I got many beautiful books for Christmas: Annie Proulx's Fine Just The Way It Is (sublime short fiction); The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook (will blog anon on The Hungry Vegan); Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea. And today, a package arrived from my poet-artist friend who lives on Martha's Vineyeard, Marcella. She sent me a book by Margot Datz, a friend of hers, called A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids.
This is a stunningly beautiful book. The premise is that women sometimes feel like mermaids out of water, because that is exactly what we are. The book urges women to value and embrace both their power and their playfulness through wise words and gorgeous illustrations of merfolk going about normal lives. It is whimsical, feminist, positive, wise and uplifting. A lovely, cheering present for any woman to be given. Thank you, Marcella!
3 comments:
Ha, I have two copies of Wide Sargasso Sea: we had to study it in depth on A103 (2004), the foundation course I did for my Lit degree. I ended up studing its forebear, Jane Eyre for a later lit course. Both are fascinating for their own delivery, from their own times... ah, fond memories!
The mermaids book looks and sounds heavenly, do tell us more when you read it! What a great selection, may it be a New Year full of wonderful reading.
B - I love Jane Eyre - one of my all time faves, and have been meaning to read Sargasso for years. Must've been great to study them.
T - I've read it already! The entries consist of a poem-ish length piece of mermaid wisdom accompanied by a painting, so you'd read it quite quickly. It's digestible, if fanciful, self-help of sorts and really gorgeous visually.
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