Selina Penaluna
by Jan Page
ItÕs an unusual teenage novel that has a woman of seventy-seven as its narrator Š but then Selina Penaluna is surprising in many ways. I wasnÕt immediately impressed by the cover blurb, which seemed to promise a fantasy story of girl-turns-mermaid; nor by the opening, where "vision of tanned lovelinessÓ, (Ellen describing her granddaughter) nearly made me decide not to read on. But IÕd have missed a treat. This is a captivating novel which grew and grew on me.
In fact there are three main narrators Š Ellen in the present, returning to the Cornish home of her adopted aunt and uncle; young Ellen as the evacuee from London, sent to Cornwall with her twin brother Jack; and Selina, beautiful daughter of a local fisherman. A fourth viewpoint comes in at the end, after a series of surprises; this is a novel of many elements, cleverly intertwined.
The present-day story begins with the now-widowed Ellen facing the responsibility of clearing and selling her aunt and uncleÕs house, Spindrift. This brings her face-to-face with memories sheÕs tried to suppress; like Leo in The Go-Between, her adult life seems tainted by the traumas of her adolescence. The relationship with her visiting granddaughter isnÕt handled at all sentimentally, with Ellen brought up short by CassieÕs casual sharing of a bed with a young man she hardly knows. But itÕs Cassie who gives Ellen a book of mermaids, in which one of the illustrations brings powerful reminders of Selina Penaluna, and the resentment Ellen has harboured towards her over the years.
In the wartime story, East Enders Jack and Ellen face a class change as well as a geographical one when theyÕre taken in by the Rosewarnes, a childless couple whose private loss explains their overwhelming attachment to Jack, in particular. SelinaÕs own story is one of hardship and abuse, scraping a living and trying to avoid the groping hands of her father Š she has good reason for wishing her legs could be replaced by a fishy tail. Inevitably, Jack is soon besotted with her, to the disapproval of Ellen and the Rosewarnes.
The climax is masterfully handled, bringing together various threads, including the mysterious wartime activity of "uncleÓ Charles, who disappears for long periods without explanation. With the triple narrative, the readerÕs sympathies shift and adjust as events unfold. The mermaid fantasy appears only in legends, dreams and near-death experiences, with the tension and tragedy coming from the real interaction of a maritime community in wartime. But itÕs the quality of the writing that makes this such a moving and memorable novel. Jan PageÕs characters live and breathe, yearn and hope and resent, and the portrayal of the Cornish coast in all moods and weathers brings to mind the work of Jill Paton Walsh. Wonderful.