A modern-day expansion of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, this unforgettable debut novel weaves a spellbinding tale of magic and the power of love as a descendent of the original mermaid fights the terrible price of saving herself from a curse that has affected generations of women in her family.Kathleen has always been dramatic. She suffers from the bizarre malady of experiencing … the bizarre malady of experiencing stabbing pain in her feet. On her sixteenth birthday, she woke screaming from the sensation that her tongue had been cut out. No doctor can find a medical explanation for her pain, and even the most powerful drugs have proven useless. Only the touch of seawater can ease her pain, and just temporarily at that.
Now Kathleen is a twenty-five-year-old opera student in Boston and shows immense promise as a soprano. Her girlfriend Harry, a mezzo in the same program, worries endlessly about Kathleen’s phantom pain and obsession with the sea. Kathleen’s mother and grandmother both committed suicide as young women, and Harry worries they suffered from the same symptoms. When Kathleen suffers yet another dangerous breakdown, Harry convinces Kathleen to visit her hometown in Ireland to learn more about her family history.
In Ireland, they discover that the mystery—and the tragedy—of Kathleen’s family history is far older and stranger than they could have imagined. Kathleen’s fate seems sealed, and the only way out is a terrible choice between a mermaid’s two sirens—the sea, and her lover. But both choices mean death…
Haunting and lyrical, The Mermaid’s Daughter asks—how far we will go for those we love? And can the transformative power of music overcome a magic that has prevailed for generations?
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I loved this book more than I have loved a book in a long time, it is a unique twist on the classic little mermaid, it was just really really really great! I highly recommend this book!
I rarely read fantasy books, and I’m not sure why I purchased it in the first place. I really enjoyed it.
The author resolved the “curse” of generations of women in the only way possible given the setup. Although the ending works, it’s bittersweet . I’m glad I read it even though it’s not wholly happily ever after.
This was the best revamp of a fairytale I have ever read! I enjoyed her unique take on the story, and how she wove in elements of the Disney story but never left the dark twisted feel of the original too far behind. The resulting story was a blend of three stories, the original, the Disney, and her own.
I felt that she handled the “heavier” or more emotionally weighted elements of this story with great care and respect. Never making them a contrived moralistic plot device, which would have been easy to do.
I loved the way this book was written, how we got multiple character’s perspectives on the story. I think my favorite perspective was probably that of the Sea Witches, they were almost a Greek chorus stringing all the stories of all the mermaids’ daughters together.
The bonus story at the end was a nice touch. I liked how it closed the book and concluded the original story, looping it back in with the modern one.
I am not a big re-reader, but I have a feeling that I will be reading this novel again, probably this summer, and probably on the beach. (or in Ireland if I ever go for a visit)
This amazing stand-alone debut is reality with a twist of fantasy. What would happen if Hans Christian Anderson’s tale of The Little Mermaid was true? And what if the mermaid had a daughter, who had a daughter, who had a daughter.…to the point that no one remembered the origins of the family? Kathleen is the current descendent of the original mermaid, suffering the same curse that has destroyed all the women down her family line. She endures the same unbearable stabbing pain in her feet and the feeling that her tongue is being torn out; drugs can’t stop the pain, doctors can’t find an answer, and only the touch of seawater provides relief. Kathleen’s girlfriend convinces her to visit the family home in Ireland to find answers that might provide relief, and there they learn that her family history is far older and more mystical than they ever imagined. Kathleen seems doomed when she realizes that her only salvation is to fulfill the original curse – kill her lover and return to the sea. “Haunting and lyrical, The Mermaid’s Daughter asks—how far we will go for those we love? And can the transformative power of music overcome a magic that has prevailed for generations?” (Amazon Review)