Background
Cat Hellisen was born in Cape Town and has lived in Johannesburg, South Africa and Nottingham, England.
( After seventeen-year-old Felicita's dearest friend Ilve...)
After seventeen-year-old Felicita's dearest friend Ilven kills herself to escape an arranged marriage, Felicita chooses freedom over privilege. She fakes her own death and leaves her sheltered life as one of Pelimburg's magical elite behind. Living in the slums, scrubbing dishes for a living, she falls for charismatic Dash while also becoming fascinated with vampire Jannik. Then something shocking washes up on the beach: Ilven's death has called out of the sea a dangerous wild magic. In Cat Hellisen's When the Sea is Rising Red, Felicita must decide whether her loyalties lie with the family she abandoned . . . or with those who would twist this dark power to destroy Pelimburg's caste system―and the whole city along with it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250050685/?tag=2022091-20
Cat Hellisen was born in Cape Town and has lived in Johannesburg, South Africa and Nottingham, England.
She currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa. Publishers Weekly writes of When The Sea Is Rising Red, "Hellisen"s style features evocative descriptions and unflinching detail, drawing readers into the unusual and intriguing elements that make up Felicita"s socially complex world," while Kirkus says that "the worldbuilding intrigues, and the open-ended conclusion begs a sequel." In a starred review, The Bulletin of the Center for Children"s Books writes, "Dark, foreboding, and not entirely redemptive, this is an intense look at the seeds of rebellion and the individual consequences they sometimes reap."
Kirkus calls the narration for Beastkeeper, “..thoughtful and lyrical. Figurative prose is memorable yet never flashy.” in a starred review.
Publisher"s Weekly also gave it a star, saying, “Blending modern-day problems and ancient magical curses, Hellisen’s (When the Sea Is Rising Red) novel sparkles like a classic fairy tale, even as it plumbs unpleasant truths.” The Bulletin for the Center for Children"s Books suggests in a starred review that "older fans of fairy tales and their retellings will revel in this poetic, tragic, epic story of a girl who is faced with the worst of what people can choose and instead decides to step outside of the curse and make her own way." Voya gives another star and writes, “"Beastkeeper is a bright, beautiful sliver of a novel.
Every page shimmers with magic."
The judges of Short Story Day Africa 2015 said of "The Worme Bridge": "The story works effortlessly to construct an other kind of reality while grounding itself in the real world. The writing is compelling: the reader is drawn into this family and the strangeness that overtakes them.
We found this a powerful piece of writing that continues to haunt the reader afterwards.”.
( After seventeen-year-old Felicita's dearest friend Ilve...)