The Mermaids Singing

by Lisa Carey

Book Overview

There is an island off the west coast of Ireland called Inis Muruch--the Island of the Mermaids--a world where myth is more powerful than truth, and love can overcome even death. It is here that Lisa Carey sets her lyrical and sensual first novel, weaving together the voices and lives of three generations of Irish and Irish-American women. Years ago, the fierce and beautiful Grace stole away from the island with her small daughter, Gráinne, unable...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380815591
• ISBN13: 9780380815593
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

love this

I loved this book. Honestly, I picked it up in some discount area and I can't imagine my life without it. Silly, maybe but true. I thought it was amazing as a teenager and saw it in a whole new light after losing my aunt to cancer. I've read it many times and I just think it's the best book. It's all about what's not said & the dangers in not speaking up, about how valuable time is and life in general. I just love the whole thing. I loaned it out so many times, I had to buy another copy just for myself again.

Awesome, just awesome

I've read this book four times and I just keep lingering over each sentence, each paragraph and enjoy how tantalizingly well written this novel is. Reviewers here who've let the visceral sides of these characters ("sex starved", their words not mine) get in the way of seeing them as fully developed people, are missing out a highly enlightening character driven novel. The mundane and mythic dimensions of these three lives are comingled like salt and seawater! I too read this book the summer of 1999 and recommended it to everyone who asked me for a "good book", and as I worked in a library at the time, made more than a few recommendations!

A beautiful, lyrical novel

I found THE MERMAIDS SINGING wonderful and enchanting - Carey manages to blend realism and true emotions with myth, displaying a talent rare in first authors. I found myself wanting to rush to find out what would happen next, but slowing down for the sensuous rhythms of the book. Not sure what troubled people so much about Grace - why does every character in a book have to be pure good - I thought she was a fascinating woman with real depth, not perfect by any means, but strong and willful and interesting - just look at the reponses she's elicited. I can't wait for more from Lisa Carey!

This is an excellently written, captivating read

What more do you need on a warm summer day at the beach than a book that you just can't put down? This story was mesmerizing and well-developed. Carey's use of first and third person is excellent, and she captures the voices of the three generations appropriately, as well as weaving a well-conceived story of two mother-daughter and one grandmother-grandaughter relationships.The author's love of Ireland is obvious, and for me as another aficionado, I found her tone and use of Irish dialect and description added to the magical feel of the book. She's captured the west of Ireland in a mere 257 pages.Excellent first novel, and one that leaves us clamoring for the next.

Gorgeous, myth-laden tale of love and forgiveness

The Mermaids Singing is a beautifully written book that tells the story of three generations of women. Alternating between different voices, the characters chart their lives, the mistakes they've made and the pain they've caused one another. Mixing in age-old Irish myths of the sea and the mermaids who dwell there, the author weaves a moving and highly entertaining narrative that had me pressing this book upon my friends and family and longing to be by the sea. An impressive debut novel, I look forward to watching the author's growth.