Between Two Seas by Marie-Louise Jensen

Between Two Seas

By Marie-Louise Jensen

Reviewed by Lisa Doyle-Redmond

***** 5 stars

Between Two Seas is the first novel from author Marie-Louise Jensen. The novel takes place mostly in Denmark in the late 19^th Century and Jensen’s lyrical writing style will sweep readers away into a different time and place from the first paragraph. The novel tells the story of Marianne Shaw who has been brought up almost penniless in the North of England by her mother. She has been bullied and stigmatised because of her illegitimacy so when her mother dies she has no-where to turn. She has made a promise to her mother that she will seek out her father and a better life and so she sets off for Denmark to find the fisherman her mother had fallen in love with when she was just a young girl. The journey is long and difficult and for a young woman travelling alone it is not without peril. At last she arrives in the fishing community of Skagen and she determines to make a new life for herself in this strange but beautiful place.

The novel was nominated for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize 2008. It will appeal to readers aged ten or over especially those who enjoy historical fiction.