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Linus's assignment is to assess a special orphanage on the island of Marsyas. The master of the orphanage is a man named Arthur Parnassus. There are six children living in the orphanage there, one of whom is called "Lucy" (short for Lucifer), who is the Antichrist. Book review, full book summary and synopsis for The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune, a warm-hearted story about kids in an orphanage for magical creatures. "The House in the Cerulean Sea" is a beautiful fantasy story that begins with Linus Baker, a caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, who has just been assigned a top-secret case.
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Today, #thehouseintheceruleansea has over 3.9 million views on TikTok, over 22,000 dedicated posts on Instagram, and a staggering 4.45 average rating across over 292,000 reviews on Goodreads. As Matt Nathanson clearly addresses in his song, the only sane time to drive down it is at midnight when no one else is on it. Otherwise, at its worst, expect about 1 hour to travel 15 miles. That night, Lucy tells Linus that he doesn’t want him to leave them, but Linus responds that he has to leave because he has a job to do. After the kids go to sleep Linus walks downstairs to see Zoe and Arthur arguing.
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Mr. Werner expresses concern that Linus is being less objective about his observations than they had hoped. Furthermore, Mr. Werner suspects Linus is being charmed by Arthur and finally includes Arthur’s full file so that Linus can understand him better. He also encloses a key to the house’s cellar door “give you insight as to what Arthur Parnassus is truly capable of”. In Linus’s third report, he updates EUM on his thoughts about the isolation of the kids.
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In the village, Ms. Chapelwhite takes Linus to Merle the Ferryman , who then ferries him to the island and brusquely tells him to get out of the boat as soon as they arrive. An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place―and realizing that family is yours. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.
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Linus, a man accustomed to rules and structure and proper behavior, is wary of the children at first, but he begins to fall in love with them and their guardian as he spends more time on the island. There is romantic tension between Arthur and Linus, which Linus isn’t sure how to deal with. He also discovers that Arthur and Werner were in a romantic relationship, which explains Werner’s deep interest in the orphanage. There's also Zoe Chapelwhite, an undocumented, adult island sprite who has lived on the island since before the orphanage. She helps to take care of the children in an unofficial capacity. Linus is scared of the children at first, but soon sees that they act much like other kids.
Book Excerpt
It's far more about "found" family and speaking up for those who don't have a voice. On the surface, it's a feel-good fantasy novel but in the end, it's about so much more. The House in the Cerulean Sea is an enchanting love story, masterfully told, about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place―and realizing that family is yours. While they talk, it dawns on Linus that Ms. Chapelwhite is an island sprite (she’s barefoot, takes care of the island, etc.) which she reluctantly admits to. She’s also unapologetically unregistered (magical beings are supposed to be registered). Ms. Chapelwhite notes that the people of the village of Marsyas are not accepting of magical beings of any kind.
Arthur sees how those orphans get shuttled off into orphanages and schools and are essentially taken out of circulation. There are six children there, and they are “problematic”. The master in charge of the orphanage is named Arthur Parnassus, and Linus’s task is to ensure that Mr. Parnassus “continues to be capable of managing them” or if the orphanage should be shut down. The orphanage is located on the island and Linus is to spend one month there, starting tomorrow.
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He also includes a reminder that the Rules and Regulations are guidelines, rather than law and that they haven’t been updated since they were written decades ago. Linus says that he thinks Zoe helps Phee to have much more control over her powers. He also mentions that there’s documentation that Sal was physically abused prior to his arrival at Marsyas, and Linus wonders why that wasn’t in his file. As he talks about how all the kids have grown and improved, he attributes it all to Arthur’s stewardship of the orphanage. Around the halfway point of Linus’s month-long trip, Sal offers to let Linus see his room.
She looks like a young girl, though she is a forest sprite. Linus recalls that young sprites are more dangerous because they are not in control of their magic. When Linus inquires about Arthur Parnassus’s whereabouts, Talia says from 5 PM to 7 PM the kids do what they want while Arthur works with Lucy. The woman sent to fetch him eventually wakes him up, identifying herself as Ms. Zoe Chapelwhite, the Caretaker of Marsyas Island. As Ms. Chapelwhite drives them to the ferry, she explains that there’s nothing wrong with the children at the orphanage and that they’re not what he thinks. The next morning (on Thursday), Linus boards a train for Marsyas with Calliope in a crate.
Even so, they accept his recommendation that the home remain open. He quickly realizes that he is miserable and grieving the people he left behind, so he makes plans to return. First, though, he steals files from DICOMY to expose the abuses and failures he’s seen in his 17 years as a caseworker. Once he’s prepared and the orphanage is safe, Linus quits his job, packs his meager belongings, and returns to Marsyas Island. After the children hold a brief conference—and communicate a number of adorable demands—Linus is welcomed home. He and Arthur begin a romantic relationship and petition to adopt all six of the children officially.
Downstairs, the kids are gathered and they say that occasionally this happens and it causes their beds or the whole house to shake. He realizes that they are trying to convince him that Lucy is not dangerous, since they are afraid of what he’s going to write in their report. At the Marsyas train station, he waits to be picked up. He has with him files on all six children and Mr. Parnassus. He also has a letter outlining his assignment, along with a warning that he should lock all doors and windows at night for protection. As he browses the first child’s file, he sees a photo of a six-year-old boy, named Lucy.
Linus is chosen for his strict rule-following and thorough reports, so he's charged with investigating a peculiar foster home of magical children. I read this book for the first time in the early weeks of the pandemic, just after it was published, and found the sweet story to be a simply enjoyable read. I recently picked it up again to revisit the comfort of the magical house in the Cerulean Sea and fondly discovered once more why it comes so highly recommended by readers on TikTok. What it is, is touched on in this short but sweet song.
The book ends with an Epilogue in which the mayor of the town notifies them of an unregistered child in need of a home. The orphanage is located on Marsyas Island, isolated from civilization other than a small town on the mainland. It is populated by Arthur Parnassus, the children, and Zoe, an island sprite whose powers are tremendous and closely linked to the island. The town on the mainland is openly hostile towards magical beings, and relations between the townspeople and the orphanage are strained. This tension is exacerbated by the extremity of the children’s magical natures. One of the children, Lucy, is listed in his files as the Antichrist, or the son of the Devil.
At times I found it a little too black-and-white for my tastes, with saintly “good” characters, villainous “bad” characters and pretty much no one in-between. While sweet and upbeat, The House in the Cerulean Sea was lacking in dramatic tension for me, since it was always quite clear how the story would play out. When Linus goes to investigate, Arthur tells Linus that he grew up in a DICOMY orphanage and was abused. When he tried to ask the DICOMY for help, the master of the orphanage intercepted the letter and locked Arthur in the cellar. Arthur burned out cellar trying unsuccessfully to get out.
They get to Zoe’s house once again, and they have a party. Linus goes to Lucy’s room to see Arthur holding him, trying to beckon him a distressed Lucy out of his nightmare. Lucy is upset to see he has broken some of his favorite records. Linus offers to help fix them, and finally Arthur proses that they go to a record store in the village where they can replace them. On Tuesday, Calliope fancies a chase and runs off with Linus’s tie.
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