The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
In 1976, David is fishing off the island of Black Conch when he comes upon a creature he doesn’t expect: a mermaid by the name of Aycayia. Once a beautiful young woman, she was cursed by jealous wives to live in this form for the rest of her days. But after the mermaid is caught by American tourists, David rescues and hides her away in his home, finding that, once out of the water, she begins to transform back into a woman.
Now David must work to win Aycayia’s trust while she relearns what it is to be human, navigating not only her new body but also her relationship with others on the island — a difficult task after centuries of loneliness. As David and Aycayia grow to love each other, they juggle both the joys and the dangers of life on shore. But a lingering question remains: Will the former mermaid be able to escape her curse? Taking on many points of view, this mythical adventure tells the story of one woman’s return to land, her healing, and her survival.
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This book was so beautifully written that it was almost too sad to finish. I picked this as one of my reads while vacationing this year. I read it while staying at an Inn on the edge of a cliff right off the Atlantic Ocean and it felt like the perfect setting. Reading this book while exploring various beaches in PEI gave the perfect atmosphere to get lost in this heartbreaking story of love, hatred, betrayal, and perseverance. This book was a mix of written poetry, inner dialogue, and outward action. Even with the mix of style, it was easy to forget that you’re reading words on a page and felt like you were immersed in the story itself even as a witness on the sidelines. I really enjoyed this read, I just felt it ended too soon.
We start off from David’s point of view and throughout switch from him, to other islanders that are involved in the story as well as small snippets from Aycayia’s point of view as well. Her viewpoint is mostly through poetry and, in the style of poets, can be ambiguous and left up to many interpretations. I liked how we never truly knew her, it left us that magic and mystery about her and I truly enjoyed that. The dialect, at first taking me by surprise, found a way to flow so effortlessly. I felt like making the dialogue accurate to the dialect made it so much more realistic and immersive.
This story takes Taino legends and tells a wonderful story for the modern age. It teaches about the history of colonialism and its true cruel and gruesome impact on the indigenous peoples and how that trauma has been felt through generations. It portrays the history of women being turned against one another by men both in the past and in today’s day, and the ignorance and greed of the men who think anything they “discover” now belongs to them. I think it was an important story to tell. Though, from a woman author, I was surprised at how vulgar some parts of this book could be, I see the scenes included in this thread as necessary. It wasn’t for a glorification of the violence against women, it was a lesson in the greed of man.
Overall, I really loved this book. The story was beautiful and the characters were so interesting. I think it’s an important story to read and would fit in well with school curriculum’s. I did feel it ended too soon. I would have loved a bit more resolution and it felt pretty open ended. This may be to keep with the theme of the retelling of legends and myths? But it left me a little stunned near the last pages. I gave it 4 stars as it was an excellent read, I just selfishly wanted more.