Hannah is the story about the title character, who is an orphan living in 1899 in Boston. Hannah discovers that she seems to have an affinity to the sea and becomes ill when she is not near it. Eventually, Hannah goes to work as a servant for a rich family. The eldest daughter, Lila, comes to despise Hannah for her beauty and for taking the attention of an attractive painter whom they both fancy. In the end, Hannah learns the (somewhat obvious) nature of her love of the sea.This was not the best read I've encountered.
The language and overall writing quality was fine, but the story and the characters were completely lackluster. The budding romance between Hannah and the painter is a bit jarring as there is little cause and build up. It's clear that the author is trying to make the couple come off as a drawn to each other via that supernatural connection of two souls from a similar place. This sort of connection can work in some instances, but sadly, it does not come across well enough in this book. Similarly, there is little explaination behind the books main antagonist, Lila's motivation. She is simply chalked up to being just "evil" and/or "crazy" with little explaination given. Her actions come across as unmotivated and confusing as a result. The story also doesn't seem to have a full conclusion. The ending is more like the end of a chapter and not the end of a book, even for a series, which I believe it is planned to be. There is little to pull the reader from chapter to chapter. It comes off as flat and confusing, in the end.
It wasn't porrly written, just poorly executed. If more books come in the series, I will not read them because the story and the character do not capture my interest.