Ep 78: Motherhood, Identity and Reclaiming Your Wildness: Lauren Keegan on The Woman in the Seal Skin

What happens to the parts of ourselves we put aside when we become who everyone else needs us to be? In this episode of Between The Lines, Leanne is joined by author and psychologist Lauren Keegan to discuss her haunting historical novel, The Woman in the Seal Skin. Set on the remote Orkney Islands in 1695, the novel follows Mali, a young woman raised on stories of selkies: shape-shifting women who shed their seal skins to walk on land. Mali has always done what is expected of her. Now married and expecting her first child, her life appears safe and predictable. But beneath it all is a yearning for the sea and for a part of herself she has never been allowed to fully know. Lauren shares how traditional selkie folklore inspired the novel, particularly the story of a woman whose seal skin is stolen, trapping her on land as a wife and mother until she eventually reclaims it and returns to the sea. From there, our conversation explores something that will feel familiar to many women: the tension between loving the people and roles in our lives and still yearning for something that belongs entirely to ourselves. We talk about motherhood and identity, the judgement placed on women who pursue their own needs, and why having something that brings us back to ourselves can be so important. We also explore the darker side of folklore. Who gets to tell the story? Who benefits from the version that survives? And what happens when stories about women are used to frighten them, control them or keep them small? In this episode we discuss: The selkie folklore that inspired The Woman in the Seal Skin Why Lauren chose Orkney in 1695 as the setting Motherhood and the yearning to retain a sense of self The impossible judgement women can face whether they prioritise their children or themselves Why our passions don't need to serve anyone else to be worthwhile Female oppression, violence and the ways stories can be used to control women How folklore can help communities explain loss, tragedy and things they don't understand The sea as a metaphor for emotion, thought, freedom and wildness Bessie as an outsider, healer and woman who has embraced her own wildness Lauren's work as a psychologist in perinatal and infant mental health and how her interest in women's experiences connects with her writing The relationship between nature, folklore and human experience across Lauren's novels This is a beautiful conversation about motherhood, identity and the parts of ourselves that continue calling to us, even when life has taught us to keep them quiet.