The Old Mermaid's Tale (Paperback)

by Kathleen Valentine (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Bravo! This is good, very good. These characters are people who will always live inside of me. I lingered near the end of the book, not wanting it to end. I love the way the story plays with fantasy and reality. Myth and the real. There is wonder and awe and the all-compellingness of love. Here's to The Old Mermaid's Tale, may it enliven the hearts and minds of many, many reader, for many, many years to come . . . -- Lawrence Jordan, Lawrence Jordan Literary Agency

I gobbled up this novel. It is enticing in the style of Fielding. The details are fresh and ring true. Lavish and exuberant, it keeps the reader interested from beginning to end. -- Ingeborg Lauterstein, author of Vienna Girl and The Water Castle

Product Description
Before the Edmund Fitzgerald there was the Carl D. Bradley, the Willaim B. Davok, the Betty Hedger, the American Sailor and many more...

In 1959 the St. Lawrence Seaway opened to international commerce creating a problem for seaport towns bordering the Great Lakes. Within the first year over a thousand barges and tankers from all over the world arrived at these seaports to unload, re-outfit and reload. While waiting, the crew, that had been at sea for weeks, went ashore looking for fun and companionship. Restaurants, bars, pool halls, rooming houses, tattoo parlors, and rumors of other - less savory - forms of entertainment sprang up in the blocks surrounding the commercial docks. Those parts of town acquired a deservedly terrible reputation.

When Clair Wagner begins college in Port Presque Isle she dreams of meeting a "handsome sailor with the constellations of the Northern Seas in his eyes". Into her life comes Pio, a beautiful Italian fisherman, who dreams of life on the big lakes under the aurora borealis. She meets Gary, the dashing son of a wealthy shipping magnate, who introduces her to Canal Street where she encounters The Old Mermaid Inn, a tavern that, as Gary tells her, "deserves its reputation".

But The Old Mermaid Inn, with its giant painting of a seductive mermaid, is home to some fascinating people including Tessie, the owner and original mermaid, and the intriguing Baptiste, a Breton mariner injured in a shipwreck, who earns his living as a musician.

With Pio, Clair discovers passion, with Gary she gains entry into the world of the commercial waterfront, and with Baptiste she discovers all-consuming love. But as her relationship with Baptiste grows she discovers he is far more complex and mysterious than she could imagine. He has secrets and his secrets will alter her life forever.

Set against this background - and that of the maritime and sea legends of the Great Lakes - The Old Mermaid's Tale weaves a romance that pays homage to the importance of stories in our lives.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Parlez-Moi Press (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978594061
• ISBN-13: 978-0978594060
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,023,334 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rich Reading Experience, August 5, 2007

By	Clare Higgins "higgeroo" (Gloucester, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Old Mermaid's Tale is an engrossing, captivating, moving story of growth, sorrow, joy, love, loss and second chances. I could not put it down. The descriptions are rich and vivid, from the full busyness of daily life to the quiet yet spellbinding moments when Clair is contemplating nature. Clair's progress from girl to woman is told with nuance, depth and compassion. Baptiste is the most hypnotic, sexy, unforgettable male character I've seen in a long time. His mystery and dark charisma draw you in, and yet up close, you discover his all-too-human, aching vulnerability. All the characters are fully alive and they really held my interest. I cared about all of them and what happened to them. A wonderful read that I strongly recommend.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars engaging, moving, richly entertaining, June 25, 2007

By	Ray (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

Settings described so well you can see, smell, and taste, characters so real you already know them, every day lives woven into a larger story of a way of life now gone, and so much fun to read you can hardly put it down. The love story around which everything else hangs is moving and makes you wish you could love like that. This book takes you into a world you wish you could visit, just to see the place and meet the characters.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and lyrical, November 9, 2007

By	Dennis Batchelder (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews

I was totally captivated by Clair Wagner, the storyteller of Valentine's lyrical novel, The Old Mermaid's Tale.

The story is set in a 1960's Lake Erie town. It's Clair's coming-of-age tale mixed with two love stories: Clair and Baptiste sandwiched between Clair and Pio.

Valentine sprinkles her book with delicious folklore tidbits: Baptiste's Breton sea-lore, Lake Erie seamen tales, and tales and folk music from the early sixties. The setting evokes memories of the unique life of each town before chain stores and hotels took over.

The characters are full-bodied. Sal, Baptiste, Tessie, Pio: they all deserve their own books. Valentine teased me with glimpses of their lives outside of the confines of this tale, and she left me with a longing to know more.

I was afraid that this would be too much of a "girly" book for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was sorry when I finished it. I'm looking forward to more tales from Valentine.