The Mermaid Quilt & Other Tales

A green mermaid, with eyes like agates turned by fire, waits by the bus stop . . . I was never the littlest mermaid, afraid to swim in the deepest parts in the sea, or to sing the biggest ships into madness . . . Mermaids permeate these stories and poems: A grieving artist sleeps under a mermaid quilt. A mermaid argues with a scholar. A pottery maker’s daughter befriends a mysterious stranger. A cowboy falls in love with the last mermaid. Two young girls discover a carved mermaid at a garage sale. A mermaid finds respite in a tree. And we learn what mermaids eat. From the frozen Arctic to Mexico, Scotland, Russia, Brazil, and suburban United States, these delicate stories and poems, sometimes funny, sometimes dark, shaped by myths from around the world, speak of love, revenge, and redemption. Written for adults, they unravel the heart songs of people who have been buffeted by life. They reinforce our yearning for something good and beautiful, and they reveal a fragile line between reality and magic.