In the Advantages of Age interview, Roffey is asked what her mermaid is a symbol of, and she responds, that they’re “the quintessential ‘other’, a chimera, the mermaid is womxn, as a symbol of the outsider, the outcast; often she has been blamed, shamed and exiled. My mermaid is a symbol of otherness, for sure.” I think their outsider or othered status is why Aycayia, Reggie, David, Arcadia, and Life are drawn to and can empathize with each other. I mean, it’s such a complex response to such a complex issue, right? For me this book was just amazing, this complex love story being shared about these two couples whose lives are intertwined. But that these relationships are both impacted by forces outside of their immediate impact and control, primarily the curse of those women centuries ago and the lingering impact of colonization, amongst other things.

Actually, when I think about it, we’ve looked at a number of books that grapple with the legacy of colonialism from all over the world, right? There was Insurrecto, which centered on American colonization of the Philippines and more recently Potiki, which talked about the displacement and cultural subordination of the Māori people by British settler colonists. And so, it was interesting to notice similar themes that have come up in these books or that have been pointed out to us by the writers. So for instance, the appearance of untranslated Waray in Insurrecto and te reo Māori in Potiki not only gives cultural texture to our reading experience, but I think it also symbolizes an act of resistance against colonialism.It has been a hugely affirming experience to make a contribution to this newly emerging contemporary cannon. I recently attended The Bocas Litfest in Trinidad and got to meet many of my peers, writers and poets from Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, and elsewhere … we all got to lay eyes on each other. There is a boom in writing coming from the Caribbean region and I’m part of it. It feels like a new era.

Rounded down from roughly 4.5 stars ⭐️ Going into this book I never expected I would love it as much as I did.

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There is the exploration of greed and what people will do get their hands on money. Throughout the book there is the ever presence of women and what happens when they own their sexuality. So much to talk about with this book, but overall a must read. Although it’s funny — I have to say that when I didn’t know anything about the book except for its title, I was a little skeptical that it would be something I’d enjoy. But then I saw the cover art by artist Harriet Shillito for the Peepal Tree edition. And so, it depicts how the Taino mermaid named Aycayia is described in the story: “something ancient … the face of a human woman who once lived centuries past”; “her tail … yards and yards of musty silver … She must weigh four or five hundred pounds”; her tattoos “looked like spirals, and the spirals looked like the moon and the sun,” she must have been “a woman from the tribes that lived in these islands when everything was still a garden.”

As Aycayia comes to understand her new body and the new world in which she is now living, David, the man who found and saved her, must deal with the fact that you can take the woman out of the ocean, but you can’t take the ocean out of the woman. And so a mythical adventure unwinds, wrapping us all in its spell. A searing blend of Caribbean magical realism and contemporary examination of misogyny and the reverberations of colonial oppression . . . Roffey’s fable is a moving love story, full of messy, glorious eroticism, but she also shines a light on the dangers of toxic masculinity, racial inequity and the difficulty of understanding our true natures.” —Connie Ogle, Star Tribune But her transformation is aborted, the curse prevails, and the community prepares to sell her to the Americans. As David and his friends form a protective guard around Aycayia, the god Huracan marshals all his forces to sweep her away. The departure of Roffey’s mermaid unleashes the elements – a warning to an over-heated world.Okay, anyone who knows me as a reader knows this book isn't going to be my cup of tea. I really don't like magical realism no matter how many awards the book has won.

The mermaid is a real character in the myth that we are all living in—a 400-year story where we think we can own or control one another, where power is currency, and where this delusion is driving us to a kind of Armageddon, that may be a requirement of rebirth.But no two readers are alike and perhaps you will enjoy this book more than I did. Here are some direct quotes to help you decide: