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fairybadattitude 's review for:
The Mermaid
by Christina Henry
3.5
Although Henry states in her afterword that this is not a historically accurate representation of P.T. Barnum, I think her Barnum is more historical than the music man portrayed by Hugh Jackman. He's greedy, narcissistic, and ego-maniacal, without much thought for his wife, children, or the people he "hires."
The story of Amelia is emotionally fraught, particularly the first chapter. That first chapter broke. My. Heart. This is not really a "happy" story, but it is a beautiful story: about self-acceptance; about accepting others for who they are, not who we want them to be; and about the beauty there is in being different. And also about the beauty in being yourself only for yourself.
Something I loved about this book that has absolutely nothing do with the story is its design. I love the woodcut style of the cover and I loved, loved the feel of it in my hand. The paperback version, which I read, is squatter than a normal novel, so it was almost square rather than rectangular. For some reason, that appealed to me greatly. The first few times I opened it, I marveled over the smaller dimensions. I'm a sucker for things that make me notice their GOOD design.
Although Henry states in her afterword that this is not a historically accurate representation of P.T. Barnum, I think her Barnum is more historical than the music man portrayed by Hugh Jackman. He's greedy, narcissistic, and ego-maniacal, without much thought for his wife, children, or the people he "hires."
The story of Amelia is emotionally fraught, particularly the first chapter. That first chapter broke. My. Heart. This is not really a "happy" story, but it is a beautiful story: about self-acceptance; about accepting others for who they are, not who we want them to be; and about the beauty there is in being different. And also about the beauty in being yourself only for yourself.
Something I loved about this book that has absolutely nothing do with the story is its design. I love the woodcut style of the cover and I loved, loved the feel of it in my hand. The paperback version, which I read, is squatter than a normal novel, so it was almost square rather than rectangular. For some reason, that appealed to me greatly. The first few times I opened it, I marveled over the smaller dimensions. I'm a sucker for things that make me notice their GOOD design.