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A review by julicke95
The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm still not sure about my thoughts about this book. I read through it relatively quickly. From the moment Aycayia was caught by the American fisherman I was hooked (excuse the pun). In a sense, this read like an adventurous story about a mermaid falling in love and trying to survive on land, complete with a somewhat bland love interest, a mysterious curse and a few one-dimensional villains.
What elevates this book is the style and the themes. Regarding the former, the switching perspectives and timelines, bits of verse and use of Creole parlance felt very natural and gave an interesting texture to an otherwise relatively straightforward story. When it comes to the themes, there were many (colonialism, loneliness, sexual liberation, womanhood), some more surface-level than others. I think that at heart, this book explored different types of liminality, the inbetween state of being half one thing and half another. Mermaids, par excellence, are liminal beings, half human and half animal, belonging to neither sea nor land. The curse that changes Aycayia to a mermaid is so effective, because it dooms her to be a stranger to either kingdom, forever lonely. She is an immortal creature, but doesn't belong to this time. She's also cursed to be a virgin (her sex organs are literally sealed inside her tail), yet she remains a subject and above all an object of sexual desire. This in-between state robs her of the ability to belong anywhere. And even when she sheds her tail and learns to "pass" as a human woman, she remains a stranger and cannot shake the scent of salt from her skin. She knows that she cannot belong on Black Conch with David, which would feel like a different kind of prison. This inability to belong anywhere is the source of her tragedy. Similarly, Arcadia Rain, a descendant of white colonialists with the speech and cultural sentiment of a local, feels trapped in her in-between state. She was the only other interesting character in this book to be honest. Her deaf son Reggie is in a similar in-between state, feeling like an outsider to the hearing people around him and not knowing anyone else like him. For them, as well as for David and Life, Aycayia is like a catalyst, someone who helps them to find some kind of home, whole keeping nothing for herself. A mermaid remains a tragic creature.
So, in the end, what is this book trying to say? Perhaps that it's impossible to belong anywhere without giving up some part of yourself and your freedom to roam. If, like the book says, 'men roam and women stay put', how can families ever stay together? It's remains a bit vague. Either way, it's a tragic story in many ways and a beautiful piece of Caribbean literature.
What elevates this book is the style and the themes. Regarding the former, the switching perspectives and timelines, bits of verse and use of Creole parlance felt very natural and gave an interesting texture to an otherwise relatively straightforward story. When it comes to the themes, there were many (colonialism, loneliness, sexual liberation, womanhood), some more surface-level than others. I think that at heart, this book explored different types of liminality, the inbetween state of being half one thing and half another. Mermaids, par excellence, are liminal beings, half human and half animal, belonging to neither sea nor land. The curse that changes Aycayia to a mermaid is so effective, because it dooms her to be a stranger to either kingdom, forever lonely. She is an immortal creature, but doesn't belong to this time. She's also cursed to be a virgin (her sex organs are literally sealed inside her tail), yet she remains a subject and above all an object of sexual desire. This in-between state robs her of the ability to belong anywhere. And even when she sheds her tail and learns to "pass" as a human woman, she remains a stranger and cannot shake the scent of salt from her skin. She knows that she cannot belong on Black Conch with David, which would feel like a different kind of prison. This inability to belong anywhere is the source of her tragedy. Similarly, Arcadia Rain, a descendant of white colonialists with the speech and cultural sentiment of a local, feels trapped in her in-between state. She was the only other interesting character in this book to be honest. Her deaf son Reggie is in a similar in-between state, feeling like an outsider to the hearing people around him and not knowing anyone else like him. For them, as well as for David and Life, Aycayia is like a catalyst, someone who helps them to find some kind of home, whole keeping nothing for herself. A mermaid remains a tragic creature.
So, in the end, what is this book trying to say? Perhaps that it's impossible to belong anywhere without giving up some part of yourself and your freedom to roam. If, like the book says, 'men roam and women stay put', how can families ever stay together? It's remains a bit vague. Either way, it's a tragic story in many ways and a beautiful piece of Caribbean literature.