Mother Ocean, Daughter Sea

Compton Crook Award nominee 2002.

The shari'a people are an ancient race-a proud and gentle people, ruled by witches who harnessed the powers of the world for the benefit of all. When the seafaring Allemanii tribes came to their shores, the two races lived side by side for generations, staying apart but trading and learning from each other in peaceful harmony. But something went horribly awry and the shari'a people were suddenly and brutally slain by the settlers who had come to dominate the land. They feared the shari'a... and more important, the witches who led them and who held powers that the Allemanii could barely comprehend. The remnants of this gentle people were scattered, and any shari'a who held the knowledge of the old ways and powers were proscribed and hunted to death.

That was long ago, and young Brierley thinks she is the last shari'a witch in the world. She knows what discovery it would mean, but she cannot deny her gifts as a healer; risking discovery, she goes out time and again to bring solace... despite the fact that those Brierley saves are the very people who killed most of her race.

When she saves the life of a nobleman's wife – a nobleman sworn to obliterate any trace of witchery – Brierley stumbles into a web of deceit and power struggles more deadly than anything she has ever faced. But she refuses to walk away – and by staying the course, Brierley gains the possibility of finding a love to last the ages, as well as a way to reclaim her people's heritage.

With Mother Ocean, Daughter Sea, Marcellas has crafted a beautiful first novel that explores what it means to be different, to value that difference, and what happens when one trusts in true love.