In famed author-illustrator P.J. Lynch’s gorgeous tale, he creates two worlds—underwater and above—to tell an epic and haunting love story.
Jacob and his father are the only people who fish Lake Spetzia, which was formed when the river was dammed and their town was flooded. The villagers say the lake is haunted, but Jacob and his father don’t want to leave, because Jacob’s mother is buried in the cemetery below the water. As Jacob grows up, a village girl named Ellen falls in love with him, and he with her. But before they are married, Jacob disappears—lured underwater by the ghosts who inhabit the sunken village. Years go by, with Jacob held captive by the watery spirits and Ellen never giving up hope that she will find him, until a fateful night when Jacob sees the light of Ellen’s boat floating above. Can he break free and reach the surface? Masterful illustrations alive with achingly expressive characters and eerie underwater light bring readers into acclaimed creator P.J. Lynch’s rich world of love, loss, and hope.
“Watercolor and gouache art plays effectively with light as it shimmers along the top of the lake or creepily glows from under it, and the fluid greenish gloom of the underwater village contrasts with the hearty Irish landscape above. This could be an entertaining read for youngsters who warm to folkloric supernatural stories with just enough chill to make the happy ending satisfying.”
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Mr. Lynch’s mesmerizing watercolor and gouache paintings are divided between the 19th-century world above Lake Spetzia and the village beneath it that was years ago drowned to create a reservoir… his pictures are masterly. Readers ages 7-12 will not soon forget these creepy and stirring scenes.”
The Wall Street Journal
