The Sirens

A Novel

By: Emilia Hart

Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • #1 LibraryReads Pick • Indie Next Pick

A spellbinding novel about sisters separated by centuries, but bound together by the sea, from the author of the runaway New York Times bestseller Weyward.

“Narrator Barrie Kreinik offers a first-rate performance, embodying the characters with distinctive voices and delivering Hart’s prose with graceful lyricism.”—Library Journal (starred review)

"The Sirens teems with family secrets, eerie dreams, and deep transformation. A compelling tale of sisterhood, sacrifice, and the sea, this is a beautiful follow-up to Hart's sensational debut, Weyward. The Sirens will sweep you away." —Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary

2019: Lucy awakens from a dream to find her hands around her ex-lover’s throat. Horrified, she flees to her older sister’s house on the Australian coast, hoping she can help explain the strangely vivid nightmare that preceded the attack—but Jess is nowhere to be found.

As Lucy awaits her return, the rumors surrounding Jess’s strange small town start to emerge. Numerous men have gone missing at sea, spread over decades. A tiny baby was found hidden in a cave. And sailors tell of hearing women’s voices on the waves. Desperate for answers, Lucy finds and begins to read her sister’s adolescent diary.

1999: Jess is a lonely sixteen-year-old in a rural town in the middle of the continent. Diagnosed with a rare allergy to water, she has always felt different, until her young, charming art teacher takes an interest in her drawings, seeing a power and maturity in them—and in her—that no one else has.

1800: Twin sisters Mary and Eliza have been torn from their loving father in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship bound for Australia. For their entire lives, they’ve feared the ocean, as their mother tragically drowned when they were just girls. Yet as the boat bears them further and further from all they know, they begin to notice changes in their bodies that they can’t explain, and they feel the sea beginning to call to them…

A breathtaking tale of female resilience and the bonds of sisterhood across time and space, The Sirens captures the power of dreams, and the mystery and magic of the sea.

This program includes a bonus conversation with the author.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

Captivating take on mermaid mythology

Very well-written and engaging. Presents the complexity of good and evil, right and wrong through a compelling story and a creative take on mermaid mythology. The narrator was great. Highly recommend!

Awkward Conclusion

The story held my interest and I liked the way the author goes back in history and then to present day throughout the story. The writing is elegant and beautiful and I admired that. I liked how the truth slowly unfolds until near the end you pretty much have an idea of what’s happened. This revelation is a bit strange but I was willing to go along. I was let down, however, when at the end it feels like the reveal is summarized quickly just to get it over. It was like “so this is what’s going on, what went on in the past and The End” . It was kind of abrupt. Other than the very end, though, I was engaged and interested.

Beautiful writing!

I loved the narration. Not a single complaint! Very well done. I will automatically buy anything from this author and narrator.

Magical historical well told tale!

I loved this book. The story, the performances. I loved Weyward too and just as in that book the themes of female empowerment through intuition and magic are woven into this book. And I appreciated rhetorical the historical context as well. I love how Emilia weaves the stories of multiple characters together across time and space. Highly recommend as well as Weyward. I look forward to the next book Hart writes!

Development of story lines.

Characters as they were developed and the manner in which they shifted back and forth.