MERMANIA: The Little Book of Mermaids

We have just read in the Bristol Post this week that a woman left her teaching job to become a professional mermaid! Maids of the sea, sprung from ancient fish gods, reborn from the tragedy of forbidden love, combined with a seductive power of the half-bird sirens who sang to Odysseus, and a warning against temptation in the Middle Ages, today mermaids exist as everything from birthday party entertainment to a reclaimed site of political and particularly feminist power. Throughout history, everything from manatees and sea-cows to skate and seal have been mistaken for beautiful mermaids. Believed to cure asthma and earache, and warn of danger, here is everything you could ever want to know about these mythical creatures and their aquatic lore. From around the seven seas from Latvia and Iran to Haiti and Estonia, here is the mermaid throughout history and the many names they have been known by like kelpie, nix, sylphe, undine and water nymph and how if they traded their fins for life on land their lifespan would shorten dramatically, they would give up their voices and their tails and in return would be granted terrestrial romance or perhaps even a soul. Beautifully decorated coloured pages with over 100 spectacular artworks. 224pp.