A Few Mermaid Recommendations from Mnemosynehime

SurLaLuner Mnemosynehime shared this on the SurLaLune Discussion Board which receives much less traffic than the blog these days. So I wanted to share it here, too, with thanks to Mnemosynehime for posting it. My mermaid knowledge has been limited until recently, but I have become more and more fascinated as I worked on Mermaid and Other Water Spirit Tales From Around the World. I've not read the books here, but they go onto the list...

  

I was thinking of favorite mermaid tales now that your new book is coming out. An absolute must add for mermaids in literature is the novel by Vonda McIntyre The Moon and the Sun. A brother and sister from Louis IV's court return to France after the brother has captured a "sea monster." The sea monster of course is a mermaid creature, not the lovely maiden's of Anderson's tale but intelligent none the same. It's a really wonderful blend of history and fantasy, and the mermaid is as much a center of the story as the human heroine Marie-Josephe.

Another literary appearance of Melusine is The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. She should be in the upcoming Lady of the Rivers as well. Elizabeth Woodville and her mother trace their line back to Melusine herself and so the magic and lineage play a role in the women's personal lives and perceptions. More good reading for the history lover.