Monique Roffey’s Costa Award–winning mermaid tale makes a big splash in the U.S.

On this week’s episode, Monique Roffey discusses The Mermaid of Black Conch (Knopf, July 12), a gorgeous allegorical novel Kirkus calls “a mournful tour through Caribbean history via one of its most indelible legends.” Based in part on a Taino myth, The Mermaid of Black Conch tells of the forbidden love between a mermaid and a fisherman, circa 1976: She, Aycayia, had been hexed and banished to the sea over a thousand years ago. He, David Baptiste, is the young man who befriends—and ultimately, rescues—her, when a Floridian father-and-son duo capture her in the course of an annual fishing competition.

Here’s a bit more from Kirkus’ review: “In [Baptiste’s] saltwater-filled bathtub, the mermaid begins transforming back into a woman. Over time, [he] learns her story: Belonging to the Indigenous Taino people, the mermaid, Aycayia, was once a woman who was cursed to her fate by other women in her village. As she relearns human life, taught to read by Baptiste’s White landlady, Arcadia Rain, and befriended by Arcadia’s young Deaf son, Aycayiawonders whether, through her millennia-long exile in the sea, she has managed to shake off her curse and connect again to the land of her people.…[K]eenly observed and wrought.”

Roffey and host Megan Labrise talk about how she celebrated the book’s U.S. release; the delightful surprise of the novel’s international success; the love story at the heart of the book; writing empowering sex scenes; mermaids in legend and literature; the role music plays in Roffey’s writing process; the old woman who was cursed alongside Aycayia; and much more.

Then editors Laura Simeon, Mahnaz Dar, Eric Liebetrau, and Laurie Muchnick share their top picks in books for the week.

Editors’ Picks:

My Imaginary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows (HarperTeen)

Thirst by Varsha Bajaj (Nancy Paulsen Books)

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong (Random House)

Thank You for Listening by Julie Whelan (Avon/HarperCollins)

Also mentioned on this episode:

Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson (Grove)

The Worth of Water by Gary White and Matt Damon (Portfolio)

Being a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz (Scribner)

Thanks to our advertisers:

Ivy Lodge: A Memoir of Translation and Discovery by Linda Murphy Marshall

Toofer & The Giblet by Paulette LeBlanc

Dorian’s Quarterback by Mary Taylor

Once in a Lifetime by Suzanne Mattaboni

Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.