![]() ![]() This well-meaning story sinks like a stone. Once there was a fisherman who lived on a cold and rocky coast and was never able to convince any woman to come away and live in that forbidding place with. Readers are told, not shown, about the issues Amelia has in confronting human patriarchy and racism, so her eventual partial victory over those forces has little emotional weight. Unfortunately, this promising premise flails under the weight of leaden prose, little suspense in the plot, and an obviously well-researched background that nevertheless feels lifeless and flat. The shadow of Joice Heth, the old enslaved woman whom the pair exhibited and exploited until her death, lies heavily on Lyman, who is trying to make up for his previous mistakes. Barnum’s friend and employee Levi Lyman wants to protect Amelia from Barnum, who will do a great deal for a buck. ![]() Amelia came from the water because of love now widowed, she wants to see the world and needs money for travel, which she can get from being an exhibition. Barnum’s famous Fiji Mermaid hoax by making the mermaid real. Henry (the Chronicles of Alice duology) introduces a twist into the history of P.T. ![]()
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