Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon – Book Review

Mar 282011

Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon
Published by Broadway, an imprint of Random House

Locked away in a convent by her father, Princess Margarethe is bored and feels overly sheltered. She knows her father is simply trying to keep her safe, as threat of war looms with the Southern Kingdom, but she longs for freedom, for adventure. Under the sea another princess, her mermaid complement, Lenia longs for adventure as well. She is lured by the promise of new things above the sea. On her birthday, Lenia takes a trip to the surface in the midst of a raging storm and comes across a ship breaking apart. After seeing many men die beneath the waves, she sees the man she has fixated on fall into the water and becomes determined to save him. Lenia pulls the man safety on the beach by Margarethe’s convent, summoning Margarethe down from the towers to summon help for the man.

Tending to the man, Margarethe begins to fall in love, just as Lenia did when she saw him on the boat. It turns out, however, that the man is actually Prince Christian of the Southern Kingdom. Margarethe’s father is preparing even more for war now, believing, or choosing to believe, that Christian was near her convent for purposes of war. Margarethe believes she must marry Christian to spare her country the pain of additional years of warfare. Meanwhile, Lenia has given up her voice and life with her family under the sea to become human in an attempt to win Christian’s love, setting the two women in competition with one another. One for her soul, the other for the souls of her people.

Like the original fairy tale, Mermaid is a darkly beautiful story. Perhaps the thing that impressed me the most was the relationship between Margarethe and Lenia. Before becoming competitors for Christian’s love they shared an understanding and a deep connection. The fact that Turgeon tore my heart between Margarethe and Lenia, that I couldn’t decide whether I was rooting for the title character or the woman whose entire country depended on her, is a testament to the empathy of her writing style. For such a short book, Mermaid packed an emotional punch.

Recommended.

I read “Mermaid” in preparation for the most recent episode of our podcast, What’s Old is New, this one on fairy tales.

Buy this book from:
Powells |Indiebound

Source: author.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Fairy Tales – What’s Old is New

Feb 012011

Well, our show on Jane Eyre is officially live, and we’re ready for the hate mail to come rolling in (please leave it at oldisnewpodcast(at)gmail.com or attached to the show notes for the podcast, not here).

Now that that is taken care of, Nicole and I are turning our attention to fairy tales!

We’ve been gathering literary criticism, original fairy tales, and retellings. I have a whole shelf full already, including these:

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I would love to know more about some of your favorite fairy tales, your favorite retellings, or your favorite fairy tale analysis.

Oh, and if you would like to read fairy tales along with us, feel free to grab our button:

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Tale of Two Cities Readalong: The Marrying of Many Projects

Jan 062011

5323907481 ca5ef72243 m picture As you may know, Nicole and I have about a million projects going on together. We have finally come up with one thing that incorporates all of the big ones: a “A Tale of Two Cities” readalong.

Before you ask, we did NOT get the idea from Oprah. We have been talking for about six months or so about reading Dickens as it would have been read at publication: in installments. So, when we decided to participate in the list swap challenge together, it didn’t take us long to choose “A Tale of Two Cities” as the book we wanted to read together.

“A Tale of Two Cities” is actually a very appropriate choice for Nicole and I, because we are both devoting a fairly significant portion of our reading time right now reading classics and the works they have inspired for our podcast, What’s Old is New. In this case, what is old is still sort of old, since we are reading the original way, but we will still be discussing each installment on the Tumblr as we go. Installments begin on Saturdays, and there will be a discussion post up by Monday or Tuesday for others to join in as they read along.

5256159881 7ba9c432e6 m picture Then, as a culminating discussion for everyone who reads “A Tale of Two Cities” in the first part of this year, whether they read in installments with us or not, we will be discussing the book on Nicole’s blog as our August edition of BOOK CLUB.

We hope you will consider joining us. If you would like to see the complete schedule at the What’s Old is New Tumblr. Actually, if you think that you might ever want to read “A Tale of Two Cities” in installments, I suggest you check out the post, because it was much more difficult than we would have thought to get a schedule of which chapters belong together, and we are happy to have made it easier for others to figure out.

What’s Old is New – Jane Eyre

Dec 012010

5136398775 acf7ccb29b m picture For those of you who missed the earlier announcement, I have been working on a new podcast project with Nicole called What’s Old is New where we look at enduring works of classic literature. One way we measure that a classic has endured, and one thing we talk about on the blog, is if it informs modern works of literature, whether they are reinterpretations, or whether they simply take inspiration from the original. Our first episode covered Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” and we’re currently finishing up a show on “Sherlock Holmes,” which will be live on December 13th.

Next up, “Jane Eyre!”

I’ve got some great historical fiction about Charlotte Bronte lined up, plus a reread of “The Thirteenth Tale,” (and “Jane Eyre” itself, of course) but if you have any must reads on “Jane Eyre,” let me know! I’m interested in historical fiction, reimaginings, or really interesting lit crit.

Get in touch with me here or on the What’s Old is New tumblr. Email, comments, anything goes!

The Sunday Salon – Did I Tell You…?

Nov 142010

Oh my friends, I have a bunch of things that I’ve been meaning to tell you and keep failing to do so.

5136398775 acf7ccb29b m picture The first thing I’m way late on sharing – over two weeks late, actually. That thing is a new podcast I am doing with Nicole from Linus’ Blanket. Called “What’s Old is New,” this podcast is a chance for Nicole and I to explore classic literature and the reinterpretations of that literature by modern authors. For example, in our first podcast we covered “Frankenstein” and chatted with Joanne Rendell, author of “Out of the Shadows,” then talked about some other Frankenstein-inspired works. Actually, we could use your help (besides listening to the podcast, which we hope you will). If you are aware of any upcoming reimaginings of classic literature coming up in the first half of 2011, please pop over to our latest post and let us know for a preview show we’re currently putting together.

5174265903 600952d5c4 m picture The next thing I wanted to mention is the return of Thankfully Reading Weekend. Thankfully Reading is a very low-key event. Just read as much or as little as you are able over Thanksgiving weekend. You can post about your progress as many or as few times as you desire, use this time to catch up on challenges and review commitments or relax and pick up that book you’ve been dying to read. Just read what you can and be thankful! Although it is only Thanksgiving weekend in the US, everyone the world over is welcomed to this event with open arms. The main festivities will occur over at Jenn’s Bookshelves, where you can indicate your interest in joining on a Mr. Linky. Candace from Beth Fish Reads and I will both have things going on on our blogs as well, but you’ll have to pop back that weekend to see what is happening!

Whew! Now that I’ve shared those things, I can talk about my reading week. I was sort of surprised to find that I’d finished 4 books, because it seemed during the week that my reading was going incredibly slowly. Part of that is that we had people coming over Friday and spent most of Thursday evening running errands and getting ready for our company, so I didn’t read much either of those nights until late. But when I realize that I fell asleep at 7:30 on Wednesday and 8:30 on Saturday, four books (including one audio) suddenly seems like a pretty good accomplishment. Anyway, here’s what I got through:

Print:

Audio:

You’ll see “The Red Thread” and “The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove” coming back next week in reviews. Speaking of reviews, here’s what I posted last week (covers link to reviews):

I also had a great guest post titled ‘Books Guaranteed To Put Me To Sleep” from Lauren Grodstein, author of the fabulous “A Friend of the Family.” All of you who have trouble sleeping should check it out.