The Mermaid's Child - Hardcover

Baker, Jo

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 043401012X ISBN 13: 9780434010127

Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

Growing up motherless in an isolated community, Malin Reed has always been made to feel different from everybody else. The fact that, according to Malin's father, the absent mother was actually a mermaid only makes matters worse. When Malin's father dies, leaving behind nothing but his stories, Malin's choice at last becomes clear: stay, and never feel at home, or leave and go in search of mermaids and the fantastical inheritance that, up to now, has always seemed completely out of reach. Apprenticed to a series of strange and wonderful characters, Malin embarks on a picaresque journey that crosses oceans and continents - from the high seas to desert plains, from a time of slavery to life in a circus - until it finally leads to a discovery that is the very last thing Malin would ever have expected...Beautifully written and hauntingly strange, set in an unspecified historical past, The Mermaid's Child is a remarkable piece of storytelling, weaving together the fantastical and the inevitable through the power of the imagination.

About this title

Review:

Praise for Jo Baker:
"Baker is a novelist with a gift for intimate and atmospheric storytelling." --"Financial Times"
"Some writers let you know that you're in safe hands from the start, and Jo Baker is one of them." --"The Independent"

Praise for "The Mermaid's Child" and Jo Baker:
"Malin Reed, the tough, lonely, adventurous heroine of Jo Baker's novel, has never known her mother, but her dad insists she was a mermaid. . . .Baker's writing seduces as she recounts Malin's outlandish journey, which takes her from the crew of a slave ship, through the desert with a broken-down circus to becoming adrift in the ocean with an ancient scholar, all the while remaining on the lookout for a glimpse of her missing parent." "Oprah "Magazine
Like Sarah, the spirited maid at the heart of "Longbourn, " Malin is a strong, determined heroine who persists in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Readers won t have any difficulty rooting for her." "Booklist"
Baker is a novelist with a gift for intimate and atmospheric storytelling. "Financial Times"
"Some writers let you know that you're in safe hands from the start, and Jo Baker is one of them." "The Independent
""

Praise for The Mermaid's Child and Jo Baker:
"Malin Reed, the tough, lonely, adventurous heroine of Jo Baker's novel, has never known her mother, but her dad insists she was a mermaid. . . .Baker's writing seduces as she recounts Malin's outlandish journey, which takes her from the crew of a slave ship, through the desert with a broken-down circus to becoming adrift in the ocean with an ancient scholar, all the while remaining on the lookout for a glimpse of her missing parent." Oprah Magazine
Like Sarah, the spirited maid at the heart of Longbourn, Malin is a strong, determined heroine who persists in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Readers won t have any difficulty rooting for her." Booklist
Baker is a novelist with a gift for intimate and atmospheric storytelling. Financial Times
"Some writers let you know that you're in safe hands from the start, and Jo Baker is one of them." The Independent
"

From the Publisher:

The haunting and magical story of a young woman's search for her mother.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 043401012X
• ISBN 13: 9780434010127
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320