The Seas

The writing is exquisite, almost like poetry. But also, I couldn’t tell what was real and what was fake. It’s set in a northern coastal fishing town (In envisioned the most northern parts of Maine) and it’s the story of an (unnamed) nineteen year old narrator. She’s a misfit, living at home with her mother and grandfather. When she was young, her father disappeared (walking into the ocean and never returning); but he’s told her that she is a mermaid. She clings to this belief and water is an omnipresent theme throughout. She’s in love with an Iraq war vet, Jude – he’s thirteen years older than her. The romance ultimately lands her in jail. I struggled to understand what was real and what was a dream.