How to Read the Daughters of the Sea Series
If you are ready to dive into the atmospheric, coastal world of Kathryn Lasky’s historical mermaid fantasy, the path forward is straightforward. Daughters of the Sea is a completed four-book series. Because the narratives of the three sisters are winding and intricately connected, you should read the books in order of their publication.
Here is the recommended reading order for the series:
- Hannah (2009) – Also published under the title Girl in the Shadows.
- May (2011)
- Lucy (2012)
- The Crossing (2015)
Understanding the Overlapping Timeline
Although the first three books are numbered sequentially, they do not follow a standard chronological progression where one story begins after the previous one ends. Instead, Hannah, May, and Lucy take place concurrently or with significant chronological overlap during the late 19th century in New England.
Kathryn Lasky structured the series this way to introduce each sister individually. Hannah, May, and Lucy were separated at birth by a violent storm and grew up in completely different social environments. By dedicating one book to each sister, the series allows readers to experience each girl's unique perspective, struggles with human society, and gradual awakening to her true mermaid heritage. Their individual storylines run parallel to one another before finally converging in the fourth book, The Crossing.
Because of this structure, trying to read the books in a different order will disrupt the narrative flow and spoil key developments. Reading them in publication order ensures that you meet each sister in the sequence intended by the author, gradually building the puzzle of their shared history before they reunite to face their collective destiny.
Book-by-Book Guide
To help you navigate the coastal landscapes and social strata of the Belle Époque, here is a detailed breakdown of each book in the series:
1. Hannah (Girl in the Shadows)
The series opens in Boston, Massachusetts, during the late 1800s. We are introduced to Hannah Albury, a fifteen-year-old orphan who works as a scullery maid in a wealthy, restrictive household. Hannah has always felt different from those around her. She has a strange connection to the water, skin that reacts oddly to the dry air, and a longing she cannot quite name. Her life begins to shift when she meets a mysterious painter who seems to know more about her heritage than she does, leading her to uncover her mermaid origin amidst the strict class divides of Boston high society.
2. May
The second book shifts the setting to the rugged, wind-swept coast of Maine, where May lives as the daughter of a lighthouse keeper. May is deeply attuned to the ocean, feeling far more comfortable in the freezing Atlantic waters than on land. When she falls in love with a young Harvard student and astronomer, her human connections deepen, but so does the fracturing of her domestic life. As May begins to piece together the truth of her existence, she also starts to search for the sisters she has never met, setting the stage for their paths to cross.
3. Lucy
The third installment focuses on Lucy, who has been adopted by a wealthy, status-obsessed minister and his wife. Raised in luxury but suffocated by her mother's demands to conform to societal expectations, Lucy must constantly hide her true nature. During a summer retreat to the fashionable enclave of Bar Harbor, Maine, the call of the ocean becomes too powerful to ignore. Here, Lucy meets a young shipbuilder and begins to embrace her marine identity, setting off a dangerous clash with her adoptive family that threatens her very survival.
4. The Crossing
The final book in the quartet serves as the culmination of the sisters' parallel journeys. In The Crossing, the lives of Hannah, May, and Lucy finally intertwine directly. However, their reunion is fraught with danger. Lucy is in extreme peril, framed for a crime she did not commit and facing the threat of execution. Meanwhile, Hannah is engaged to a painter who shares her marine heritage but has chosen to completely reject the sea, demanding that Hannah do the same. As May tries to keep her family together, the three sisters must make an ultimate choice: will they attempt to conform to the human world, or will they answer the ocean's call and return to the deep?
Key Themes and Settings
The setting of Daughters of the Sea is almost a character in its own right. Lasky contrasts the suffocating, dusty interior spaces of Boston's brownstones and Victorian parlors with the wild, open freedom of the Atlantic Ocean and the Maine coastline. This geographical contrast mirrors the internal conflict of the sisters: the pressure to conform to 19th-century gender expectations versus the wild, untamable call of their true nature.
Class dynamics also play a massive role in the series. Hannah starts her story at the bottom of the social ladder as a scullery maid, experiencing the grueling labor expected of the working class. May lives a rustic, isolated life at the lighthouse, representing a connection to nature that is free from urban constraints. Lucy, on the other hand, is thrust into the wealthy elite, showing how even privilege can be a prison when it demands the suppression of one's identity. By exploring these different environments, Lasky highlights the diverse experiences of young women during the Gilded Age, using fantasy to amplify their search for voice and agency.
What to Know Before You Start
Kathryn Lasky, the Newbery Honor-winning author widely celebrated for her high-fantasy animal epic Guardians of Ga'Hoole, brings a very different tone to Daughters of the Sea. This series is a slower, more atmospheric blend of historical fiction and paranormal romance. Here are a few key elements to keep in mind before you begin reading:
- A Focus on Historical Realism: Rather than taking place in a purely high-fantasy setting, the magic of the series is grounded in the real history of turn-of-the-century New England. Lasky meticulously depicts the rigid social structures, class divisions, and gender roles of the era, using the mermaid metaphor to explore female autonomy and self-determination.
- Parallel Narrative Structures: Because the first three books run parallel to one another, you will notice overlapping events and timelines. Don't worry if you feel like you are retreading similar time periods; this is designed to show how different the same era felt depending on a character's social standing.
- No Official Spin-offs: Daughters of the Sea is a self-contained story. While Lasky has written other popular fantasy series involving animals or historical settings, none of them share a universe with the mermaid sisters.
- Alternate Titles: Depending on your region or library edition, you may find the first book listed as either Hannah or Girl in the Shadows. They are the same book, so you only need to read one of them to start the series.