A Magic Deep and Drowning
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
Set in the waning days of the Dutch Golden Age and steeped in folklore and magic, this lush reimagining of The Little Mermaid is at turns both sinister and enchanting.
The Dutch Republic, 1650. One fine spring day in Friesland, twenty-year-old Clara van Wieren is faced with an ill omen: a whale, beached and rotting in the noonday sun. But Clara doesn’t believe in magic and superstition, and this portent is quickly dismissed when a proposal from a wealthy merchant arrives, promising Clara the freedom she seeks from her mother’s overbearing rule.
When her attempts at overseeing the household at her family’s estate lead to a chance encounter with a mysterious young man with russet hair and sparkling eyes the color of the sea, she finds herself strangely drawn to him. As Clara grows closer to Maurits, she must choose between the steady, gentle life she has been raised for and the man who makes her blood sing.
But Maurits isn’t who he seems to be, and his secrets, once hidden beneath the waves, threaten to rise up and drown them both. And when an ancient bargain, forged in blood between the mythical people of the sea and the rulers of the land, begins to unravel, Clara finds herself at the heart of a deadly struggle for power.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"The Little Mermaid" gets a new look in this enchanting gender-bent retelling from Fox (The Book of Thorns). In 1650, Clara van Wieren lives with her cold, abusive parents in the Dutch Republic, haunted by the memory of her childhood best friend, who drowned in the local canal when they were young. Eager for any change from her dull daily routine, Clara jumps at the chance to see a whale that's beached itself nearby. Once there, however, she recognizes it as an ill omen and flees back to her home. Soon thereafter, Clara receives a marriage proposal from a well-to-do merchant offering her the escape from home she's been longing for. In the lead-up to the wedding, however, she finds she can't stop thinking about Maurits de Vis, the mysterious young man who has recently replaced her family's regular fish delivery boy. Clara and Maurits grow closer—but Maurits has secrets that tie him to the Old Ones, powerful forces beneath the sea that are waiting to collect on a bargain made with humans long ago. Fox pulls from both Hans Christian Andersen's original and Frisian folktales while grounding the plot in historical detail. Add in rich mythology and a sweet, chaste romance between the leads, and this is a winner.
