Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch is a novel written by Serena Valentino the writer of Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen and The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince. Based on The Little Mermaid, it serves as a backstory for Ursula the Sea Witch and explains her past, her relationship with King Triton, her place in the kingdom of Atlantica, and what caused her to be banished from there as well as the events that led to her demise.
It was released on July 26, 2016.
Plot[]
The Odd Sisters' sister, Circe, has left them in the wake of their treatment of the Beast in the previous novel, and to find her again, they summon the sea witch Ursula for help. Ursula agrees, for a price, and decides to tell them her own story.
Ursula was found as a young girl by a fisherman, clutching a piece of driftwood in the sea. The fisherman took her in in his town of Ipswich and raised her as her own. As the girl grew older, she began feeling a call to the sea. When she finally entered it, she transformed into her tentacled form. The townspeople attempted to burn her at the stake. Her father intervened, freeing her, but was killed by the townspeople as she escaped. Some time later, she returned to Ipswich a powerful witch and destroyed the town, turning the inhabitants into her seaborne minions. At this time the merman king Triton appeared to her, revealing that she was his long-lost sister. He took her to court, but demanded that she not use her true form, but instead that of a proper mermaid. The two often clashed, and Ursula learned that after their parents' death Triton only sought her out because, in order to take the throne, he had to prove that she was either dead or unworthy. Ursula was eventually driven out of court, and now seeks revenge. She has discovered that Triton's youngest daughter, Ariel, is in love with a human prince, despite the fact that Triton famously despises humans. Ursula and the witches conspire to turn Ariel into a human to gain the love of her prince, and then destroy her.
At Morningstar Castle, Princess Tulip receives a surprise gift: Pflanze, the cat she knew from the Beast's court, but who, unbeknownst to her, belongs to the Odd Sisters, and is there searching for Circe.
unfinished...
Characters[]
- Ursula
- King Triton
- Lucinda, Ruby, and Martha
- Pflanze
- Circe
Trivia[]
- The dust jacket stated that this was supposed to be the final book in the series. However the ending heavily implied that another book would be released and focus on Maleficent. This was later confirmed.
Gallery[]
