Features original music created for the audiobook.
'Mesmerising' MAGGIE O'FARRELL
'A unique talent' BERNARDINE EVARISTO
'Wonderful' BRIDGET COLLINS
'Brilliant' CLARE CHAMBERS
Near the island of Black Conch, a fisherman sings to himself while waiting for a catch. But David attracts a sea-dweller that he never expected - Aycayia, an innocent young woman cursed by jealous wives to live as a mermaid.
When American tourists capture Aycayia, David rescues her and vows to win her trust. Slowly, painfully, she transforms into a woman again. Yet as their love grows, they discover that the world around them is changing - and they cannot escape the curse for ever . . .
'A bittersweet love story.' BBC News
'A fiercely modern mermaid story' The Times
'Wondrous . . . A striking achievement' Sunday Times
'Not your standard mermaid' MARGARET ATWOOD
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
November 1, 2020 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781528898324
- File size: 221545 KB
- Duration: 07:41:33
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Publisher's Weekly
June 27, 2022
Roffey (The Tryst) spins a vivid phantasmagorical fairy tale based on a pre-Columbian Taino legend. In 1976, a white Floridian banker and his son take a fishing expedition off a fictional Caribbean island called Black Conch. Instead of a marlin, they hook a mermaid with Indigenous complexion and tattoos. The father imagines selling her to a museum or to Sea World. David Baptiste, a dreadlocked local fisherman who has previously serenaded the inquisitive creature, looks on in horror as the men stick her with a gaffing hook and knock her unconscious. That night, David cuts her bonds and takes her to his home. He means to return her to the sea as soon as possible, but while she is lying in salt water in David’s bathtub, she transforms into a young woman and the two become lovers. It turns out the mermaid, whose name is Aycayia, is not only in danger of being returned to the Americans by the authorities, but is subjected to a 1,000-year-old curse. As Aycayia acclimates to life on land and she and David fall in love, the pair must navigate a host of perils and determine if there’s a future for Aycayia outside the sea—and, if so, what it would be. With a lilting patois and rollicking prose, Roffey evokes the Antillean settings, characters, and culture. This makes for an entrancing siren song. -
AudioFile Magazine
Caribbean accents from narrators Ben Onwukwe and Vivienne Acheampong animate this compelling story inspired by the Ta�no legend of Aycayia, who is cursed to exist for eternity as a mermaid. The lonely creature lives in exile for centuries until one day, brutally captured by sports fishermen near Black Conch Island, Aycayia finds herself on land again. Rescued by David, a local fisherman who plans to return her to the sea, she transforms back into a woman--with bittersweet repercussions. Onwukwe performs the third-person narration in deep, resonant tones interspersed with vivid characterizations of the colorful supporting cast. His delivery of David's journal entries adds pathos and a raw intensity that is enhanced by Acheampong's emotional bursts of Aycayia's thoughts. These are expressed in free-verse poetry. S.A.A. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
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