I've had The Mermaids Singing by Lisa Carey for ages in my 'to be read' pile!! I actually listened to the abridged audio version of this novel, which was very well narrated by Jan Maxwell.
Listening time for The Mermaids Singing by Lisa Carey is 2 hours, 42 minutes. So, a very quick read indeed!
The Mermaids Singing is the author's debut novel. For a debut novel, I truly enjoyed this novel. I only wish that The Mermaids Singing was unabridged vs being the abridged audio version.
The novel is set in both Boston, Massachusetts and Ireland. The focus is on three generations of Irish-American women and their complicated relationship. I loved the writing, the storytelling, and the characters. I will definitely seek out another one of Lisa Carey's novels to read in the future.
The Mermaids Singing by Lisa Carey is my 14th read of 2025!!
The following is the publisher's summary for The Mermaids Singing by Lisa Carey I discovered on Chirp's website:
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, where the sea sings with the healing and haunting voices of women, and where death is never as strong as the redemptive power of family and love. It is here that Lisa Carey sets her lyrical and sensual first novel, weaving together the voices and lives of three generations of Irish-American women.
Years ago, Cliona strong, proud, and practical sailed for Boston, determined to one day come home. But when the time came to return to Inis Muruch, her daughter Grace fierce, beautiful, and brazenly sexual resented her mother’s isolated, unfamiliar world. Though entranced by the sea and its healing powers, Grace became desperate to escape the confines of the island, one day stealing away with her small daughter, Grainne.
Now Grainne, motherless at fifteen after Grace’s death from breast cancer is about to be taken back across the ocean by Cliona, repeating the journey her mother was forced to make years before. She goes to meet a father she has never known, her heart pulled between a life where she no longer belongs to a family she cannot remember. On the rocky shores of Inis Muruch, she waits for her father, and begins to discover her own sexual identity even as she struggles to understand the forces that have torn her family apart.
In her first novel, Lisa Carey has crafted voices so real and passionate that they resonate within the listener long after the last words are heard.
I am giving The Mermaids Singing by Lisa Carey a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.
Until my next post, happy reading!!
