The Mermaid tells the tale of Amelia (as she will come to be known), a mermaid who is very curious about the world outside of her own people, so much so that she leaves home accidentally one day, while following a ship. She then finds herself trapped in the net of a lonely fisherman named Jack, only for him to release her out of kindness. She is drawn to him and leaves the ocean, discovering that her tail turns into legs and she is able to live as a human, and she and Jack live happily for many years at his seaside cottage in Northern Maine.
When a drastic change in Amelia's circumstances occurs, rumors of her existence cause her to fall on P.T. Barnum's radar, as he is looking for a mermaid exhibit to set his museum apart. He sends his right hand man, Levi Lyman, to suss out the truth of Amelia's tale, but both expect to find a "humbug" and not an actual mermaid. Even more shocking is the realization that Amelia actually wants to see the world and agrees to work for Barnum, with certain conditions, to make the money to do just that.
Although Levi takes a shine to Amelia and does his best to protect her from Barnum and his tendency to ignore the needs of his entertainers in lieu of making money off of them, Barnum is still hell-bent on crafting a lie to suit Amelia on display and he calls her "The Feejee Mermaid" with claims she was discovered by a (fake) doctor in the South Pacific, played by Lyman, of course. Amelia is a huge hit, despite the fact that she looks more fish than woman when she reverts to her mermaid form, but not everyone thinks she is the miracle that Levi sees in her. Soon, Amelia finds herself in danger from a group of overzealous audience members, but Barnum just wants to profit off of her with no thought for her safety, while Levi just wants to love and protect her. Can she survive her grand tour as the Feejee Mermaid, with her heart and body intact? Amelia has a secret miracle of her own that just might spur her on to a happy life.
While I enjoyed The Mermaid a great deal and found it to be a very quick read, I didn't find it as consuming a read as the Alice series and Lost Boy. It was still quite good, just not as compelling. Still, Christina Henry is an amazing writer and if you've enjoyed her stories in the past, you'll probably enjoy The Mermaid too.
