I didn't realize that this short story is part of a world created by The Book of Speculation, which I have not yet read. Though it's a beautifully written story about a marriage that's weathered time and circumstances, but where the love remains enduring and steadfast, not having the background from the novel on which it is based dulled my enjoyment a bit. So a word of advice: read the novel before you read this short story!

(I received a free copy of this story from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Before she was a suburban wife and mother, Paulina Watson was the Mermaid Girl of Carnival Lareille. She traveled everywhere with two boxes: the first with red sequins for the dress she wore as a magician’s assistant, the second with green sequins for her mermaid tail. She'd grown up on wild stories told by wild circus people. Books, she hadn’t had books until she’d found Daniel Watson and stopped moving.
The first time Daniel saw her, Paulina was floating in a glass tank, suspended in water that sparkled like it was made from night sky. She has settled down now, living in a house on a cliff on Long Island Sound with Daniel and their young family: six-year-old Simon and his baby sister, Enola. But if you steal the magician’s assistant from a carnival, how can you know if she’ll disappear?

This was an okay short story. It had been awhile between reading the sensational The Book of Speculation and this short story. So a lot of the finer details were missed for me.

It gives a pretty decent piece of backstory for Paulina and Daniel, who are the parents of the narrator of the Book of Speculation. It is interesting and worth reading if you have recently read the novel, or are thinking about reading it.


Paul
ARH

Beautifully written short story about life, love and marriage.

Did not finish, as I recall there were too many cliches in the first chapter(s) of the book.

I’m a big fan of short stories and this is a great prequel short to #TheBookofSpeculation which had me wanting more of the matriarch, Paulina. 🌊🔮

Paulina is, by all appearances, a typical house wife. She takes care of the kids while her husband works. What the reader learns is Paulina's nomadic circus past and broken family. Coming from a very atypical childhood is trying to make her now typical family life work.
The Mermaid Girl is an interesting short story. Its only shortcoming is that it leaves me wanting more. Where is Michael? What is going to happen with Paulina and Daniel? Will Paulina ever end her wandering ways?

I was worried that I would not be able to "get into" this book as quickly, as I have not read the Book of Speculation -- but fear not! I found this to be a lovely little tale, that only makes me excited to pick up the other book. Really enjoyable, took me into this world thoroughly. Wonderful.

I did not realize that when I got this book from Netgalley that it was a novella about the mermaid in The Book of Speculation. I have not read this yet, so maybe that is why this book did not make any sense to at all. I didn't love it I didn't hate it, I just didn't get it. Maybe after I read Speculation it will be easier to understand.