The Mermaid, The Witch, and The Sea

 

Tokuda-Hall, Maggie.  The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea

Book Talk:
In this intriguing intersection of three lives, we find very distinct characters whose lives are forever changed by circumstance.

Evelyn is an Imperial whose parents have arranged for her to be married to a nobleman in the Floating Isles.  Without any consultation with her whatsoever, she is sent off with her casket to live the rest of her life with a man she has never met.  She is forced to abandon her beloved Keiko, her maid and beloved who has been with her forever.

Flora has been living aboard the Dove, a pirate ship under the direction of the Nameless Captain for years.  In order to be safe among so many men, Flora lives her life as a boy named Florian.  She and her brother do their best to keep themselves hidden and safe in a life filled with danger.  While her brother is an addict of alcohol and the drug of Mermaid Blood, he tries to keep his sister safe as best he can.

But the Dove has a deep, dark secret.  Not only are they a pirate ship.  They are a slave ship.  They take paying passengers on board, and once they are far enough out to sea so that they are not in danger of being found out by Imperial Ships, they kidnap their passengers, put them in the Brig, and then sell them to the highest bidder on one of the outlying islands.  Florian is not happy about this turn of events, but he willingly participates so that she too, is not sold into slavery.  Even worse, when the pirates catch a mermaid, instead of tossing her back into the sea as the sea demands, they keep her, and then kill her when they reach shore and sell her blood to the highest bidder.  It is a wicked practice that has brought them the attention of the Pirate Supreme and the Sea Herself.

Paths cross when Evelyn's parents book her passage on the Dove to travel to her new husband.  Florian is set to be her guard and stand outside of her door to keep the crew from bothering the rich, young, valuable woman.  Who would have expected Evelyn and Florian to fall deeply in love with each other?

When the time comes for the passengers to be led below, Florian begins to search desperately for a way out of this situation.  When a rare opportunity presents itself, Florian grabs the Lady Evelyn and the Mermaid and they jump overboard without any real plan other than getting away from the Dove.

When they make landfall, Florian and Evelyn find themselves in the nets of  The Witch, who is not to be trusted.  While attempting to make Florian whole, she sends Evelyn off to her husband where things are not all sunshine and roses. 

My thoughts:
I wish that the author had spent more time adding elements of Asian Pacific culture into the story.  While there is a mention of Kimonos, there is no real mention of culture- why the Lady Evelyn would have acquiessed so easily to the will of her parents, duty to country, and the importance of nature in Asian Cultures.  It is hinted at, but not really explained.  The focus on the story is the love story between Evelyn and Florian. 

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