The Mermaid Quilt & Other Tales

Mermaids permeate this collection of short stories and poems: A grieving artist sleeps under a mermaid quilt. A mermaid argues with a scholar. A pottery maker’s daughter befriends a mysterious stranger. A cowboy falls in love with the last mermaid. Two young girls purchase a carved mermaid at a garage sale. A mermaid finds respite in a tree. And we discover what mermaids like to eat.

From the frozen Arctic to Mexico, Scotland, Russia, Brazil, and the suburban United States, these delicate stories and poems, sometimes funny, sometimes dark, shaped by myth from long ago, speak of love, revenge, and redemption. Written for adults, they unravel the heart songs of people who have been buffeted by life. They reinforce our yearning for something good and beautiful, and they reveal a fragile line between reality and magic.

Readers have called these stories and poems, “beautiful, lyrical, touching.” One reader noted, “Camp has a lovely knack for capturing human emotions in a way that is both fresh (the writing) and familiar (the sense of having lived through the same things the character is living through, even if you haven't). Take this book to the coast on a stormy weekend, sit by the fire, and enjoy a real treat.”