The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding

By: Holly Ringland

Narrated by: Emmanuelle Mattana

Length: 19 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

The bestselling novel from the author of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, a haunting and magical novel about joy, grief, courage, and transformation.

'On the afternoon that Esther Wilding drove homeward along the coast, a year after her sister had walked into the sea and disappeared, the light was painfully golden.'

The last time Esther Wilding's beloved older sister Aura was seen, she was walking along the shore towards the sea. In the wake of Aura's disappearance, Esther's family struggles to live with their loss. To seek the truth about her sister's death, Esther reluctantly travels from Lutruwita, Tasmania to Copenhagen, and then to the Faroe Islands, following the trail of the stories Aura left behind: seven fairy tales about selkies, swans and women, alongside cryptic verses Aura wrote and had secretly tattooed on her body.

The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding is a sweeping, deeply beautiful and profoundly moving novel about the far-reaches of sisterly love, the power of wearing your heart on your skin, and the ways life can transform when we find the courage to feel the fullness of both grief and joy.

'Vivid and soaring ... The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding is a haunting story of trauma and redemption that is nonetheless compelling and accessible. It's a great recommendation for fans of Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers or Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature of All Things, as well as Ringland's debut The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart' Books+Publishing

'Like the best books, The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding is ultimately a story about love. Ringland is a virtuoso of fairytale storytelling for adults.' Sydney Morning Herald

'A mythological journey as much as an unfolding mystery, full of symbols ... a magical, witchy, quirky, luminous book, full of the natural world, the night sky and the ever-changing water around the islands on which it is set.' The Australian

'This intercontinental journey into joy, grief, nature and magic confirms Holly Ringland as one of Australia's most precious, life-changing storytellers.' Booktopia

'Fans of Holly Ringland's beautiful first novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, will fall equally in love with her second.' The West Australian

'Myths and legends are the touchstone to truth in this epic journey through love, loss, courage and kinship. But The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding is also an elegant and mesmerising tribute to the places that hold our stories, heart and memories. Holly Ringland writes with such tenderness, wit and imagination about all these things that it's impossible to come away from this magical story unchanged' Sally Piper, author of Bone Memories

'Another spell is cast by Holly Ringland. I was swept away by this triumphant and luminous story' Myfanwy Jones, Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlisted author for Leap

'Nobody writes about the pain of being alive more deftly than Holly Ringland. She brings such empathy to the topics of grief, love, family conflict and loss. Some of her sentences took my breath away, and I found myself madly flicking pages, days later, to find them again for safekeeping. Astonishing in its scope, detail and sensitivity, The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding is tender, magical, epic, funny and devastating. This is a very special writer at her best' - Kate Leaver, author of The Friendship Cure

©2022 Holly Ringland (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Loved it

I loved this book so much, it does such a great job of complicated grief. It was so nice to have an Australian perspective and voice on this. Fantastic job all round. No spoilers in my review.

Emotional journey

I struggled with the main character for the first 20 chapters. Her insecurities and self-destructive behavior make her difficult to like.
However it is worth persevering as the story unfolds with all its imagery and folklore and cross cultural blends and we meet some truly lovely characters with stories who bring out the history that surrounds the grief held by so many in the story.
In the end I didn’t want it to finish.

A beautifully written, multifaceted story

Beautifully read & I’m very glad I listened rather than tried to read the book as I’m sure trying to pronounce many of the words would have done my head in.
It took me most of the book to warm to the main character, Esther and I’m still not sure whether I like her or not.
This is not a book to be read quickly but a book to savour the words, descriptions and stories. I did enjoy the fables and fairytales.
Overall I did enjoy it