The Mermaid of Black Conch: The spellbinding winner of the Costa Book of the Year as read on BBC Radio 4

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Set on a small island in the Caribbean this is a modern day fairy tale with inevitable magic realist elements. The timeline is split between 1976 and 2016. It revolves around a local fisherman David Baptiste. When out fishing he sometimes sees a creature in the water, which he eventually realises is a mermaid. The mermaid is caught by American tourists and put on display in the harbour. David sees her and at night cuts her down and takes her home where she gradually recovers and becomes more human again. Then things start to become difficult and complicated. This is a fairy tale, but Disney it most definitely is not. No well-groomed Ariel: but there are still a few people round St Constance who remember him as a young man and his part in the events in 1976, when those white men from Florida came to fish for marlin and instead pulled a mermaid out of the sea I totally understand why it won the Costa, however, and I’m genuinely surprised it didn’t make the Women’s Prize longlist even though it wasn’t for me. There are also deeper themes about colonialism, racial tragic history—enslavement, immigration, indigenous genocide, freedom, and womanhood.

And that passage made me think of how history has perpetuated this line of division between them, even though they’re family. Until Aycayia, David may have never been invited to her house, even when his Uncle Life is Reggie’s dad, and David and Arcadia are cousins. So, one can wonder why, for example, could it be historic guilt on Arcadia’s part why she never invited him? We know throughout the book that this is something she is aware of that she carries with her. But there is another of David’s reflections that hits it home: But her transformation is aborted, the curse prevails, and the community prepares to sell her to the Americans. As David and his friends form a protective guard around Aycayia, the god Huracan marshals all his forces to sweep her away. The departure of Roffey’s mermaid unleashes the elements – a warning to an over-heated world. I have to mention that this mermaid had been a young performer who was cursed with a mermaid tail by jealous women of her community because they feared their husbands wouldn't be able to resist their desires for her. Put a pin in that. But it is also possible to go deeper and to see it as something which explores many of the themes and ideas that inform both Roffey’s other writing (female sexuality, pre-Christian legends – particularly foundational myths about womanhood, Caribbean history on a multi-century scale, colonialism, creolisation, fatherhood, outsiders) and her wider activism (particularly her XR involvement).Roffey never allows her work to fall into any clichéd traps about humans and fish. It has a potent sense of magic and reality, and the characters are caught in the conundrums both present as they try to change for each other while revealing what they most want for themselves. This is a very human story told in the guise of a mythical relationship and a search for what is and what can be home to any thinking creature.

As I said to my book group, anytime a character encounters a fearsome, mythic sea creature and their first thought is basically, "I'd like to get with that," the entire novel should then be devoted to what exactly is going on with that character. Loneliness? Hedonism? Need to please? Need to conquer everything one sees? It's not a setup for the love story of the century, is what I'm saying.

Retailers:

A joy to read, brimming with memorable characters and vivid descriptions. . . . For me, this was a hugely entertaining and thought-provoking novel.” —Rebecca Jones, BBC News This could have illuminated the narcissism-born blindspots of the explorers and their successors. This could have been a subversive commentary on the damage colonialism has done to generations of Indigenous and Afro Carribean people; lost knowledge, culture, faith, science, etc. This could have been an examination of the fear and exploitation of young women's sexuality, and male entitlement to feminine bodies. This could have been a parable for the effects unfettered capitalism has had on tropical regions, which have been hit head-on with the consequences of climate change already. This could have torn the whole Manifest Destiny idea a new one. The plot and themes of the book were interesting enough, weaving in criminal behavior, love stories, and historical racism in a unique Caribbean setting. Recommended – and a novel which I think has a strong chance of prize recognition – Booker or Women’s Prize if the entry barriers for small presses don’t prevent it, as well as the Republic of Consciousness Prize.