residents over many generations and how people might come to accept the fate that has befallen them, no matter how gruesome or awful. I also wanted to blur the lines with my characters, so that it’s never entirely obvious if the three Swan sisters are witches, or just misunderstood in their time. … I did a lot of research and dug through archives on life for women during this time period.”
The Wicked Deep also draws on local folklore and tradition for its impact, telling the story of three sisters, the Swan siblings, who were executed two centuries ago for practicing witchcraft in the village of Sparrow on the Oregon coast. Each year in June, however, the sisters’ spirits return, take over the bodies of local girls, and lure local boys to their deaths. “In response to the inevitability of the three to six deaths each June,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “the locals have built traditions, even celebrations, around it.” “Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town,” explained the Children’s Book Review contributor. “But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives, unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into. Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets.” Can Penny and Bo break the cycle of death and revenge? “Ernshaw twists a compelling narrative, equal parts horror legend and contemporary mystery,” stated a Children’s Book Review contributor. “The story is briskly paced, and readers will fall quickly into the high-stakes world of small-town Sparrow.”
Critics found much to praise in The Wicked Deep. “The sisters in the present are unforgiving, spectral monsters punishing innocent people for the sins of their ancestors,” declared Natalie Xenos on the website Culturefly, “and yet they’re also tragically sympathetic characters, particularly Hazel, whose tender love story in the past brings her inevitable downfall a real pathos. We see the sisters through the eyes of Penny, who’s known her own loss and grief with the sudden disappearance of her father.” “Magic-realism fans,” said Booklist reviewer Debbie Carton, “will appreciate how Ernshaw uses the Swan sisters’ history to ground magic happenings.” “The promise of a novel filled with the essence of both Practical Magic and Hocus Pocus is fulfilled by reading Shea Ernshaw’s debut novel, The Wicked Deep,” enthused Kayla King in YA Books Central. “Within these pages is a story filled with regret, revenge, lies, and most of all, love. And every bit of this summertime story is just as wicked and deep as the title assures. From the beginning, the haunting lyricism with which Ernshaw conjures her story is enough to draw readers in, and what’s more, drown them entirely in beautiful language. The style blends a contemporary narrative with historical elements.” The unanswered questions surrounding the “sisters’ curse,” declared Bookpage Online reviewer Sarah Weber, “… unravel in a town where drownings have become an annual spectacle and spelled cakes that dissolve unpleasant memories.” The author’s “writing is skilled and confident,” stated Sean Rapacki in Voice of Youth Advocates. “She weaves a clever tale with a whopper of a twist.” “Ernshaw reels in readers as expertly as her ghostly witches draw their unsuspecting victims into the sea,” asserted Mimi Powell in School Library Journal. “Fans of ghostly romance [may] … find much to love.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, December 1, 2017, Debbie Carton, review of The Wicked Deep, p. 60.
Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2018, review of The Wicked Deep.
School Library Journal, December, 2017, Mimi Powell, review of The Wicked Deep, p. 107.
Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2018, Sean Rapacki, review of The Wicked Deep, p. 66.
ONLINE
Bookpage Online, https://bookpage.com/ (March 13, 2018), Sarah Weber, review of The Wicked Deep.
Children’s Book Review, https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/ (May 7, 2018), “Shea Ernshaw Discusses The Wicked Deep;” review of The Wicked Deep.
Culturefly, http://culturefly.co.uk/ (March 7, 2018), Natalie Xenos, review of The Wicked Deep.
Shea Ernshaw Website, http://www.sheaernshaw.com (June 23, 2018), author profile.
YA Books Central, http://www.yabookscentral.com/ (April 6, 2018), Kayla King, review of The Wicked Deep.
Shea Ernshaw
Pronounced : sh·ay
I often get asked how to pronounce my first name. Think ‘Shea Butter’ the ingredient in many lotions and soaps. Although I’m usually not as sweet and buttery. But sometimes.
I live in an imaginary world
And sometimes, I live in a small mountain town in Oregon.
I have been writing stories and crafting characters since I was young—filling notebooks with stories about magical horses and fairy underworlds. I always knew I wanted to be a writer and I was lucky enough to grow up in a house filled with books, where my parents were always reading or painting or making something out of nothing.
Now, I share my home with my husband, two editor cats, and an itty bitty dog named Diesel, who all tolerate my days—and sometimes weeks—spent locked away in my writing palace where my characters dance around inside my head telling their stories.
I also love lakes and deep dark woods and yoga and delicious vegan pastries.
My NYT Bestselling book, THE WICKED DEEP is published by Simon & Schuster.
Ernshaw, Shea: THE WICKED DEEP
Kirkus Reviews.
(Jan. 15, 2018): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Ernshaw, Shea THE WICKED DEEP Simon & Schuster (Children's Fiction) $17.99 3, 6 ISBN: 978-1-4814-9734-3
A teen finds love and danger in a cursed Pacific coast town.
Two hundred years ago, the townsfolk of all-white Sparrow, Oregon, found the three beautiful Swan sisters guilty of witchcraft and executed them by drowning. Ever since, the town has suffered through Swan season: on June 1, the vengeful sisters return from their watery graves to possess the bodies of local girls and lure boys to watery deaths. In response to the inevitability of the three to six deaths each June, the locals have built traditions, even celebrations, around it, and morbid, thrill-seeking tourists come to see the curse in action. Penny Talbot lives on the lighthouse island just off the coast, and she might stay forever in order to care for her mother, who had a breakdown after Penny's father vanished years ago. The day before Swan season, a cute boy comes into town seeking work and a place to stay. Even though Penny knows he's hiding something, she's attracted to him and wants to protect him from the murderous curse. Some readers won't like how quickly they fall deeply in love, but the characters' chemistry and connection anchor the mystery and give them a reason to fight against the curse. Penny's first- person narration is interspersed with third-person snippets of the sisters' history, effective for pacing and provoking curiosity in this stand-alone.
Readers will drown in this finely crafted, atmospheric book. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Ernshaw, Shea: THE WICKED DEEP." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2018. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A522642931/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=c1c85551. Accessed 20 May 2018.
1 of 5 5/20/18, 9:36 PM
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
Gale Document Number: GALE|A522642931
2 of 5 5/20/18, 9:36 PM
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
Ernshaw, Shea. The Wicked Deep
Sean Rapacki
Voice of Youth Advocates.
40.6 (Feb. 2018): p66. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
Ernshaw, Shea. The Wicked Deep. Simon Pulse, March 2018. 320p. $17.99. 978-1-4814-9734-3. 4Q * 4P * S
Two hundred years ago, the town of Sparrow tried three sisters and sent them to their deaths at the bottom of the ocean. Every summer since then, the sisters have returned, temporarily claiming bodies of local young women and using them to lure men to watery deaths in the sea. Penny is a local teen who lives alone with her mother on an island close to Sparrow, both of them damaged by the disappearance of her father three years ago. The annual return of the Swan sisters has become quite a tourist attraction in the town, but this year, the town has another type of visitor as well--a brooding young man named Bo who has reasons of his own for visiting the town. Penny and Bo's paths will cross, and, amidst the ritual drownings, secrets will be revealed.
This is Ernshaw's first published novel, and her writing is skilled and confident. She weaves a clever tale with a whopper of a twist. Fans of supernatural romances and books with unreliable narrators will definitely enjoy sinking into The Wicked Deep, and will undoubtedly look forward to future titles from the author.--Sean Rapacki.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Rapacki, Sean. "Ernshaw, Shea. The Wicked Deep." Voice of Youth Advocates, Feb. 2018, p. 66.
Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529357162 /GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=124b7be9. Accessed 20 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529357162
3 of 5 5/20/18, 9:36 PM
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
The Wicked Deep
Debbie Carton
Booklist.
114.7 (Dec. 1, 2017): p60. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
The Wicked Deep.
By Shea Ernshaw.
Mar. 2018. 320p. Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse, $17.99 (9781481497343). Gr. 9-12.
The tiny town of Sparrow, Oregon, has been haunted for 200 years by the three Swan sisters, sentenced to death for witchcraft and drowned in the harbor. Every year on June 1, during the annual Swan Festival, their spirits return to the bodies of three living teen girls, who each lure a teen boy out to the harbor and drown him. The vengeful Swan sisters, having exacted another year of retribution, then disappear on the solstice. Seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot's father is missing (presumed dead), and Penny, who lives alone with her half-crazed mother on Lumiere Island, is shy and withdrawn. Enter Bo Carter, who arrives in town just as the Swan Festival starts and who has a secret mission: to avenge his brother's death during the last festival. Magic- realism fans will appreciate how Ernshaw uses the Swan sisters' history to ground magic happenings in the reality of small-town life. Although those real-life details ironically cause the story to falter, the conclusion builds to a complex and sweetly satisfying ending. --Debbie Carton
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Carton, Debbie. "The Wicked Deep." Booklist, 1 Dec. 2017, p. 60. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A519036319/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=a134a6a6. Accessed 20 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A519036319
4 of 5 5/20/18, 9:36 PM
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
ERNSHAW, Shea. The Wicked Deep
Mimi Powell
School Library Journal.
63.12 (Dec. 2017): p107. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
ERNSHAW, Shea. The Wicked Deep. 320p. S. & S./Simon Pulse. Mar. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781481497343.
Gr 9 Up-A wickedly chilling debut about ghosts, witches, love, and revenge. Each summer, the small Oregon town of Sparrow celebrates Swan season, a month where tourists flock to the town believing that the spirits of three witches inhabit the bodies of local girls and drown young men. The deaths are all too real, even if the ghosts may not be, and it's a season that Penny Talbot would much rather avoid, particularly since her father's disappearance. But when a handsome stranger shows up in town with secrets of his own, Penny is drawn into a centuries-old revenge in order to protect him. Ernshaw reels in readers as expertly as her ghostly witches draw their unsuspecting victims into the sea. Chapters illuminating the history of Swan season and the town of Sparrow are interspersed with Penny's story, effectively providing necessary exposition and weaving the tense atmosphere that invades Sparrow like a heavy fog. When the drowning begins, readers, much like the townspeople will start to question characters' motives as the hunt for the Swan sisters unfolds and Penny races against time to protect her new beau. The summer solstice brings a haunting and bittersweet conclusion to events that may leave some readers wanting more. Moments of cliched writing, including food-dependent descriptions of characters of color, mar an otherwise strong debut. VERDICT Fans of ghostly romance such as Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood will find much to love in this eerie but less action-packed mystery --Mimi Powell, Library Systems and Services, Kissimmee, FL
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Powell, Mimi. "ERNSHAW, Shea. The Wicked Deep." School Library Journal, Dec. 2017, p.
107. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A516634108 /GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=220c7fb5. Accessed 20 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A516634108
5 of 5 5/20/18, 9:36 PM
Shea Ernshaw Discusses The Wicked Deep
The Children’s Book Review | May 7, 2018
Welcome to The Children’s Book Review, Shea! We’re excited to have you on TCBR. Your new book, THE WICKED DEEP, is already a New York Times Bestseller! I devour any books with witches, but yours was unique in setting and premise. THE WICKED DEEP is the perfect summer fantasy novel.
We can’t wait to hear more about you, your writing process, and the book itself.
Can you start by telling us a bit about your book, THE WICKED DEEP?
Shea Ernshaw: Hello! Thank you so much for having me! Excited to chat witches and books and writing! THE WICKED DEEP is about three sisters who were sentenced to death for witchcraft in 1822 and the small coastal town that’s paid the price for it ever since. It’s a spooky story where you’re never quite sure who is the hero and who is the villain.
Witches are a popular subject in fantasy fiction. Without giving away plot points, I really enjoyed how the Swan sisters weren’t your typical witches. Can you give us some insight in to your story’s version of curses, witches and the occult?
I love legends and folklore and wanted to create a town and setting with it’s own legend. I wanted to explore how a curse on a town can affect the residents over many generations and how people might come to accept the fate that has befallen them, no matter how gruesome or awful. I also wanted to blur the lines with my characters, so that it’s never entirely obvious if the three Swan sisters are witches, or just misunderstood in their time. In the 1800’s, it must have been a difficult time to be a woman in a small, rugged outpost in the wilds of Oregon. I did a lot of research and dug through archives on life for women during this time period, and for the Swan sisters, they would have faced many hardships and ridicule for being as bold and independent and outspoken as they were. And even though much of this has changed over the years, there are undertones of their experience that still exist today.
The setting of Sparrow is so richly imagined. Is it based on a real place? How did you create it?
I spent much of my childhood on the Oregon coast, for holidays and long weekends, and those tiny remote towns nestled along the Pacific Ocean always seemed magical to me. So I drew on much of my childhood memories when crafting the town of Sparrow. While editing, I took a trip to Astoria Oregon, one of the oldest towns in Oregon, where I explored museums and walked along the beach, imagining what it must have been like for the earliest settlers when they arrived in this rainy, foggy town. The town of Sparrow is a mash-up of many small Oregon towns—with a bit more magic, of course!
Penny Talbot is a sympathetic (and surprising!) character. What parts of her story were the hardest to write? Which parts were the most intriguing?
I really fell in love with Penny’s character and I miss getting to live inside her head while writing the book! There were certain aspects of her character that were challenging but mostly it was a lot of fun. I think she will always be one of my favorite characters who I won’t soon forget!
There’s a definite fandom, in all age categories, for witches. Did you grow up loving the concept of witches and magic? What draws you to their stories, and compelled you to write one of your own?
Yes, I love witches!!! I remember reading PRACTICAL MAGIC for the first time and knowing that it was a story that would live in my soul. Once I wrote THE WICKED DEEP and my editor compared it to PRACTICAL MAGIC, I had serious fangirl moments! It’s a comparison that still makes me a little lightheaded. I think I’ve always loved witchy characters, or even characters who behave in witchy ways—like Morticia Addams. I’ve always loved the darkside of characters, the balance between good and evil. And witches represent such an empowering icon—this idea that women don’t have to play the damsel in distress. They can play the villain and the love interest all at the same time!
What kind of research did you do in to witchcraft to create your story? Were there any real-life legends or myths that influenced you?
When it came to the witchcraft element, I didn’t do any research. I didn’t want to be influenced by existing legends and stories. I wanted to craft an entirely new myth, that wasn’t based on anything else. And truthfully, when writing about the sisters, it was as if they were telling their own story. As if it was already fully formed and I was just there to write it down. Sometimes I still wonder if the Swan sisters were real, if they existed in our history, and they found a way to slip into my thoughts and convince me to write a story about them. J
Which character or part of the book was the most fun to write? Which part was the hardest?
I enjoyed writing the scenes with Marguerite Swan the most! She is just so wonderfully cruel and awful, a character who I could write numerous novellas about.
THE WICKED DEEP is your debut novel, but is it the first novel you’ve written? What was your publishing journey like?
I have written more books that I can count! About seven years ago I got my literary agent with another book that included witches. We were never able to sell that book to a publisher and so I wrote several other books that were never quite right until THE WICKED DEEP sprung from my brain. The moment I finished TWD, I just had a feeling this was the one we would sell. I sensed there might be actual magic in the pages, in the spaces between words.
THE WICKED DEEP has one of the most beautiful covers we’ve seen this year. Did you have any say in the design? What excites you the most about it?
I had zero influence on the cover! But early on my publisher told me that Lisa Perrin would be doing the artwork and I was thrilled. She has illustrated some gorgeous covers and I knew whatever she created I would love. And when they sent me the cover design I was over the moon! It’s everything I hoped it would be!
What is your writing process like? Do you have a new novel in the works?
I’m an outliner. I like to know where the story is going before I really dig in and start writing. I feel that it frees me up to focus on the scenes and the sentences without worrying where my characters are leading me. And yes, I’m working on my next book right now, filled with spooky forests and deep, dark lakes. I’m hoping I’ll be able to share more details soon!
You’ve recently hit the New York Times Bestseller list and sold rights to Netflix! That’s incredibly exciting and we can’t wait to see the Swan sisters on the small screen. Can you give us any tidbits about what comes next?
It’s certainly been a very exciting few weeks! When THE WICKED DEEP made the NYT bestseller list, I was reeling! And I absolutely didn’t think anything could be nearly as exciting, until I got the call that several film studios were interested in the book. It’s something I never allowed myself to dare to dream! But over the course of twenty-four hours, and after several calls with producers at studios, we had sold the book option to Netflix. And I couldn’t be more thrilled! Netflix produces some incredible content—both in film and TV series, and I know it will be in good hands. Their vision of the adaptation is spot-on with how I see it as well. They truly love the book and understand the themes that are important to the story. It’s still very early in the process, so I don’t have much more I can share, but as things hopefully move along, I will be be posting updates on my social platforms. Thank you for letting me share this exciting news with your readers!
Is writing your full-time job? When you’re not writing, what do you do for fun?
I’m lucky enough that writing is now my full-time job—a dream I’ve had since I was little! But when not writing, I love getting lost in the woods on long hikes or going in search of vegan bakeries where I can stock up on cupcakes!
What were your favorite books growing up?
WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams had a big impact on me as a kid. I still think about that story and how powerful it was. Adams managed to write a book from the POV of rabbits, but it was very much an adult tale. That book still captivates me.
If you could go back and tell your teen-self one thing, what would it be?
Look for magic in the small moments. It’s always there. Every day.
Thank you so much for joining us today, Shea!
Thank you for letting me come talks books with you today! I had a blast!
—
The Wicked Deep
Written by Shea Ernshaw
Publisher’s Synopsis: Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic meets the Salem Witch trials in this haunting story about three sisters on a quest for revenge—and how love may be the only thing powerful enough to stop them.
Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow…
Where, two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town.
Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.
Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into.
Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.
But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.
Ages 14+ | Publisher: Simon Pulse | March 6, 2018 | ISBN-13: 978-1481497343
Available Here:
IndieBound-Iconamazon-smile_color_btnBarnes&Noble-Icon
About the Author
Shea Ernshaw is the author of The Wicked Deep. She lives and writes in a small mountain town in Oregon. She works as a producer for a film production company and shares a home with her husband, a dog named Diesel, and two cats.
This interview—Shea Ernshaw Discusses The Wicked Deep—was conducted between Shea Ernshaw and Denise Mealy. For similar books and articles, follow along with our content tagged with Books About Witches, Hauntings, and Young Adult Fiction.
The Wicked Deep, by Shea Ernshaw | Book Review
The Children’s Book Review | May 7, 2018
The Wicked Deep
Written by Shea Ernshaw
Age Range: 14 and up
Hardback: 320 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse (2018)
ISBN: 978-1481497343
What to expect: Witches, Hauntings
Grab your flashlight and get ready to read long in to the night: THE WICKED DEEP will haunt you until you’ve reached the thrilling conclusion.
Penny Talbot lives in a small town unlike any other. Each summer, the town of Sparrow swells with tourists come to wait for one thing: the eventual deaths of young men by drowning. Two hundred years ago, the town of Sparrow convicted three beautiful sisters of witchcraft and flung them in to the bay to drown. Now, legend says that the girls return each summer to take over the bodies of three unlucky girls to reap their revenge on locals and tourists alike.
All of this is strange and horrifying enough – boys have been killed each year since the town drowned the Swan sisters – but Penny has an unusual gift. She can see which of the girls in town are inhabited by the vengeful spirit of a Swan sister. So when Bo, a handsome young man, comes to town, she allows him to move on to her family’s private island to work and stay away from the lure of the Swan sisters. And as the summer progresses, her love for him grows, until she is forced to choose between saving Bo, and saving herself from an unspeakable fate.
Debut writer Shea Ernshaw twists a compelling narrative, equal parts horror legend and contemporary mystery. The story is briskly paced, and readers will fall quickly in to the high-stakes world of small-town Sparrow. Surprisingly, the story picks up more intrigue as it goes on. Wildly avoiding a sagging midpoint so common in novels, THE WICKED DEEP only gets more interesting. Readers will rip through the second half, eagerly devouring the twists and heartbreaking turns of Penny and Bo. Ernshaw is a talented writer who draws on the occult and dark, shady legends to weave a heart-breaking, captivating story. The perfect witchy read for fantasy fans hungering for magical darkness.
Highly recommended.
Available Here:
IndieBound-Iconamazon-smile_color_btnBarnes&Noble-Icon
About the Author
Shea Ernshaw is the author of The Wicked Deep. She lives and writes in a small mountain town in Oregon. She works as a producer for a film production company and shares a home with her husband, a dog named Diesel, and two cats.
The Wicked Deep, written by Shea Ernshaw, was reviewed by Denise Mealy. Discover more books like The Wicked Deep by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with Books About Witches, Hauntings, and Young Adult Fiction.
Book Review: The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
Natalie XenosMarch 7, 2018
Book ReviewsBooksFeatured
Shea Ernshaw’s The Wicked Deep welcomes readers to the cursed fishing town of Sparrow, where secrets lurk in the dark depths of the sea and three sisters haunt the craggy shoreline, seeking vengeance for their deaths two centuries ago.
The townsfolk all know the myth-like story of the beautiful and alluring Swan sisters, Marguerite, Aurora and Hazel. In the 1800s, they were sentenced to death for witchery and drowned in the waters surrounding the town, slipping into legend as the years went by. But the people of Sparrow are privy to the terrible truth of the Swan Season; they hear the sisters calling girls into the ocean so that they can steal their bodies; they witness the trail of death and devastation the sisters leave in their wake.
Seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of her hometown, where every summer girls are possessed and boys are dragged to their watery deaths. Living on the remote Lumiere Island, just off the main town, Penny is determined not to become one of the sisters’ unwitting hosts. But when outsider Bo Carter arrives, unaware of the danger he’s walking into, Penny feels an urge to protect him. As the tourists descend on the salty, rain-soaked town for its famously morbid annual event, Penny is forced to make a decision: one between self-preservation and saving the boy who holds the promise of a new life.
At its very core, this is a story about three misunderstood sisters who became victims of superstition and the weaknesses of men. Glimpses into the past reveal how two out of three of the sisters delighted in stoking the flames of the townsfolk’s animosity towards them. Marguerite actively fuels the rumours of their witchery, whilst all three sisters’ inherent ability to enchant men – a result of their brazen attitudes and natural beauty, rather than any actual witchcraft – fills the small-minded women of the town with suspicion and hate. Yet their fate of having stones tied to their ankles and sent to the bottom of the sea never feels anything but unjust.
“The sisters brought about their fate like someone stumbling into a poison ivy bush in the dark, unaware of the consequences that would befall them by morning.”
The sisters in the present are unforgiving spectral monsters punishing innocent people for the sins of their ancestors, and yet they’re also tragically sympathetic characters, particularly Hazel, whose tender love story in the past brings her inevitable downfall a real pathos. We see the sisters through the eyes of Penny, who’s known her own loss and grief with the sudden disappearance of her father. She fears but understands them, wanting to put an end to the Swan Season and yet not sure how to go about it.
Ernshaw uses horrifying events in history as a source of inspiration for her story, the most obvious of course being the Salem witch trials, where something as simple as a birthmark or cluster of freckles was enough to convict a woman of witchery. Knowing these witch-hunts actually happened in the past offers the whole tale a sense of eeriness that has nothing to do with spirits rising from the sea, haunting girls and hunting boys.
Location plays a big part in the story too, with Sparrow feeling like a character in itself. The town is set off the coast of Oregon but it could very well be a weathered coastline in Cornwall or the Scottish Isles for all the rugged beauty and temperamental weather that’s prevalent in the book.
There’s certainly a bit of a Hocus Pocus, Practical Magic feel to The Wicked Deep, with it’s themes of witchcraft and the bonds of sisterhood. Being a paranormal mystery, there are also some nice little twists and secret reveals along the way, ensuring the pace never stalls and the drama never lulls, which is the real magic of this book.
Sparrow might not be a town you’d want to visit when the Swan sisters emerge from the deep, but with its eerie atmosphere and bittersweet end, this is a YA book you’ll gladly lose yourself in.
★★★★
The Wicked Deep is published by Simon & Schuster on 8 March 2018
The Wicked Deep
5.0
0.0 (0)
179 0
The Wicked Deep
Author(s)
Shea Ernshaw
Publisher
Simon Pulse
Genre(s)
Magical Realism
Witches
Age Range
13+
Release Date
March 06, 2018
ISBN
1481497340
Buy This Book
Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic meets the Salem Witch trials in this haunting story about three sisters on a quest for revenge—and how love may be the only thing powerful enough to stop them.
Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow…
Where, two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town.
Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.
Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into.
Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.
But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.
Editor reviews
1 reviews
Overall rating
5.0
Plot
5.0 (1)
Characters
5.0 (1)
Writing Style
5.0 (1)
April 06, 2018
Kayla King, Blog Manager Kayla King, Blog Manager
Top 500 Reviewer
View all my reviews (25)
Overall rating
5.0
Plot
5.0
Characters
5.0
Writing Style
5.0
So Easily Conjured
The promise of a novel filled with the essence of both Practical Magic and Hocus Pocus is fulfilled by reading Shea Ernshaw's debut novel, The Wicked Deep. Within these pages is a story filled with regret, revenge, lies, and most of all, love. And every bit of this summertime story is just as wicked and deep as the title assures.
From the beginning, the haunting lyricism with which Ernshaw conjures her story is enough to draw readers in, and what's more, drown them entirely in beautiful language. The style blends a contemporary narrative with historical elements given through the titled chapters spread throughout the entirety of the novel. Though the narration of these titled chapters does not follow the linear action of the novel, they are just as captivating as the world seen through Penny Talbot's eyes. Penny believes deep in her bones that the three Swan sisters who were drowned in the harbor of Sparrow, Oregon 200 years ago, do indeed return each summer to drown as many teenage boys as they can. It becomes most clear that "magic was not always so linear. It was born from odium. From love. From revenge." And what begins as a story of revenge soon becomes one filled with love.
Throughout the story, tensions remain high, stakes fraught with the impending deaths of innocent boys. There is a ticking clock to keep readers swept up in the urgency of the story; the Swan season wanes toward the summer solstice, which marks the day the sisters were drowned after being accused of witchcraft so many centuries ago. Like the descendants of Salem, Marguerite, Aurora, and Hazel Swan were not witches. Yet, they're resurrected every summer, taking over the bodies of young girls in town before slipping from the skins back to the ocean below. It's a rather dire set of circumstances in a town that knows entirely too much of their tragic fates, best explained within the narrative:
"Murder. That's precisely what it is. Calling it a curse does not unmake the truth of what happens here each year...It's as predictable as the tide and the moon. It ebbs and flows. Death comes and goes."
Held within those few lines is the essence of the story, that constant sway between life and death, killer and victim. And the villains of the story, those Swan sisters with the ability to lure boys to their deaths, are proven to be just as flawed and complicated as any good antagonist should be. What was most unexpected, however, was how their villainy washed away as their tragic fates were shared, making it hard not to accept their revenge. Best explained by Penny, "Guilt slithers through me, a thousand regrets, and I wish for things I can't have: a way to undo all the deaths, to save the people who've been lost."
The other characters within this novel are no less authentic. Everyone from Penny's grief-stricken mother to Bo, the new boy in town who hides something just as dark as the town; they all seem to hope for something better. As readers, we learn that "the truth slips between the edges of the lies." These people, like Penny, are broken. She misses her father. Her mother has been driven into darkness most maddening by the disappearance of her husband three years before, and Bo found his way to Sparrow filled with his own heartbreaks. At their core, they are all searching the shores for something. Like Bo explains:
"They're always reasons to stay. You just need to find one reason to leave."
Shea Ernshaw's strengths within this debut do not merely lie at the bottom of an ocean filled with exquisite language, intricate history, and poignant characters, but rather imbue power into the story with elements of magical realism. The notions of curses and revenge, of momentary resurrection and ghosts might be hard to comprehend amidst the contemporary small town setting. But this is the farthest thing from a summer beach read because of the elements of magical realism woven throughout the narrative in a manner that seems so easily conjured. These details act as a juxtaposition to the haunting reality of death. From the forgetful cakes Penny's best friend's mother bakes, "intended to make you forget the worst thing that's ever happened to you--to wipe away bad memories," to the way Penny and her mother are able to divine the future by reading tea leaves; there is a hint of magic in everything. This acts as a way for the reader to better comprehend the strange events of Sparrow, Oregon, and thus, too, the characters to accept that something wicked most certainly comes from the sea.
Sparrow is a mysterious place, while Penny's home at Lumiere island acts as a protection against everything happening around her. The lighthouse is able to shine light onto the murky truths beneath the waves, and as such, the island becomes its own kind of character within the novel. Just as Penny and Bo gravitate toward the orchards and cottages, the reader, too, will feel bound to the island and the veil of safety it offers against the brutality of the risen sisters.
Reading the line, "Some places are bound in by magic. Ensnared by it," this feels like truth carefully crafted to encompass the marks we leave, even after we're gone. So too, does this truth: "Ghosts remain. But sometimes, the past is the only thing keeping a place alive...But it persists, because it must. Penance is a long, unforgiving thing. It endures, for without it, the past is forgotten." Throughout this book, there were many more lines and paragraphs, which took my breath as I drowned within them, ensnared by Ernshaw's skill to take the reader deep into her characters' lives. Lines resonate long after being read. None so much as:
"Perhaps we all have some oddity, some strangeness we keep hidden along our edges, things we see the we can't explain, things we wish for, things we run from."
In the end, Shea Ernshaw's debut, The Wicked Deep, will leave readers under its eerie spell. Though this book is a standalone with a satisfying conclusion, it is clear that "endings are never so simple." And navigating this haunting tale to the last page will leave readers looking forward to whatever Ernshaw conjures next!
Was this review helpful to you?
Web Exclusive – March 13, 2018
The Wicked Deep
Life and love in a cursed town by the sea
BookPage review by Sarah Weber
The Swan sisters were sentenced to death 200 years ago in Sparrow, Oregon, drowned in the harbor as a punishment for witchcraft. Every summer, however, they return to inhabit the bodies of young girls and lure boys into the same harbor, seeking revenge on the town that destroyed them. Penny, like so many locals, has accepted Sparrow’s fate. But when Bo, a mysterious outsider, arrives on the eve of Swan Season unaware of the danger he faces, Penny knows this is the summer things have to change.
Fans of Leslye Walton (The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender) and Anna-Marie McLemore (The Weight of Feathers) will enjoy The Wicked Deep, Shea Earnshaw’s newest contribution to young adult magical realism.
This novel’s dark whimsy draws readers in as the mysteries of the Swan sisters’ curse—and Bo and Penny’s desire to break it—unravel in a town where drownings have become an annual spectacle and spelled cakes that dissolve unpleasant memories.
Billed as “Hocus Pocus meets Practical Magic,” The Wicked Deep is an enchanting, romantic read. Though Ernshaw’s mortal characters often feel like unfinished sketches, the three sisters at the center of the novel are magnetic, as is the magic that has settled over the town of Sparrow like fog blown in from the sea.