Book Review – The Mermaid’s Sister by Carrie Anne Noble
First published, 2015
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
The story follows seventeen year old, Clara, who has been raised by a kindly lady who cannot tell a lie and took her in when Clara was a baby. As well as Clara, who was delivered by a stork, Verity adopted Maren, a girl destined to become a mermaid. They receive yearly visits from Scarff, a travelling purveyor of pots and pans, and his adopted son, O’Neill, who came from an apple tree.
As Maren has grown beautiful and more mermaid-like, hankering for salt and developing a series of scales across her body, Clara feels it is inevitable that O’Neill must love her sister. Her pain at not being the object of O’Neill’s affection is profoundly rendered.
As Maren grows into her mermaid-self, her body shrinks and it is clear she must get to the ocean. And so, as Clara and O’Neill determine to take her off the mountain and to her true home, they can hardly guess at the perils that await them on the road.
A lovely story, with a really classic feel and something I think young girls would enjoy very much. Although I’m in my late-thirties now, I enjoyed the writing and, as much as I found some of Clara’s behaviour a little old-fashioned, it’s innocuous enough and doesn’t detract from an entertaining read.
Petrina Binney - Author 