Book Title: Mermother
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 191
Author: Elizabeth Jane Wolfe
Date Published: 28 March 2013
A young woman explores the ancient mysteries of the sea in an unforgettable adventure of friendship and family. Escaping from an abusive past, she finds solace in an underwater world full of beauty, wealth, and power. Discover how her life is transformed as she struggles to find true love in a world that forbids it.
This novel has been published as a fundraiser for the International Ocean Institute.
Review:
Mermother: An Account of What Happened in the Sea by Elizabeth Jane WolfeMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I received a complimentary print copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review in 2013. Unfortunately, due to my rather large reading list, I haven't been able to read it until recently.
This is an intriguing fictional novella. I enjoyed it.
Briony is an intriguing character. I really wanted to like her, but found her to be a little selfish and immature at times to say she's twenty-five years old. After an accident at sea (or was it?) she wakes up in a tide pool, where she finds herself embarking on an amazing adventure. I struggled to understand why she didn't panic at waking in a strange place. My first thought was "Was she drugged?". My second thought was "Who would lie content in a tide pool for hours/days on end without turning into a wrinkly prune?". There she meets Sylvie, a young mermaid and her life will never be the same again.
I started to read this story and quickly became intrigued with the storyline, which was completely different to a typical romance, which is what I was expecting.
I have always been fascinated by the idea of merpeople ever since watching a stop animation tale about The Little Mermaid at school. However, the mermaids in this story are not exactly all goodness and light. They are mostly all females who use their talents to lure ships onto rocks to wreck them and to gain more riches. I did say they were mostly female, but there is one male called Trayo, who is considered a "mistake" by the female mers. I would have liked to have seen more of Trayo, as I think he must be terribly lonely. He protects the females that have the potential to be "mermothers". In other words, human women who, for whatever reason (be it accidental or on purpose) find themselves living in the sea like the mers due to a change in their DNA. This is where I had trouble suspending my disbelief. Nevertheless, I was intrigued and kept reading.
I love the romance angle of this story, where Briony meets Damien and they fall in love. However, I was not so happy with the way the author had the mers forcing Briony to find someone to procreate with in order to increase the mer numbers. I can understand the biological imperative to have babies (I am a female after all), but just because you can't yourself carry a child shouldn't mean that you can force others to do so. I get their mentality, but doesn't mean I liked it. I was also slightly disappointed with the ending, so I do not think I will be continuing this series. Unfortunately, this book was not exactly my cup of tea even though I enjoyed it. Other readers may have a different opinion, so I will leave it up to you to decide for yourselves.
Elizabeth Jane Wolfe has written an intriguing tale that kept me entertained. I enjoyed her fast paced writing style and it flowed wonderfully. This is her debut novella.
There are no scenes of a sensual nature although it's intimated so teens could read it with no problem. I recommend this book to readers who love literary fiction/fantasy genres. - Lynn Worton
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About The Author:
Writing my own novel has given me a lot of insight into how much work is involved and I am now in awe of the fearsome talent some authors possess. I believe that everyone has a powerful story inside them and we can never have too many books. If you'd like to hear about my experiences with writing my first novel, I'm happy to share!
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