Still Waters, Deep (Between Hill and Sea) by Morgan Sheppard
- Debbie
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
@MorganSheppardAuthor @debbiereadsbooks
@morganjsheppard @debbiereadsbook
They say the lake answers when the moon burns blue.
In the shadowed water of Llyn Du, hydrologist Talise Calder comes searching for scientific truth—and finds a man shaped from water, memory, and an ancient sorrow. When a red thread of fate binds them together, a quiet, aching love begins to surface.
But the lake does not remain still. As its waters rise and old vows stir beneath the surface, Talise is drawn into a bond that defies time and asks for sacrifice, yet never demands what love should not freely give.
To choose him is to step into a destiny woven by Ariandwyn, the ancient goddess who waits between hill and sea and remembers every promise spoken at the water’s edge.
Tender and haunting, Still Waters, Deep is a standalone novel in the Between Hill and Sea series, steeped in Welsh folklore—where love is gentle, magic is old, and the waters remember every name.
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4 out of 5 (very good)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This is the first in a new series by Ms Sheppard, and it reads a little bit different to her other books.
Seren is an archivist, and Talise is a hydrologist. Catrin wrote about the water of Llyn Du over 100 years ago, before she disappeared, and now all three ladies are entwined by a red thread of fate.
It took time for the threads to weave, and as such, I didn't know where it was all going for a long time. It meant I had to slow down my reading and concentrate really hard, which in turn meant it took me longer to read. Not a bad thing, just needs a comment, cos Book Feelings are important!
I enjoyed that Seren and Talise have a voice, and Eifion doesn't. I think if he had, the water might have muddled a bit (see what I did there?) between Catrin and Talise, around the lake and what was happening to Talise and what had happened to Catrin.
It's full of Ms Sheppard's signature Welsh myths and legends. There is a bit at the end that talks about Llyn Du and the red thread of fate. I didn't read it, but some might find it helpful.
It's also full of descriptive passages that you can actually feel. You can feel how the lake reacts to Talise. You can feel how heavy the bell is, how Talise can feel it in her bones. You can feel how Seren reacts to the red thread, so far away from the lake. I love these passages, the way Ms Sheppard writes them. They come across so beautifully, so emotionally, so real.
There is no violence, and no smex. And I loved that there isn't!
Like I said, first in a new series, all connected by that red thread of fate, Welsh myths and nothing more. I look forward to reading what comes next!
4 very VERY good stars
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Thank you for spending time in these pages, and for walking the water’s edge with me.
Still Waters, Deep is the first book in the Between Hill and Sea series. Each story in this collection stands alone, connected more by place, atmosphere, and the quiet thread of folklore than by plot. They are not intended to be read in any particular order, but rather discovered as you might discover stories themselves, by chance, by curiosity, or by need.
I began writing this series out of a simple, persistent feeling: that there are so many fairytales in the world, and yet not all of them are widely known. Welsh folklore, in particular, holds a depth and strangeness that has always felt both intimate and vast to me, rooted in landscape, memory, and something just beyond explanation. These are stories that deserve to be seen, heard, and carried forward.
This novel draws its inspiration from the tale of The Lady of Llyn y Fan Fach, one of the most enduring and evocative legends in Welsh folklore. The story was first recorded in the nineteenth century, most notably by William Rees, also known as Gwynionydd, in his 1853 collection Fairy Legends and Traditions of South Wales. Like many oral traditions, it almost certainly existed long before it was written down, shaped and reshaped by those who told it.
At its heart, the tale tells of a mysterious woman who emerges from a lake to marry a mortal man, bringing with her conditions that must not be broken. When those conditions are inevitably breached, she returns to the water, taking with her what she brought. The story is often associated with the Physicians of Myddfai, a lineage said to have received their healing knowledge from her, blending folklore with a sense of history and place.
Over time, the legend has been retold in many forms, adapted into literature, explored in folklore studies, and even reimagined in music and performance. Yet at its core, it remains a story about boundaries, between land and water, knowing and unknowing, love and loss.
This book is not a retelling, but a reflection. It is an attempt to listen to the echoes of that story and to follow where they might lead in a contemporary world, where science maps the surface, but something older still moves beneath it.
Thank you for reading, and for letting these waters hold you, if only for a little while.
Until next time…
Morgan
Morgan Sheppard is a British fantasy author now living in Germany, though she will freely admit that a piece of her heart has never quite left the hills and coastlines of Wales. Her writing is steeped in Welsh myth and legend — the old gods, the turning of the year, the stories that have been told in those mountains and along those shores for centuries — and readers have come to recognise that deep root in the ancient and the sacred as something distinctly her own. She writes fantasy that honours the world beneath the world, shaped by a reverence for the old ways and a genuine love for the myths that carry them forward. She pays attention to the world in the way that people do when they believe it is fuller and stranger than it first appears, and that attention finds its way onto every page.
When she is not writing, Morgan is an equally devoted reader, rarely found without a book somewhere nearby, and she is currently engaged in the noble struggle of learning German, a language she is approaching with great determination and moderate success. She can, by her own proud admission, reliably order ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’, and she considers that a solid foundation. Morgan lives with her family and considers herself very much a work in progress, in the best possible way.
Readers can sign up for her newsletter to receive a free copy of Disjointed Lives, a short story exploring friendship and toxic relationships:
Find Morgan across social media: https://linktr.ee/morgansheppard
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