The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock

Starred review from July 2, 2018
When a sedate, middle-aged London merchant falls in love with a beautiful prostitute, anything can happen—and does—in Gowar’s delightful debut set in the late 18th century. The mermaid of the title is a dubious specimen delivered to Jonah Hancock by the master of one of his ships that ply the high seas. After the creature causes a sensation in London, Angelica Neal, a gorgeous, narcissistic courtesan, is enlisted by her former mentor, Mrs. Chapell, the proprietress of a high-class brothel, to “entertain” Hancock so he’ll agree to bring his exhibit to Mrs. Chapell’s celebrated institution. Smitten and lovelorn, Hancock is rebuffed by Angelica, who is in the midst of another love affair and jokingly dares Hancock to bring her another mermaid. It’s only after she’s abandoned and left destitute by her feckless love that Angelica realizes there might be something to Hancock after all, especially since he does deliver the required second mermaid. That purported sea creature brings an element of mystery to a novel alive with wit and humor. Gowar has a marvelous gift for the felicitous phrase and for Dickensian characters (Mrs. Chappell “is built like an armchair, more upholstered than clothed”) and excels in astute social commentary, especially in descriptions of the lavish household goods, clothing, and food that money can buy—in contrast with the mean lives of the poor in Deptford, where Hancock’s shipping office is located. Angelica’s gradual perception of the shallowness of her hermetic world is counterpointed by the blossoming of Hancock’s niece, a shy 14-year-old, who comes into her own as his housekeeper. This is, indeed, a kind of fairy tale, one whose splendid combination of myth and reality testifies to Gowar’s imagination and talent.

Juliet Stevenson is the ideal narrator for this audiobook. After all, who better to use her immense skills with vocal characterizations and richly nuanced accents? Who else could take a sizable cast, developed with nearly Dickensian detail, and make each voice distinct? Indeed, there are moments when the voices reach near-caricature, but the intensity is not entirely out of place. Stevenson's performance is well paced as the story moves between Mr. Hancock, a lonely merchant whose fortunes shift when he comes into possession of the titular sea creature, and Angelica, a high-class prostitute seeking both freedom and security. The listener follows these parallel tales easily, having been drawn into eighteenth-century London and larger-than-life characters who are trying to keep their heads above water. L.B.F. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

August 1, 2018

Merchant Jonah Hancock, who's been haunting his counting house and waiting uneasily in Deptford, London, for news of his lost ship, learns that his captain has returned alone, bearing what appears to be a mummified mermaid, for which he has sold the ship and its contents. Gazing at the oddity, Jonah can have no idea at the changes this creature will bring to his fortune. When her protector dies, courtesan Angelica Neal is left without resources until the mermaid brings her and Jonah together, transforming their lives in the most unexpected fashion. The world is turned upside down as the creature exerts its mysterious power until Angelica boldly takes back their lives, working her own transformative magic on those around her. Brilliantly written and redolent with evocative historical detail, this debut novel is as much a portrait of Georgian London as it is of the characters inhabiting it. VERDICT For those enamoured of the 18th century and all things London. [Library marketing.]--Cynthia Johnson, formerly with Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, MA

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2018
In this rollicking Georgian romp, a courtesan and a merchant make an unlikely pair as they navigate the grand palaces and back alleys of London society.Jonah Hancock, the "merchant son of a merchant's son," has made his fortune by being sensible. But when the captain of one of his vessels trades everything for a mermaid specimen, "brown and wizened like an apple forgotten at the bottom of the barrel," Hancock fears his fortune is lost forever. His luck changes when the mermaid piques the interest of Mrs. Chappell, the elderly madam of London's "celebrated Temple of Venus." Well-versed in the appetites of rich men, Mrs. Chappell debuts the mermaid in a pornographic burlesque show that would make HBO executives blush. There, Hancock is brought into the orbit of Angelica Neal, a beautiful but capricious courtesan teetering on the edge of financial ruin. The two make an unlikely couple, but Angelica's debts require payment, so a marriage is at last proposed. Gowar's debut is rich in detail, with a plot that unfolds like a luxurious carriage ride through the country. Though the story is set in the 1780s, during the reign of King George III, the novel calls to mind 19th-century masters like Dickens and Eliot, who relished the way character can drive and reverse plot. And there are so many characters to follow: Mrs. Chappell's simpering brood of high-society prostitutes; Simeon Stanley, a footman and former slave from the American Colonies; George Rockingham, a rakish law student and dandy; Eliza Frost, a spinster who serves as Angelica's controlling friend and manager; Sukie, Hancock's young and impressionable niece; and, through it all, the ghostly mermaid, whose grief, anger, and playfulness serve as a backdrop to the social drama unfolding around her. Behind the window trimmings of Gowar's epic romance lies an astute novel about class, race, and fate that will delight fans of Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent and Sarah Hall's The Electric Michelangelo.An ambitious debut with enough romance, intrigue, and social climbing to fill a mermaid's grotto to the brim.

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Starred review from August 1, 2018
Jonah Hancock, a widowed, middle-aged merchant, is aghast when he discovers that one of the sea captains in his employ, Captain Jones, has sold the Calliope and purchased a small, shriveled mermaid. Though, in 1785 London, the dead creature is a lucrative commodity. Dubious, but anxious to recoup his costs, Mr. Hancock decides to display it, which eventually introduces him to a brothel keeper and her courtesans. Among them is the gorgeous Angelica Neal, who seeks a new protector. Bawdy high jinks ensue?the title predicts the protagonists' unlikely match?along with serious ramifications. The characters wrestle with their ambitions versus being content with what they have. Leisurely told and leavened with a knowing wit, Gowar's debut, a UK best-seller much anticipated stateside, brims with colorful period vernacular and delicious phrasings: one woman is built like an armchair, more upholstered than clothed; another has a mouth like low tide. Concerned with the issue of women's freedom, Gowar offers a panoramic view of Georgian society, from its coffeehouses and street life to class distinctions and multicultural populace. Recommended for fans of Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist (2014), this is a sumptuous historical feast.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)