I read this book when I was around 8 years old maybe, and it has stuck with me ever since. It was the first time I had ever heard of the legendary Selkie characters, and I fell in love with their mythology.
The Folk Keeper rings several changes on the selkie traditions of folklore.
Fifteen-year-old Corinna Stonewall is never cold, she always knows exactly what time it is, and her hair grows two inches while she sleeps. She is a steely, hard-hearted, vengeful orphan who prides herself in her job minding the 'folk' creatures. The Folk Keeper has power and independence, and that's the way she likes it.
One day, Corinna is summoned by Lord Merton to come to the vast seaside estate Cliffsend as Folk Keeper and family member--for she is the once-abandoned child he has been looking for. It is at Cliffsend that Corinna learns where her unusual powers come from, why she is drawn to the sea, and finally, what it means to be comfortable in her own skin. Here, Corinna first encounters the sea, and finds that she has a strong affinity for its tides, as well as for the seals who inhabit the waters around her new home.
The setting of The Folk Keeper is left deliberately vague, but is reminiscent of the isles of Scotland or Ireland, a pre-industrial setting of coaches and ferries, village fairs and manors.
