Book Review: The Mermaid by Christina Henry

Title: The Mermaid

Author: Christina Henry
Publisher: Titan Books
Release Date: 19 June 2018

Synopsis: Once there was a mermaid called Amelia who could never be content in the sea, a mermaid who longed to know all the world and all its wonders, and so she came to live on land. Once there was a man called P. T. Barnum, a man who longed to make his fortune by selling the wondrous and miraculous, and there is nothing more miraculous than a real mermaid. Amelia agrees to play the mermaid for Barnum and walk among men in their world, believing she can leave anytime she likes. But Barnum has never given up a money-making scheme in his life, and he's determined to hold on to his mermaid. 

Review: So we all saw The Greatest Showman. It was big and brash, full of colour and costume and we're all still singing the songs. For me it lacked a depth of plot. It didn't peal back the layers that it glossed over the with song only hinting at darker undertones. 

Thankfully this is not that story. Barnum has and continues to be presented in numerous lights. He himself rebuilt his portrayal through his autobiographies many many times... the ring master of his own story. With such a character you have a lot to play with, and you have to choose which way you see him. Henry has taken an idea of him, one side (a side that I believe to be more truth than fiction) of his personality and built her world around that.

Compared to her previous novels Alice or Lost Boys, The Mermaid is more of a subtle turn, but in this lies its power. Henry's stories for me are about people, the choices they make and the consequences of their actions. Here we strip back the fairytale and the fantastical and bring that  drama through in reality. Barnum, Levi and the incident with the Feejee mermaid all happened. And Barnum for his sins made some choices

He is painted as the villian and put against the rest of the characters, and I didn't like him, AT ALL.  All i could see with him was $$$ in his eyes...but at the same time I understood it. He was built, self built, on drive and determination. He was extremely driven and as with an extremism that sometimes pushes you over the edge to a point where there is no going back. He had become the centre of his own world, warped around how much money he was making and how to make the next cent. When you're this focused the world around you becomes a byproduct and a passing feature than a necessity. Everyone and everything is a commodity.  He is also driven by his failure, he'd be humbugged and was a humbug to other and we've all been there. No one wants to be remembered by their failures and his only adds to his drive. 


And then you have Amelia....oh Amelia. The complete opposite to Barnum, a creature in her own right, not of the fantastical mermaid visions of beauty that we perpetuate ( this isn't the novelisation of Splash) but a creature of the Sea, and she's not here to take any of Barnums BS.

AND. I . WAS. HERE. FOR. IT 

Amelia really knew herself, what she thought what she was willing and not willing to do, but with this guard up. The story opens with this beautiful, almost lyrical tale of a mermaid falling in love with a man, and the cruelty of the sea which store them apart (minute spoiler sorry not sorry). Like any heartbreak this builds a wall, a wall which only we can breakdown ourselves. Also as a creature of the sea Amelia has to learn to adapt to new environments and really look at what she was willing to compromise for in life. This allowed us to see her more vulnerable, more open side and it was a nice play on these hard and soft edges. 

If you to really pick apart the book you'd see there were a lot of different themes layered themes explored. Ideas of humanity and what really makes someone human, what rights we afford people and the rights and role of women. This last one was the one that jarred me. The book is full of strong mindful women ( I especially loved Caroline), but is it set in a time when the role of a woman was to be the support of her husband, and this was the one theme where Levi really P***ed me off, because he became such a man of his time! Reducing the role of Amelia to what HE thought was best. He had been a great warm character to that point and it really struck me. But his character was redeemable and he was willing to be redeemed and to try and change. Barnum take notes.

When I started this book I wasn't sure what to expect, but i was really happy with the journey I went on, and I'm brought back to the times when I used to pretend I was in Splash and had a merman tail...ONE DAY!!! I'm excited for more adventures to come from Christina henry!