Sirena and her sisters are hybrids (half-human, half-fish), or mermaids, yearning for the touch and love of men, who will thereby bring them immortality. When ships pass on their way to battle in Troy, the mermaid sisters lure the warriors with their songs. Sirena soon realizes that their calls lead many men to their deaths (there is no fresh water for the men, or they drown, etc.); this knowledge so devastates her that she banishes herself to life alone, and without songs, on the island of Lemnos. To her lonely home comes Philoctetes, abandoned by his shipmates after he was bitten by a serpent. Sirena is drawn to him, but afraid for him at the same time’she does not want him to suffer the same fate as the men before him. Slowly, Napoli unfurls a glorious story of love, as Sirena reaches immortality while understanding the consequences of her love and exploring brand new feelings such as desertion, desperation, and jealousy. The sensual narrative celebrates land and sea with stinging detail—from Sirena’s intense love and physical longing to her quiet, clever island survival with Philoctetes. Fans of Greek mythology will enjoy several tales of gods, warriors, and nymphs woven throughout, but it’s the timeless, entrancing love story—the heartache, the triumph, and the bittersweet ending—that grabs the heartstrings. (Fiction. 12-15)
