The Bell at Sealey Head in Into the Forest

Feb 22, 2013 mark monday rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: alpha-team, fantasy-modern, z-patricia-a-mckillip

Dream a little dream of a little book, perfect in every way; a story about a little village on the seacoast, less than perfect but full of charm, a lived-in village with charming, lived-in characters; a village with a mysterious crumbling manor with many doors to another world: a world of rituals and ravenous crows and glassy-eyed knights and a trapped princess and an uncertain doom; the world of a castle, a castle in a book.

Dream a dream of spells, two wizards and a wood witch and her daughter ...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Christine rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, diverse-and-women-authors

At heart this is a fairy tale about stories. Like Robin McKinley's work, this book is fantasy on the small and private level.

McKillip tells the story of a group of people (think Cranford) and the magic that is part of their lives. All the characters are well drawn and none of the characters is a cliche. In addition to the actual novel, one of the characters tells a story to her younger siblings. In fact, when this is first down, the reader feels the disappointment of that story breaking off. Mc ...more

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May 08, 2018 Jalilah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-and-science-fiction, folk-fairy-tales

A delightful and magical read. As she so often does McKillip evokes the sea.

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Aug 27, 2020 Kimberly Karalius rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: top-favorites

Absolutely perfect. A joy to read. So many characters to love, mysteries and danger and magic! And SO many lovable, interesting characters (and lots of writer and bookworm moments that warmed my heart).

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Sep 03, 2018 Judith Pratt rated it liked it · review of another edition

In general, I really like Patricia A. McKillip. The beginning of The Bell at Sealey Head was my kind of stuff. Seaside town. Old inn on top of a rocky point, falling apart, held together by young Judd. The big mansion on the other side of the harbor, where an old lady lies endlessly dying. The merchant's family in the town, with a daughter, Gwyneth. Young Judd loves her, but she is rich and he is poor.

But the last quarter of the book, when the various characters discover why a bell rings across ...more

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