Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama

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Monstrous Beauty

by Elizabeth Fama

Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences.

Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.

Hardcover, 295 pages

Published September 4th 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) 

 

Every once in a while there is a book that comes along that is very well written, researched and has interesting characters. But for some reason it's not something that I connect with very well. 

 

This is one of those books. I found this book takes a very unusual and unique twist on mermaids. It's very much a historical fantasy novel and an immense amount of details and research have gone into getting the time period right. 

 

With not only a combination of the mermaid myths, but also mostly taking place in a time of highly religious pilgrims living in New England. There is rape, death and a form of ghosts that all show up in this novel as the story sequences through tales ranging 100 years and the connections. The connections between the original curse and how it has taken affect on this family throughout the years.

It is something that I would recommend to fans of historical fantasy. Perhaps my only fault at not adoring this book is that I am not a fan of historicals, and was not clear on that fact when I picked up the book that it was going to be one. But complimentary to that fact is that I did finish the book. I loved the ending and the battle that had to happen to break the curse.