Elijah's Mermaid- Book Review

This book was recommended to me on Goodreads (a site I would highly recommend to any budding bibliophiles) based upon my previous reads.

Saved from the depths of the murky tames as a baby, webbed footed beauty Pearl is bought up and cossetted within the boundaries of The House Of Mermaids, a brothel, raised by the black veiled Mrs Hibbert and the slimy predator Tip Thomas, a man whom I cannot help but imagine as a Victorian rendition of Sacha Baron Cohen's Thenardier. Until she turns 14 her childhood is almost idyllic (if you can put aside the fact that she lives in a brothel) but then Pearl begins to realise that her upbringing has been building up to her being auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Meanwhile orphaned twins Lily and Elijah Lamb are being raised by their loving grandfather Augustus, an author. When the three children turn 14 their paths begin to cross and their lives become a lot more complicated. Throughout this book we see the characters evolve from simple and naive children into adults who soldier on through risk of being tainted by their situation.

The book is narrated by the two female protagonists Pearl and Lily, every other chapter switches between the two perspectives. This is a technique that I admire and would like to be able to apply in my own work. The authors empathy and ability to understand her characters at a more in depth level is one that inspires me to go on to read more of her works and is an admirable trait.

Elijah's Mermaid is set in Victorian England, in a land of brothels and asylums, where life is far from idyllic. The believably of the settings adds to the realism of the book and allows for more surreal themes to be explored without compromising the narratives believably. The book has a steady pace and the narrative unrolls quite slowly if you are used to faster paced literature. However one of the main reasons for its slow pace is due to Essie Fox's attention to detail, her beautiful in-depth descriptions and all round well executed literature is one of the key features to the book.

Fox's style is not too dissimilar to that of Ali Shaw's The Girl With Glass Feet, one of my favourite books to date and and Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child. Two of my favourite books that also successfully blend fantasy features with a sense of verisimilitude.

This book had me enchanted from start to finish! and is without doubt my favorite book that I have had the pleasure of reading and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to those who enjoy historical or fantasy based literature.I would also recommend this book to any lovers of classical art or literature as these are strong themes that run throughout.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Gothic, Romance, Mystery

Star Rating: 5/5

My current addictions

First of all I would like to welcome you all to my new blog, here I will be publishing reviews of music, films and books, alongside opinion posts and essays.

I am have just gone through a period of a high work load, meaning for the past few months I haven't had the time I would have liked to seek out new music as I normally do, I have however managed to stumble upon a few albums that currently have me besotted. 

1. S.Carey: Range Of Light. 

I have been a Bon Iver fan for a few years now and find their sound incredibly relaxing and inspiring (a great deal of the concepts explored in my poems are inspired by Bon Iver's music), therefore I immediately  fell head over heals in love with S.Carey's new album, Range of light.

Favorite tracks include: Glass/Film, Crown The Pines and Radiant.

2. Beasts Of The Southern Wild soundtrack 

I hate to admit it but before discovering this incredible soundtrack I had not heard of the film Beasts of The Southern Wild, and still have not found time to watch it. However if the soundtrack is anything to go by, it will be worth the wait! The soundtrack combines a blend of folk whims with cinematic drama.

I love listening to this whilst cracking on with work or painting because it really does convey a feeling of hope and motivation that gets me through moments of creative block.

Favorite tracks include: End of the World, Once There Was a Hushpuppy and The Smallest Piece.

3. The Cinematic Orchestra: The Crimson Wing- Mystery Of the Flamingos soundtrack

I discovered this soundtrack whist working on a nature documentary project, The crimson wing was one of my case studies and whist studying it I looked into the way music is used to amplify emotion in American Nature Documentaries. This soundtrack is simply breathtaking, the music accurately echoes the emotions of on screen action and yet as a stand alone medium works just as well. This soundtrack is again perfect for work as I often find songs with lyrical content too distracting when i'm working, it is also a beautifully relaxing album to listen to when winding down and reading a book.

Favorite tracks include: Opening Titles, Soda, Exodus and Transformation

4. Angus and Julia Stone: Down The Way 

I have been in love with this album for several months now, and am still hooked on the enchanting voices of brother-sister duo Angus and Julia Stone. This album has proven to be very thought provoking and lyrically is immensely poetic and moving. Many of the songs are so delicate to the ears as Julia Stones light, airy voice barely traces the surface of the lyrical content however the meaning behind many of the tracks are so filled with hurt and beauty that they are able to really impact the listener. 

Favorite tracks include: Yellow Brick Road, Black Crow, For You, Walk It Off, I'm Not Yours and The Devils Tears (I honestly couldn't narrow it down any further)