Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon

*** courtesy of Random House

Synopsis

In Turgeon's surprisingly dark retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, two women pine for the affections of a prince: mermaid Lenia, who pulls Prince Christopher from the sea, and Margrethe, the princess of the rival kingdom, who witnesses the rescue from the convent where she hides from the war raging between their two kingdoms. Lenia, who falls instantly in love with the prince, sacrifices the sea, her voice, and her health to be with him on dry land. Meanwhile, Margrethe believes that marrying the prince would unite their kingdoms, but when she arrives to arrange it, she finds him already enraptured with Lenia. While he remains unaware that the girl he loves is also the mermaid who saved him, Margrethe recognizes her rival immediately and puts into motion a plan to send the ailing mermaid back to the sea and save her own ravaged kingdom. Turgeon has done a superb job of creating compelling characters and conflict from a story already familiar to readers.

My Review Comments:

This is a summer beach read for anyone that wants to escape into a classic twist of a fairytale style book. I really enjoyed the concept of two different worlds colliding. This book is told from the dual perspectives of Princess Margrethe and Mermaid Princess Lenia. In this way she is able to place you right into the emotions of both of the main characters and truly see things from their perspectives regarding Prince Christopher. It is magical in the description of life under the sea and life above land. As all fairy tales do, this one has a moral. You will learn the pitfalls of selfishness and the virtue of selflessness. There is also an element of spiritually concerning souls and afterlife. If you grew up reading Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales as I did, you will love the adult version by this author.