Besides, Grace says, laughing, those who levelled accusations at her of having made Māori “the good guys” of Potiki, and white New Zealanders “the bad guys”, did not realise she had never specified what race the greedy developers in the story were. Miss Rain nodded. “Sometimes, we women not fair even in our own thoughts about ourselves. You men born from us, and yet you assume power. Is we who give you that power. You see that man, Life? That man make me wait, make me patient.” So much of the substance of this book is lightly summarised in this quotation: the Caribbean setting, St Constance which is invented and yet feels real, the importance of memory and the perpetual weight of history, manhood and what it might mean, 'those white men' (though they're interestingly divided as the story progresses), fishing and related ecological issues... and the mermaid who is pulled up as if she, too, were a marlin, captured for sport and a trophy of a certain type of manliness. He wanted to keep her safe, always. But he also suspected that wasn’t what she wanted, or needed. In fact, now she had the sneakers, he expected her to disappear some day, just like she appeared”.

During a fishing competition a couple of wealthy Americans manage to capture the mermaid and plan to exploit her, that is until David saves her. These sections are narrated by the author. The audiobook readers were outstanding — exceptionally great! As was the occasional lovely guitar playing… in between changing voices with our strong female/male alternating voices. V: I love this unconventional love story, and also the friendship that develops between the two couples, and between Aycayia and Arcadia and Life’s deaf son Reggie. Reggie, who learned American Sign Language, is actually the first person Aycayia has a conversation with. She calls it their “hand language/Language of the time before time,” which I love. And there’s a beautiful scene that takes place during Reggie’s 10th birthday when he introduces her to the music of Bob Marley and Toots and the Maytals — when he turns the volume on the record player, he can hear and dance to the beat of the bass. There’s this part where Aycayia says: A beautifully, subtly written tale of an ancient woman, Aycayia, cursed to be a mermaid, captured in a fishing competition by white USA men then rescued by David Baptiste, a local fisherman who falls in love with her.And inexplicably overlooked for the Booker Prize and Women's Prize, which says rather more about those prizes than the book. But no two readers are alike and perhaps you will enjoy this book more than I did. Here are some direct quotes to help you decide: I am bilingual and can speak this other type of English when I want to. It’s in my ear and it is the language I grew up with all around me. Trinidadians love speaking their own English; it’s full of poetic forms and can be playful and lyrical and comical. Trinidadians are verbal acrobats, and I love being on the island just to hear the people speak …

This book is about many things: feminism and colonialism, love, possession and jealousy, and a kind of erotic love that threatens to undo every other aspect of the characters’ lives. Aycayia is so strong and caring that we feel as if the magical realism of the novel has taken the genre itself into new and exciting territory. Readers surely will fall in love with the love story that plays like Shakespeare in island patois. David’s voice is so heartbreaking and Aycayia’s thoughts are so modern that their desires may overwhelm you as they do to themselves. 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. Okay, anyone who knows me as a reader knows this book isn't going to be my cup of tea. I really don't like magical realism no matter how many awards the book has won. The structure of the novel was original and really worked for me. The two narrators did a wonderful job to bring the story and the people to life. I am looking forward to reading more of Monique Roffey, a talented writer from Trinidad and Tobago. Priscilla sat in his office chair, one leg up on his desk. One hand rested on her pussy. Teacher's Pet, I wanna be Teacher's Pet...This is a book about transformation and change. It's about how Aycayia changes and in her encounter with others (David Baptiste, a white woman, Arcadia Rain, and her deaf son Reggie, among others) transforms them. So in some ways it's about the transformative power and potential of myth and storytelling and love. Although it’s funny — I have to say that when I didn’t know anything about the book except for its title, I was a little skeptical that it would be something I’d enjoy. But then I saw the cover art by artist Harriet Shillito for the Peepal Tree edition. And so, it depicts how the Taino mermaid named Aycayia is described in the story: “something ancient … the face of a human woman who once lived centuries past”; “her tail … yards and yards of musty silver … She must weigh four or five hundred pounds”; her tattoos “looked like spirals, and the spirals looked like the moon and the sun,” she must have been “a woman from the tribes that lived in these islands when everything was still a garden.”