Magical realism in 18th-century London Time may change hairstyles, clothing choices and speech patterns but the public's fascination with the notion of the existence of mermaids is eternal. And that is exactly what The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock is banking on to capture the imagination of the reader and oh my does this novel captivate and render 18th-century London in a whole new light at the same time. This is a story ready for the silver screen as we follow the series of meetings, unfortunate coincidences and an unlikely courtship surrounding the discovery of a shrivelled hideous creature that polite (and dubious) society is convinced is a mermaid child. Those earlier chapters building up to a proposal to deliver the impossible are what kept this intrigued reader turning the pages (especially the period details and believable dialogue) but the ending ventured one step too deep into the predictable fairytale realm that this story so brilliantly danced around for so long. On the other side of the coin, I must confess I couldn't put this novel down at the Bordello scenes and couldn't wait to find another chapter following the fascinating calculating Angelica Neal who is hunting for a new keeper to supply her with the finer things in life but at the same time fighting her own realizations that her facade is beginning to finally crack and the truth is slowly being revealed with each new line she sees in her looking glass. Her character and scenes had such tremendous depth and added an applaudable richness to the whole story and without giving any more away, I highly recommend The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock to those who want and still believe in something unexplained and dare I say, magical in a sense. With many thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss who sent me an advanced copy of The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock -EGP/November 2018 Comments are closed.
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