Enthralling, touching and inspiring, this historical fiction has a touch of magical realism and explores grief, healing, immorality, redemption and second chances. Kelly’s wave of narrative carries us up through the crests of joy and plunges us into the depths of sorrow, a voyage as beautiful as it is profound.

As a Scotswoman, I was thrilled to read this and this did not disappoint. I highly recommend you read this during a storm, like me – it was truly atmospheric! All the fear and tension poured from its pages and I was entirely enraptured.

The title The Fisherman’s Gift is perfect. Not only does it emphasise Joseph being an important role in this story, but it is also symbolic of a few things. There are the literal gifts he has for both children: the toy boat for Moses (one he never gets the chance to give); the other the toy plover for Johan. But the greatest gift he gave was the child itself.

Through the excellent use of dual timeline, shifting from Now (the boy washing up on shore) to Then (Dorothy first arriving in Skerry), we are able to piece together everything that happens. The strange parallels between Johan and Moses help to add that seamless transition from past to present. Very interestingly, one section is a non-linear structure: we get Dorothy’s wedding, the pregnancy, the birth – but then a very drastic shift to sometime after her wedding, where there is the huge reveal. This makes Dorothy’s life go from looking fine until it isn’t. It makes the narrator, just like the gossip within the village, an unreliable source and hones in on the devastation of everything.

While predictable (I had the secret about Moses worked out from the first chapter), this was an enjoyable read. There were clues along the way that were very intriguing and gave a glimpse into the future, dropping the right breadcrumbs through gossip by the townsfolk or the overall narrative that makes you want to know what happens, and mainly how it does and why.

There were some incredible aspects in this book that make this a worthwhile read, which includes the very clever ironies. The main thing is in some of the names, alone: Moses is swept away by the sea which contrasts Moses in the Bible, who (while he is also separated from his mother) is saved from water and parts the Red Sea, showing he is in control. The sea is this Moses’ enemy. Joseph in the Bible is a father and protector. In this book, Joseph directly contradicts both roles as he does not know the former aspect and he does not manage the latter, being unable to protect Moses from what happens. Dorothy means “God’s gift”, something she does not believe, considering all her misfortunes. Agnes means “pure” which is ironic considering her thoughts and treatment towards Dorothy is not. There is a very cruel streak about Agnes.

There are a few symbolic aspects. The most important is the symbolism of and use of birds to tell the story. This is through the black seabird cormorant and the plover.
Cormorant: Dorothy sees the cormorant the day she spends time with Joseph, the latter who remarks that they are the spirit of those lost at sea, which accounts for it showing up later just before she takes on the job of looking after Johan (almost like Moses is giving her an approval). They are generally considered a bad omen and are linked to sins like greed and gluttony, which is all a great foreshadowing of what is to come (respectively: what happens to Moses, and Dorothy and Joseph’s lust for one another despite her being married).
Plover: Dorothy and Johan rescue a young plover after discovering it in the snow with an injured wing. Plovers are believed to be spiritual guides encouraging people to appreciate the moment and beauty around them. Dorothy certainly does as she watched Johan look after the bird.
Not only are they opposite in colour (the cormorant being black and the plover white) but they also dwell in different places (cormorants primarily live in water, plovers on the beaches or shores).

The Fisherman’s Gift is told during two different time periods and through the use of multiple POVs. It is a historical fiction novel that centres of themes of grief and bereavement, societal differences and the importance of friendships and communities as a whole.

Set in a small village in Scotland, we are introduced to main characters Dorothy and Joseph, both of whom shared a short love affair, around the time Dorothy conceived her son, Moses. Moses then later disappeared and is presumed as dead after only his boot was found washed upon the shore.

In a cruel twist of fate, nearly two decades on, a child washes onto the shore, mirroring the tragedy Dorothy has already faced, and she ends up caring for him. This leads to a journey of self-discovery, acceptance of the past and a sense of faith for a brighter future.

Be prepared to have tissues at the ready, as you delve into the lives of seemingly ordinary people, all of whom have their own personal traumas, secrets and sensitivities. This was such a beautiful read and I would be happy to read more from Julia Kelly!

This book is beautiful. This book is powerful. This book is sad and nostalgic. This book is about looking back and looking forward. This book is about grief. This book evokes so much emotion and makes you realise the importance of relationships and being honest. I absolutely loved this book, it is a really special and unique read.

Dorothy has lived a quiet but tragic life in the village of Skerry. Her husband William up and left her and her son and soon after tragedy hits again when her son Moses goes missing. Since then she has spent her years teaching at the local school, visiting the local shop for supplies and heading home. That is until one of the local fishermen (and a former flame) Joseph comes back from the sea carrying a young boy in his arms. This boy looks EXACTLY like Moses but it cant be surely? He has the same silvery hair but he hasn’t aged. Joseph found Mose’s boot on that faithful day that Mose’s went missing and now he’s bringing her a child that looks just like him. This can’t be right. What is going on?

This was a very atmospheric read. I felt drawn in to this little village and its history. I felt all the uneasiness of Dorothy trying to live her life with everyone watching and talking about her. The story itself is quite sad and shows the extent that shame and pride can hold you back from the people and things you want most. How secrets and assumptions can destroy our happiness and how sometimes you have to embrace your past mistakes to let go of the shame that sticks to you.

This is the authors debut novel and with writing of this standard I will keep an eye out for further work. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys atmospheric, mysterious stories of living in small villages. Thank you NetGalley and Randomhouse UK for the ARC of this book.

This is a poignant and sad story set in Skerry Sands, a remote small Scottish fishing village, where life is hard. The gift is a little boy. Will he replace the mother’s grief and guilt for the lost boy? It’s a dual timeline story set in 1900, and before. It’s multi POV, with Dorothy, Joseph and Agnes. Central to the story is isolation and misunderstandings. There’s love and loss, sadness and hope. I received an early copy from NetGalley.

Brilliant characters, memorable story line, dual time line. Love the place where the story is set. Highly recommend this book.

Set at the beginning of the twentieth century, the story follows Dorothy, a new school mistress who arrives in the small Scottish fishing town of Skerry. She finds environment less than friendly as the town has many gossips. However, when local fisherman Joseph, discovers a small boy who has been washed up after a storm, Dorothy is asked to look after him until his parents can be traced. His arrival brings back haunting memories of her own loss many years ago.
The story moves between past and present. It describes her life and how she got to her current situation as guardian of the boy, and her relationship with fisherman Joseph.
It is a well written novel, which provides a close look at many aspects of life and human frailty. The question is, can Dorothy overcome the challenges she faces, make peace with her own past mistakes and take a chance on love again?
A deep, emotional story, well worth the four stars I have awarded it.

My thanks to Simon and Schuster, the author and Netgalley for an ARC of The Fisherman's Gift in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautifully written atmospheric story about lost love, repressed emotions and living in a close community.
Set over two timelines, initially school teacher Dorothy’s son is found by Fisherman Joseph lifeless on the beach.
The second timeline reprises Joseph’s find, but this time the boy is alive.
As Dorothy looks after the boy during the harsh winter when the village is cut off, secrets and long forgotten feelings emerge.
A book to savour and which made a lasting impression.

Thought provoking, moving and emotional. Such a surprising read that I really enjoyed. A little different than my usual genre and I'm so glad I gave it a try! It's beautifully written, explores grief really well. The ending was a little lacking but overall I enjoyed it. 3.5 stars rounded up.

This is a most moving story. So many people living their daily lives but yearning for love, friendship or just acceptance.
The story surrounding Dorothy, is complex and it’ sad. So much in her life just doesn’t go right for her. She is full of sorrow and has experienced such loss. Will she ever be truly happy? She torments herself with guilt that the reader knows is unfounded and it fills us with sorrow for her.
Yet, all along, love was there for the taking, if only she would reach out for it.
I think the moral of this story is that life is fleeting and if you find love on your journey through it, don’t let it pass you by.
It really is a beautiful story with the thrum of love, life and death flowing through it. I can’t wait for whatever comes next from this Author.

Winter, 1900. A little boy washes up on the beach of a small fishing village in Scotland, barely alive. He bears an uncanny resemblance to teacher Dorothy's son, lost to the sea many years before. When the village is snowed in, Dorothy agrees to look after the child until he can be returned home. But, as the past rises to meet the present, long-buried secrets in this tight-knit community start to come to light.
A debut novel that was an emotional roller coaster so much so that whilst I was enjoying it I had to leave it at times & go back a day later so unusually for me it took me about a week to read it. I loved the vivid picture the author painted of the village, the characters had depth but it was their feelings, misunderstandings & misfortunes that made it an uncomfortable read at times. A well written book, which I enjoyed & I look forward to more by the author
I voluntarily read and reviewed a special copy of this book; all thoughts and opinions are my own

there is a beautiful flow to this book. add to that the character and the setting and you get swept away with reading this until you are just needing to keep turning pages. and it is so easy to do so.
there are tender moments. there are love moments. there are also fustrating moments when a tight knit community dont act very nice at all!
and also our main characters past keep hurting her. and doesnt lend to moving on. especially with Jopseph who seems to have his own share of things he needs to heal from.
i was thinking many thoughts about this book. and left thinking about it after the last page. its such a bright read and yet at the same time feels a sad and tense one too. but all in all a brilliant one. and if a book can lend itself to making you feel all sets of emotions, then for me it makes it a great book. this was one of those.

I have reviewed the Fisherman’s Gift for book sales and recommendation site LoveReading.co.uk. I have chosen this title as both a Liz Pick of the Month and a LoveReading Star Book.

Please see the link for the full review.

Thank you.

A double timeline story set in remote Scottish village where Dorothy moves to escape from her previous life.
She marries the wrong man and loses a son. Much later, a boy is washed up on the shore like a gift from the sea. There are many misunderstandings. Reminded me of a Thomas Hardy novel at times. Hard to read in parts due to the underlying melancholy but beautifully written.

Set in the past, this is a story of a mother who lost her child. Dorothy is a school teacher in a tiny fishing village. As an incomer, she finds it hard to make friends with the other women. When she loses her only child when he drowns in a storm, she has never got over it.
Told in two timeliness in the present and when Dorothy came to the village, the story unfolds told by various people in the village.
It is a tale of misunderstandings and truths hidden. When another child is found on the beach, the minister asks Dorothy to mind him and so sets off a chain of events as the village remembers the other child who died.
It is a slow unusual tale, not for everyone.

A double timeline story of Dorothy who moves from Edinburgh to a remote Scottish village to escape from her troubles. A young boy is washed up on the shore and can thus be her redemption. Harrowing in parts

This is such a wonderfully emotional read. It has a beautiful poetic atmosphere and the story is hypnotic almost. A tale of love and loss, grief for a loved one and loneliness. A touch of hope , companionship and potential love all roll up into an exceptional novel.

A lyrical, heart-wrenching and ultimately uplifting story of guilt and grief, this is a powerful novel with beautifully drawn characters. There’s a thread of the supernatural through the story, a sense that unseen forces have been at work, recognised by the characters only through old tales and superstition. It’s a remarkable exploration of the impact of loss and shame, and of secrets, and of how these affect the choices we make. Dorothy’s feeling of being an outsider is heightened by the isolation of the small community into which she moves. The Scottish coastal setting is evocatively portrayed.
Highly recommended.

'...when you talk, you find things out, things about yourself, like the creatures in the rock pools you hadn't known were there until the sea let you see them'.

Skerry Sands is a remote Scottish fishing village, often cut off by tempestuous weather and isolated by the sea that gives the villagers their living. When Dorothy arrives, from Edinburgh, to be their new school teacher, it's clear to her that she'll never fit into this tight knit community. Even after nearly two decades of living there. Even after, losing her child to the very sea that sustains them. It's a cold place that has frozen Dorothy. This winter, however, the storm brings something more than snow, it brings them a little boy. Eerily this boy seems to be exactly like the one she lost. Although logic tells her that's impossible - too many years have passed - emotionally it cracks her heart. The thing is, will this crack liberate her or break her? When she's asked to temporarily look after the boy, in her home, it seems as though everything about this boy tugs another thread from her memory; the villagers' memories.

'The Fisherman's Gift' is a dual time, multi POV story, made up of small chapters; flitting from what is to what was, seamlessly. There is a pervading sadness, heartache and loneliness that is as thick and cold as the snow that encases the village. Misunderstanding and isolation are central to the storyline, which I must admit got to me at times, but it serves to highlight the damage that can be wrought in people, relationships, and communities. Ultimately, however, this is a heart-warming story about finding your way through hurt and grief to gratitude and compassion. When we open our hearts, we open our minds.

I enjoyed this historical fiction story, with its sprinkling of old superstitions and faerie folk tales. It reminded me how liberating the truth is and how it's far better to confront issues, rather than burying them, only to have them fester.

'Why is it...that we only ever remember the things we did wrong'?

A little boy is washed up on the shores of a small Scottish fishing village.
For Dorothy it is as if her son has been returned to her. But he vanished many years ago and his body has never been found.
Dorothy is asked to look after him whilst enquiries are made about him.
This invokes many memories both for her, and for the whole village.
Can his being there help heal years of lies and damage? and bring together the village again