A History of Mermaids

Lambert Painswick is in trouble. As chief Officer in charge of the so called Oubliette, a sump department within the Civil Service that has become the repository of the general public’s angst about our mysterious world, he deals daily with the strange and downright bizarre. When one day he receives a video purporting to show that mermaids exist, he follows the trail to a secret naval base on the east coast where it proves to be true. He does not bargain for the fact that he will fall for the enigmatic and beautiful mermaid Qyyn and risk his life and reputation to follow her into the underwater kingdom of the Mer. Initially, life beneath the sea is not as romantic as Lambert had hoped and seems to bring out the worst in him. He struggles in the Mer culture and fails to grasp the sophistication of their civilisation; he rejects the mythical undergirding of Mer culture and fails to see their complex worldview and their ‘gift’ – an ability to create ex nihilo. With the arrival of the Navy, Lambert is forced to make a grave sacrifice to save the Mer, with unforeseen consequences. The Novel focuses on the consequences of Lambert’s growing fascination for Qyyn and her people, the Mer. He, and they, struggle with the challenges caused by his decisions and urges. The Navy comes out of this tarnished as the age-old desire for invasion and conquest is played out on land and beneath the sea, between male and female.