Between Two Seas, by Marie-Louise Jensen

After the raving success of The Lady in the Tower, I ordered a used and battered copy of Between Two Seas from Amazon for 79 cents. I hadn't read anything in over a week?! and this was my 'come back' book.

Between Two Seas, by Marie-Louise Jensen
Young Adult, 2008

Publisher's Description:
'Travel to Skagen and find him. Give him my letter. Seek a better life, Marianne! Promise!'
Bound by a vow made to her dying mother, Marianne sells her few belongings and leaves Grimsby. Her destination? Denmark, where she will search for her father, Lars Christensen-the golden-haired fisherman her mother fell in love with many years before.
The journey will be long-and dangerous for a young girl traveling alone. As Marianne boards the fishing boat that will carry her across the North Sea, she wonders: will Denmark be the fairy-tale land she has dreamt of? Will she find happiness there? Will the father she has never met welcome the arrival of his illegitimate child?
And why didn't he return for her mother, as he promised he would?

This one continues to carry the motif of 'escape' and adventure, although it is a completely different story from Lady in the Tower. Marianne travels to Denmark, alone and with surprising confidence and will for someone who has grown up poor and looked down on. Jensen's heroines seem to possess remarkable strength - girls who really stand up for themselves and are comfortable with who they are. Marianne does have some things to settle, like the mystery of her absentee father, but the small town she lands in works for her, and instead of whining and complaining she figures things out bit by bit. The romance is cute, although quick - I'm not a huge fan of love at first sight, but it worked out alright. I think the thing that made me rear back a bit was the climactic scene at the end with...well, I don't want to spoil it for you. I just felt that this kind of character with her strength and growth from the past year would be a more forgiving person - even if it was just being too tired to stay upset anymore.
At any rate, it was an enjoyable read, an excellent addition to my shelves.
Graded a B+.

I am eagerly waiting the opportunity to read Daughter of Fire and Ice - it's plot sounds similar to the only Napoli book I like - Hush, and of course I'm delighted to know Jensen is still publishing and that Sigrun's Secret will be out early this next year.