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The Mermaid of Black Conch

  • Imprint: Vintage

  • ISBN: 9781529115499

  • Length: 272  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 17mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 191g

  • RRP: £8.99

The Mermaid of Black Conch

  • The spellbinding winner of the Costa Book of the Year as read on BBC Radio 4

Escape to the ocean with the entrancing, unforgettable winner of the Costa Book of the Year - as read on BBC Radio 4.

'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 . . . A joy to read' BBC News

'A fiercely modern mermaid story' The Times

'Wondrous . . . A striking achievement' Sunday Times

'Not your standard mermaid' MARGARET ATWOOD

'Exquisite' ELIZABETH MACNEAL

  • Imprint: Vintage

  • ISBN: 9781529115499

  • Length: 272  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 17mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 191g

  • RRP: £8.99

Reviews

  • A daring, mesmerising novel that continually unseats expectation - I was deliciously unsure, throughout, what would happen next. With her fierce and shapeshifting mermaid, Roffey has created a modern myth about belonging and the bonds humans form with each other and with their land, single-handedly bringing magic realism up to date

    Maggie O’Farrell, No.1 bestselling author of Hamnet

  • I absolutely devoured The Mermaid of Black Conch. It's wonderful, immersive, evocative... A masterclass of world-building

    Bridget Collins, No.1 bestselling author of The Binding

  • Once I had started it, I couldn't stop. It was quite unlike anything I'd ever read. Such brilliant myth-making; such powerful storytelling

    Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures

  • About wonder, spectacle, as well as greed. The writing is exquisite

    Elizabeth Macneal, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory and Circus of Wonders

  • A reading experience as captivating as a tropical storm. Full-throated and mesmerizing

    C. Pam Zhang, Booker-longlisted author of How Much of These Hills is Gold

  • Sensuous, beguiling . . . Roffey's tale convincingly transplants a mythical creature into a modern setting . . . Wondrous

    Sunday Times

  • Wonderfully written, with both soul and intense drama - it glistens almost, like the mermaid!

    Diana Evans, author of Ordinary People

  • Stunning . . . A mesmerising read

    Nathan Filer, Costa-winning author of The Shock of the Fall

  • Extraordinary, beautifully written . . . We found it completely compelling . . . It feels like a classic in the making

    Costa Judges, 2020

  • Magical touches blend with precise realism in this bittersweet tale of a mermaid trying to put the sea behind her

    Observer

More from this Author

About the Author

Monique Roffey

Monique Roffey was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad. She is the author of six novels and a memoir. The Mermaid of Black Conch won the Costa Book of the Year and the Costa Novel Award 2020. It was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize 2021, the Goldsmiths Prize 2020 and the Republic of Consciousness Prize 2021, and longlisted for the Orwell Prize, the Ondaatje Prize and the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature 2021. Her highly acclaimed previous books are sun dog, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle (shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2010), Archipelago (winner of the OCM Bocas Award for Caribbean Literature 2013), House of Ashes (shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award 2014), The Tryst and With the Kisses of His Mouth. Monique Roffey is a Senior Lecturer at the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University and a tutor for the National Writers Centre.

Monique Roffey

Read more

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Features

Penguin authors pick their favourite books of 2021

Nadiya Hussain, Elif Shafak, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Lady Hale and more on the best reads of their year.
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Features

Siren call: How fiction reclaimed the mermaid's tale

After centuries of entrapment, the mermaid is finally getting to tell her own story. From Monique Roffey to Rivers Solomon, contemporary writers are offering new, feminist retellings of a favourite fable.
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Recommendations

7 books by Caribbean authors

To celebrate the Vintage paperback edition of The Mermaid of Black Conch, we’ve gathered a list of just some of our favourite books by Caribbean authors.

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