The novel begins with a storm, and a shipwreck, and a handsome, young stranger washed ashore. It’s a Selkie tale, set in the Highlands of Scotland sometime in the 19 th century. Then, a month or so ago, I read a brief review of it on an English book blog and at once remembered how much I had loved it, and ordered a copy straightaway. I’ve been looking for it ever since, but could not remember its name. I first read A Stranger Came Ashore when I was about eleven, after borrowing it from my school library. I have many of her books – some collected when I was a child and some (including a signed first edition) collected as an adult. Mollie Hunter is a wonderful Scottish writer for children who is not nearly as well-known as she deserves to be.

Phoenix Award winning author Mollie Hunter has written another suspense story finely laced with folklore her storytelling is as spontaneous as it is irresistible Only 12-year-old Robbie knows that the mysterious Finn Learson is the evil Great Selkie, the seal-man of Shetland Islands legend. And Robbie knows it's up to him to save his sister. Then, in one frightening moment, Robbie recalls his grandfather's warning and discovers at last the terrible, incredible truth about Finn Learson.

Robbie is sure that he is hiding something-but what? The clues Robbie finds are mysterious: Finn Learson's love of dancing an ancient gold coin that Finn gives to the family strange omens in the ashes of a fire and beautiful young Elspeth Henderson's increasingly odd behavior. Only young Robbie Henderson does not trust Finn Learson and his oddly unsettling secret smile. Finn Learson is charming and generous, and the Henderson family gladly give him shelter.

The stranger is Finn Learson, a young and handsome man who seems to be the only survivor of the wreck.

A stranger came ashore by mollie hunter