The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story: Costa Book of the Year 2020 - Softcover

Roffey, Monique

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184523457X ISBN 13: 9781845234577

Publisher: Peepal Tree Press Ltd, 2020

Synopsis

'Monique Roffey is a unique talent and most daring and versatile of writers' - Bernardine Evaristo

March 1976: St Constance, a tiny Caribbean village on the island of Black Conch. A fisherman sings to himself, waiting for a catch – but attracts a sea-dweller he doesn’t expect. A beautiful young woman cursed by jealous wives to live as a mermaid has been swimming the Caribbean Sea for centuries. And she is entranced by the fisherman and and his song.

But her fascination is her undoing. She hears his boat’s engine again, follows it, and finds herself at the mercy of American tourists. After a fearsome battle, she is pulled out of the sea and strung up on the dock as a trophy. The fisherman rescues her, and gently wins her trust – as she starts to transform into a woman.

About this title

About the Author

Monique Roffey is an award-winning Trinidadian-born British writer of novels, essays, a memoir and literary journalism. Her novels have been translated into five languages and shortlisted for several major awards and, in 2013, Archipelago won the OCM BOCAS Award for Caribbean Literature. With the Kisses of His Mouth and The Tryst are works which examine female sexuality and desire. Her essays have appeared in The New York Review of Books, Boundless magazine, The Independent, Wasafiri, and Caribbean Quarterly. She is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Peepal Tree Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 184523457X
• ISBN 13: 9781845234577
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320