Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon Reviewed

 When I first read Hans Christain Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid, I was very upset with the Little Mermaid’s fate. To me it was infuriating that she and the prince did not end up together. Especially after all she had done for him and all the pain, she had faced to be with him. The fact that he also believed the princess who found him on the beach was the one who saved him when the truth was it was the little mermaid herself made me boil with anger. As I grew older though I grew to appreciate the tale more but began asking myself a few questions about it. Who was this human princess? Did she see the mermaid when she brought the prince to the beach? If so, did she ever consider revealing the truth to the prince? In the Disney movie the princesses is replaced with Vanessa the sea witch Ursula’s alter ego and thus is made into a villain. But the princess doesn’t seem evil in the original. In fact, she seems ignorant of the mermaid being the one who brought the prince to shore. These questions can thankfully be resolved in retellings of this fairy tale. I will discuss a few of these tales that give the princess a backstory as well as much more character development. Today I will start with Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon the book that I would argue does the best job of with fleshing out both the princess and the mermaid. I will also be reviewing other retellings with this similar theme in the future. Warning early book spoilers.  

Margreth is a princess of the North Kingdom who is sent by her father to a convent to protect her from the supposed threat of the Southern kingdom. Both kingdoms were once one country but are now divided with only a shaky peace after a long bloody war. One day Margreth is standing outside looking at the raging sea when she sees a mermaid come to shore with a wounded man in her arms. The mermaid beckons Margreth to go to him and save his life before disappearing back into the water. Thanks to the help of the other nuns the man's life is saved but it is then revealed that he is from the southern kingdom. Despite this Margreth falls head over heels in love with him. The man believes she is the one who saved him and before departing thanks her with all his heart. Meanwhile the youngest daughter of the mermaid sea queen Lenia has always dreamed of visiting the world above. On her eighteenth birthday she is allowed to visit it for one day before and never return afterwards. She goes up to the surface and ends up witnessing a violent storm where she sees a man drown from a sinking ship. Horrified at what she sees and noticing another man struggling to cling to life Lenia comes to his rescue. Bringing him to shore she is so enthralled by the man that she kisses him and cannot get him out of her head upon returning home. Both princesses struggle with the fact that they can never be with the man they love. However, one day Margreth’s father Eric storms the convent revealing that the man who they had saved was none other than Prince Christopher from the Southern kingdom. Seeing this as an opportunity to restart the war he brings Margreth home and begins to rally his soldiers. Margreth tries in vain to tell her father that prince Christopher did not know who she was but her pleas to avoid war fall on deaf ears. Finally, Margreth decides to take matters into her own hands and secretly sends a letter to the Southern king asking to marry Christopher and thus join their kingdoms together without further bloodshed. The King agrees and she secretly travels there to bring back peace to both kingdoms. Meanwhile Lenia unable to stop thinking of the prince goes to the sea witch Sybil in order to become human. Sybil warns her to do so she will feel terrible pain in her feet like she would be walking on knives. She will never be able to return to the sea and if the prince married someone else then she would turn to sea foam the morning after the wedding. Last of all she must give up the part of her she prized the most, her beautiful voice by having her tongue cut off. Lenia agrees to all this and soon sees the prince again who is immediately smitten with her. But what will happen when Margareth arrives? Who will end up with the prince? And what consequences will their actions have that will change their lives forever? 

This book is so beautifully written. It fits the tone of the Hans Christen Anderson’s Little Mermaid while making some changes to its story later down the line. While it could be argued that both stories are too similar, and Carolyn Turgeon could have added a few more story changes I personally don’t think that was necessary. This book is so good it doesn’t need to be changed. And there a few plot twists that I didn’t mention above that helped deviate it enough from its source.  

Margareth and Lenia are such wonderful characters. Unlike in the original story Margareth meets Lenia after the prince leaves the convent and the two bond over him. Margareth believes Lenia brought him to her for a reason and doesn’t realize that Lenia harbors just as strong feelings of love for him as she does. The two strike up a friendship that while tested over time is so well written that it made a big impression on me. Prince Christopher wasn't as likable however I understand why the author took that approach and honestly it works well with the story. You must read it to understand what I mean so I will say no more than that. But the character I was probably the most interested in is the sea witch Sybil. There is an air of mystery to her that is never fully explained. She’s no villain but was instead banished because of a disagreement she had with a previous sea queen who wanted to break all contact with humans. Sybil strongly disagreed with the separation and was banished as a result. We don’t know much more about her but there is a hidden sadness about her that I wish could have been explored more. Lastly the only character I truly despised was Margareth’s father king Eric who was so bent on going to war that is rejuvenates him. Margareth mentions that she can’t remember her father being so excited or happy since before her mother passed away. It was honestly so disturbing. Thankfully you don’t see too much of him throughout the book, so I didn’t have to suffer reading about him for too long.  

Overall, this book was amazing! It’s a must read for anyone who loves mermaid books, or retellings of the little mermaid, or just fairy tale retellings in general. I recommend this book to the new adult crowd. You will absolutely love it. I give Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon five out of five stars. Until next time.