Elijah's Mermaid

by Essie Fox

Saved from the Thames one foggy London night, Pearl grows up at the House of Mermaids - a brothel that becomes the closest thing to home. But despite being cosseted and spoiled by the Madame, come her 14th year, Pearl is to be sold to the highest bidder.

Orphaned twins Lily and Elijah are on a rare trip to London when they meet the ethereal Pearl. And the repercussions of this chance encounter will bind all their fates together, in a dark and dangerous way.

Bewitching, gothic and sensual, this is a tale of love and betrayal in a world where nothing is quite as it seems.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Gothic, Fiction, Fantasy, Mermaids, Mystery

406 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2012

About the author

My latest novel is called Dangerous, and it will be published by Orenda Books in April 2025. It's a slight change from my normal style of novels in that it's a historical crime mystery - but still very gothic. It's the story of Lord Byron in Venice, when a novel called The Vampyre is fraudulently published under his name, and he is then suspected of murder when several women of his acquaintance are found dead with wounds to their throats.

The Fascination which was published in HB in 2023 is set in the world of Victorian rural fairgrounds, the glamour of the London theatres and an anatomy museum in a shop on Oxford Street - based on one that really did exist! It's a book about deception, obsession, and what it is to be ''different'.


The Last Days of Leda Grey is about an Edwardian silent film actress who has lived in a crumbling cliff top house for more than half a century, until she confides her story to the journalist, Ed Peters ... who rapidly finds himself immersed inside her dark and eerie world.

I've also written three Victorian novels, the first of which - The Somnambulist - was shortlisted for the UK National Book Awards, featured on Channel 4's TV Book Club, and has been optioned for TV/film.

Elijah's Mermaid, features the hypocrisy in Victorian art and literature. It has brothels, asylums, and freak shows...not forgetting the mermaids!

The Goddess and the Thief is an 'oriental gothic', with Indian Maharajahs, Hindu gods and sacred diamonds ... including candlelit seances which are held in English drawing rooms.


My website is: www.essiefox.com

I blog as The Virtual Victorian. www.virturalvictorian.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Geraldine O'Hagan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is pretty much identical in every regard to Fox’s previous effort The Somnambulist: An insistent and yet tenuous link to a Pre-Raphaelite painting which is reproduced as the frontispiece, narrators who are simultaneously unrealistically knowing and suspiciously naïve, and a mound of Victoriana tropes and clichés presented with neither the skill or the humour necessary for the text to transcend their fundamental staleness and offer anything new or interesting to the reader.

We visit the standard locations for 19th Century soap opera texts; creepy freak show, gilded brothel, isolated country house, ill-regulated asylum etc. The brothel setting in particular is both overwrought and hackneyed, replete with sinister grotesques and dramatic but unlikely set-pieces such as the virginity auction. It also houses one of our two heroines, Pearl, an innocent in the midst of sin who, though cast before depraved, pimping swine, has nevertheless remained chaste, as well as being educated socially and academically to the standards of a lady by who knows what party. Our other heroine, named, with equal subtlety, Lily Lamb, is one of a pair of twins raised in obviously contrasting luxury and isolation by their grandfather after the supposed death of both their parents. Despite the blindingly obvious juxtaposition of their life-positions their narrative voices are almost completely identical, as well as being indistinguishable from the young female narrator of The Somnambulist (Phoebe, another pure, white name). All three are prissy, boring madams given to suffocating even the most basic metaphor with the weight of over-explanation, enhancing the drama of the narrative by constantly throwing questions at the reader (Who could it be? Why is this happening? What does this mysterious statement/personage/document mean? etc) and random actions that further the story but make no sense. All three, plus Lily’s twin, the titular Elijah, have some mystery over their parentage. All are prone to fall in love on first sight. All have issues with both sibling and inter-generational incest which are dispensed with quite casually. All address the reader in an identical style, that of an author rather than an active participant in events. Although occasional histrionics and hissy-fits are described, at no point do the words of any of the four demonstrate any emotional connection to events.

All the lead and support characters meet in the first few chapters of the book due to series of coincidences and unlikely circumstances. They are artificially divided from each other into several different configurations in order to allow for plot development. After many pages of exposition and character re-arrangement the initial plot turns out to focus on the question “Where is Elijah Lamb?” (this is a direct quote, not extrapolation based on my ability as a reader to follow the plot unaided, as Fox is unwilling to trust the that her readers will have such skills), a question much like “Who killed Edwin Drood?”, except that in this case I am not interested in the answer. All we know is that, after a few scenes of him committing sex acts on the body of a passive and possibly mentally ill Pearl he has mysteriously vanished, leaving his paperwork and Pearl behind in the possession of her ridiculously evil, sexually-troubled, demented drug-addict husband Oswald Black.
Having ignored this for some time his “uncle” is suddenly prompted to investigate the matter in the company of both Lily and Black’s cousin, who she is conveniently in love with after one meeting 7 years previously during which they barely spoke. Some Victorian gentlemen would choose to contact either the police or a private investigator before personally visiting disreputable houses to search for a possible corpse in the company of a vague acquaintance and a sheltered young girl who is under their protection, but not Uncle Freddie.

The mystery is swiftly resolved when Elijah turns out to be in one of the four locations previously mentioned in the book, which seem to constitute the entirety of English society, and which all of the characters regardless of their position on the social strata visit regularly. At this point the story rapidly descends into complete nonsense, as Elijah’s rescue party are obliged by pantomime villain Tip to liberate Pearl from the asylum to which she has been committed (concept from The Woman in White, all details identical to Fingersmith) in order to exchange her for Elijah. Why they don’t just overpower Tip and take Elijah back immediately is not clear. Why Tip thinks they are in any better position than him to rescue Pearl is unknown. The unlikelihood of Elijah ending up in the hands of Tip in the exact same brothel as Pearl was raised goes unquestioned. At any rate, the group are offered a perfect and “legal” (insofar as the law has any relevance to the plot) way to save Pearl by veiled Madam Mrs.Hibbert (who starts off as a Lydia Gwilt figure (Armadale), but turns out to be a version of Lady Deadlock/Hortense)(Bleak House) but opt instead to get Lily committed to the same asylum for absolutely no purpose whatsoever other than multiplying the problem, before rescuing Pearl using the entirely different third plan of picking her up and running away, which is unsubtle but effective. Pearl incidentally is suffering from exactly the same plot-convenient drug-induced insanity as Elijah, which renders them completely incapable of helping themselves or others but conveniently clears up within a few hours of their removal from imprisonment.

Following the escape all the characters convene at the aforementioned brothel, and after a great deal of hysterical shouting Tip proceeds to suddenly offer Pearl all the details of her family and origins which he has withheld from her thus far, before immediately being murdered once his usefulness is at an end. Then a great deal of events from The Somnambulistreoccur: a baby which was unknowingly conceived in Act II suddenly appears, as a happy ending is nothing without someone breeding. A lot of time-skipping occurs. Everyone’s long-lost parents/siblings turn up or are revealed during a series of revelations about their past and descriptions of events which happened before their birth and are more interesting than the current plot. Everyone inherits large amounts of property, and simultaneously finds a way to make an excellent living based on the very special talents they all possess, inherited from their parents along with the hair and eye colourings which Fox places great importance on, since they have to replace both personality and familial links.

Eventually all the loose ends are wrapped up, various characters conveniently murdering others off-page in order to save our heroes the effort. A postscript from 2012 describing the eventual fates of all our characters serves to completely remove the reader from the text, and Fox subjects us to 2 dozen pages of notes listing all the real-life places and events she has built her story around. She offers no explanation for the behaviour of any of her characters, which must remain a mystery. Although I suppose I can’t expect much logic or consistency from a book in which a 19th Century housemaid says to a gentleman visiting her employers house “Tell me about it!”

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why did I decide to read Essie Fox's second novel when I found her first, The Somnambulist, distinctly average? I'm not sure, but I'm very glad I did, because this book is SO much better than her debut.

Elijah's Mermaid is set in mid-19th-century England and explores both sides of Victorian society: the cast of characters is split between the members of a comfortable, middle-class family and the inhabitants of a notorious brothel. More specifically, the story focuses on Pearl, an orphan raised in the brothel and (at least at the beginning) ignorant of her future fate, and Lily and Elijah, twins who live in the country with their grandfather, a writer of fairytales. From the start, there are dark undercurrents to all the characters' lives, but these become more and more dominant as the plot progresses, starting with a chance meeting between the three protagonists in London.

Delivering on the promise that occasionally shone through in The Somnambulist - and actually living up to all those Sarah Waters comparisons this time - Elijah's Mermaid is a rich, meaty, involving story, packed with gothic details and delicious twists. As with all the best historical fiction, its detail has clearly been backed up with meticulous research, which adds interest and makes the machinations of the plot all the more believable. To say too much more about what happens would give away details which I think any potential readers would be better off discovering for themselves, but it's consistently enthralling and well-paced: I felt like I was disappearing into an alternate life every time I picked it up. The narrative is largely split, in alternate chapters, between Pearl and Lily: I did find their voices rather similar (Pearl's is, I suppose, slightly more 'coarse' - although barely offensive by modern standards!) but this didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book at all. In any case, (most of) their experiences are so different that it's not exactly hard to tell their tales apart.

I only have one thing to really complain about, and that is the relationship between Pearl and Elijah. Presented as the linchpin of the plot - indeed, from the title you would assume it's the whole point of the thing - it's actually rather weak, and I could never believe the pair were truly that enamoured with one another. I don't think this was helped by the fact that the reader never got to hear Elijah's own voice (apart from a few brief diary entries) and, in contrast, the brother-and-sister dynamic between the twins was very well-realised. I could believe that Pearl would have latched on to Elijah - after all, she had nobody else to pin her hopes on - but I needed to understand more about why he would have returned her feelings, knowing so little about her. Ultimately, I couldn't root for the 'great love' between these two characters when I didn't believe it could have been love to begin with.

That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed dipping in and out of the world of Elijah's Mermaid - a world I found it easy to lose myself in. I'm also happy to say that it is clearly demonstrative of Fox's progression as a writer, which is particularly impressive since it's exactly the same sort of book as her debut, ie an homage to the Victorian gothic novel. Here, however, the twists aren't laboured or unnecessary (one or two were slightly predictable, but not heavy-handed), the characters are more clearly drawn and the language, while lush and highly descriptive, enhances the story rather than holding it back. I'm glad to report my last book of 2012 was a really good read.

[Damian Dubois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me just preface this review and simply say I loved everything about this book. I’ve always found there is something magical about the Victorian era but this can no doubt be put down to my own imagined and romanticised view of it based on the period dramas that I’ve either seen, read or heard.

Set during the mid 19th Century, the story revolves around a young girl by the name of Pearl, who as a baby was found floating abandoned upon the River Thames and having been rescued from drowning is raised in one of the staples of all good Gothic literature, a house of ill repute. Cared for by the mysteriously black-veiled Madame of the House, Mrs Hibbert (pronounced ‘eebair’) Pearl leads a pampered and fairly normal life (if one can count being brought up in a bordello as normal!), blissfully ignorant of the fate that is about to befall her. For at the tender age of fourteen she finds herself auctioned off to the highest bidder, an artist with an insatiable appetite for painting Mermaids and desperate to find his muse.

The story also introduces us to another set of orphans, this time Elijah and Lily Lamb, both abandoned at the doorstep of a Foundling Hospital. From a letter penned by ‘Uncle’ Freddie to Augustus Lamb we discover that the twins are in fact the children of his deceased son Gabriel and that they were abandoned by their mother as she was in no fit state to look after them on her own. Augustus, an author of children’s tales, agrees to adopt the two children and raises them in his secluded country house until they are of an age where they can go out and fend for themselves. During a trip to visit their Uncle Freddie in London the twins’ story intersects with that of Pearl when they have a chance encounter with her at a local ‘Mermaid’ exhibit. From the moment Elijah lays eyes on Pearl you just know that trouble and tragedy can only ensue...

I have to say that I am extremely impressed with the way Essie Fox writes as she seems very fond of using lovely long sentences that ebb and flow with such feeling and emotion and come across as very poetic. And because of this ability to write in such a descriptive fashion you can feel yourself being drawn into the heart of Victorian-era London, both into the realm of the well-to-do middle class as well as the seedy underbelly of the city, all veiled in shadows and illusions (or a great thick, pea-souper of a fog).

Essie’s writing has also been described as being historically accurate and you can sense that a lot of research has been put in to give it that realistic quality.

For me this was one of those books that I just didn’t want to put down and was drawn back to constantly. Even during work hours I would find my mind drifting back to what I had read the previous night, hoping that the day would fly by so I could get back to it. The only downside to this approach was the book was finished all too soon and leaving me wanting to read more about this set of characters.

At the time of me writing this review Elijah’s Mermaid has only one hundred ratings which I think is an absolute crying shame. It beggars belief that a book such as Twilight has over 1.6 million ratings and this has only 0.01% of that number and is superior to Twilight in every way imaginable!! No accounting for taste, eh? If there ever was a book worthy of a much wider audience I think this is the one.

And just to finish off I wanted to include one of the ‘fairy stories’ contained within the book penned by the Grandfather of Elijah and Lily. Such a beautiful and sad little tale...

There was once a lovely mermaid child who left her papa in his palace of shells in the depths of the darkest ocean. He had pleaded and begged for her to stay, for she was the most precious thing he possessed. But she had such a yearning in her heart to see the airy light of the sun and to feel its warmth upon her face. So, one day, when her father was sleeping fast, the mermaid swam to the top of the waves and played with dolphins and gossiped with gulls, and rode on the foamy backs of white horses – until they all dissolved away, being so very far from home and by then having come to the mouth of a river.

There, the mermaid glimpsed a dragonfly, a creature she’d never seen before, and she found herself longing to stroke its wings, which were coloured a vivid turquoise hue, like the blue of the sky and the green of sea, like an oily, lustrous, precious jewel – a jewel she might give to her papa.

Wherever that insect hovered next, the little mermaid followed it. She battled the river’s downstream flow, heading past ships and bustling towns, then into the quieter countryside where each day the banks grew narrower, where each day the water grew shallower, until there was barely enough of it left to cover the mermaid’s silver tail, which by then had begun to scorch away, for the hot summer sun was beating down, the stream dried to a ditch of gluey mud. She wept salty tears ’til she had no more, and those tears left a crusting trail on her cheeks, as if slugs and snails had been crawling there. Her breaths grew faint and her heart grew slow, and with its last beat she gazed up at the sky, where she saw the dragonfly again, and this time it hovered so very close that the tips of her fingers could touch its wings around which the air seemed to sparkle and whirl, a strange iridescence of glistening light, as blue as the sky and as green as the sea – in which she would never swim again...

An easy five stars from me :)

PS: Not sure if she will read this review but if she does I'd like to say a thanks to Blair (a rather prolific reader on this site), because without her review coming up in my news feed I'm sure I would have remained blissfully unaware of this novels' existence and that definitely would have been a shame.

[Vivienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

From its opening pages I found myself completely caught up in the rich world depicted in Essie Fox's second novel. I found I enjoyed it more than I did her début novel, The Somnambulist. Again, Essie Fox has taken her inspiration from a famous work of art: John William Woodhouse's A Mermaid (1900), even though the novel is set some years earlier in the mid-1860s onward.

The novel is narrated by Pearl and Lily in varying sections with other documents, such as Elijah's papers, being introduced when appropriate. I felt Fox's elegant prose perfectly captured the Victorian era, yet remained accessible to the modern reader. The pacing was good and while some elements of the story were melodramatic, it was a very effective Gothic kind of melodrama. The villain of the novel, Tip Thomas, is a splendid creation as is the obsessive artist, Osborne Black. There were also plenty of Dickensian twists in the narrative.

Fox's end notes about locations and slang was highly appreciated as was her notes on the real life inspirations for some of her characters. The mermaid/aquatic theme that informed the narrative was very powerful as were the sections set in The House of Mermaids. There were also scenes that were reminiscent of opium-fuelled dreams and nightmares.

I adored this novel and Essie Fox has quickly become one of my favourite authors for this type of historical fiction. Orion Publishers also deserves special praise for the exquisite cover art.

[Lisa - *OwlBeSatReading* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essie Fox has created another outstanding Victorian world for me to pick myself up and plonk myself firmly in the midst of.

Elijah's Mermaid was a pick n mix of wonder, mystery and misery. I'm not going to go into what the story is about, you can see for yourself the basis of the story with other people's reviews and the blurb on Amazon and here on GR.

All I know is that this story is a logophiles dream! Such words! Such descriptions! I've learnt so, so much about living in Victorian times, and I'm so lucky not to have been around back then! It was an awful and wicked time for women.

After the ending, Essie Fox includes lots of information about her inspiration for the characters and story. A truly educational and emotional read. I loved it!

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Elijah's Mermaid" was an amazing novel to read. Like Fox's debut novel, "The Somnambulist", it is a gothic mystery set during the Victorian Era, but (other than the quality of the writing) the similarities go no further. "Elijah's Mermaid" is an entirely original piece of literature - I have never read a novel quite like it.

Stylistically, Fox is in a league of her own. As far as contemporary literature goes, I am yet to encounter a novelist whose language is as poetic. The theme of water was present throughout the novel, which was enhanced by the natural, graceful flow of the prose. The imagery is rich and beautiful.

However, there is just as much darkness as beauty in this novel, and on occasions the two intermingle. As well as their idyllic childhood in the countryside, raised by the celebrated novelist Augustus Lamb, the twins (Lily & the eponymous Elijah) must also navigate their way through the criminal underbelly of Victorian London. Drugs, crime, prostitution, insanity - it's all there, and each horror is dealt with masterfully. What makes the more terrifying aspects of this novel so effective is that, through the eyes of Pearl, they are perceived as a part of her everyday life, if not normal.

The novel is also an insightful reflection upon Victorian society; all too easy to understand how a stroke of misfortune could lead to ruin. There was nothing difficult about having a troublesome relative committed to an insane asylum, especially if she was female, and there were never so many steps down to prostitution as one would like to believe. "Elijah's Mermaid" is harrowing in places, and the first person narration enhances the experience.

Fox's characterisation is spot on. Lily's love for her brother, the urgency with which she tries to find him - all of it is real. The family dynamic between the twins and their Papa - Augustus - is also entirely convincing. Without such realistic relationships between characters, the astonishing chain of convents could not have been so compelling.

I could scarcely bring myself to put this book down. The plot is full of twists and turns that are never predictable, although always believable. The language is as stunning as the art detailed, both the paintings and the children's stories. The characters are absolutely vivid - I doubt I will ever forget them. This book bowled me over. Whether or not this is a genre with which you are experienced, I recommend "Elijah's Mermaid" wholeheartedly.

[Imi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading through the other reviews here, it seems that many people had trouble getting into this book but found it better later on. Surprisingly, I felt the complete opposite. I'm on a bit of a historical fiction kick at the moment and at the beginning I loved Fox's detailed and atmospheric descriptions of 19th century London. The premise seemed great and the characters and their backgrounds were intriguing.

I loved everything about the twins, Elijah and Lily, their backgrounds, their relationships with each other and the other characters, and Lily was a good narrator. Augustus Lamb, Freddie Hall, Osbourne Black were also believable and interesting characters.

My biggest disappointment of the novel was Pearl, the second narrator. At first I quite liked her. She had her own voice, especially near the beginning when she was using a lot of brothel slang. However, this voice and the connection I had with her drifted away throughout the novel. Her only purpose seemed to be the nymph-girl, that everyone was obsessed with, or the victim. To me it felt like her character simply faded. Maybe this change was a direct result of what she went through, but if so, I feel like that could have made more clear or she should have regained her spark at certain points. I found myself, during the chapters narrated by Pearl, wishing that it was all narrated by Lily. Part of this might be due to how grim some of the events in Pearl's chapters are (such as how she was treated in the asylum), but I think mostly it was due to the fact that Pearl had less of a distinctive voice than Lily (or at least I felt that way).

My other issue with the novel, despite its great premise and Fox's obvious talent for story telling, was that a lot of the reveals, especially towards the end, felt contrived and unnecessary. Most the ending felt all too convenient and too easily wrapped up as well. Maybe I should be more content with the "happy" ending, but this seemed odd next to the darker parts of the novel.

This is an enjoyable read for those who love 19th century historical fiction by contemporary authors, but not one that I fell head over heels in love with. Ultimately though, Fox is clearly talented and there is a lot I like here, so I'll be interested in reading more of her work.

[Nadia Popescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hand to heart, Essie Fox is by far my favorite contemporary author. This was the first encounter with her work and I admit I am hopelessly caught in her web of beautifully crafted words.
Elijah's Mermaid was entirely fantastic. For the first time in quite a while
I have a found a novel that drew me in to the point I forgot where I was.

The cover has such delicate and beautiful details that at first I mistakenly took it for a light fairytale work,solely because of that... but the novel broke my heart, the characters had such tragic stories that at times I could not bare the unfair challenges they had to face.
I was surprised by the very first pages that I was slowly sinking in a deep and dark, brilliant and compelling story that haunted me, and still does. It felt like this book had found me more than I had found it, it had crossed my life at the exact moment I needed it. This is very hard to explain, but Essie's words were the lighthouse in the middle of my desolate and bleak days.

The book paints the tragic life of three orphans Lily, Pearl and Elijah, in the dark times of Victorian London. The author managed to blend hope and despair, pain and sorrow,
betrayal and obsessive love in an evocative and heartbreaking story unlike anything I have ever read before.
The novel was dark and unsettling that I could almost smell the grotto and the tainted river Thames. The enchanting atmosphere and the remarkable storytelling qualities that the author has, made me understand that reading this book is like reading razors. You cannot feel the cut until you start bleeding.

I recommend Elijah's Mermaid whole heartedly to anyone who loves Victorian novels, to people who, just like me, sometimes find themselves in murky waters and desperately crave for a breath of unwilted air.
Sometimes you finish a book and can't help but realize that what you hold in your hands is a work of a art. Elijah's Mermaid speaks directly to my soul and truly deserves a rating system of its own, 5 stars doesn't do it justice.

[Jemimah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know that judging a book by its cover is generally an awful thing to do, but with this one it really pays off.

Elijah's Mermaid is a novel that stages the Gothic tropes of madness, obsession, passion and loss on the streets of Victorian London. All of the characters fall victim to these conditions to some degree, leading them from the respectable to the deranged and shameful. The narrative is told largely in the first person voices of Lily and Pearl, but is also interspersed with letters, diary entries, newspaper cuttings and medical observations, lending the tale a naturalistic depth.

Essie Fox writes very well. The imagery is original and tangible, and so much more daring than in The Somnambulist. It's hard to do the characters justice because each is so very different, but the pimp Tip Thomas is particularly well realised and horrible. His characterisation was so thorough that I thought him well on the way to being as haunting as Collins' Victorian villains Count Fosco and Captain Wragge (which is saying something because Count Fosco is utterly terrifying.)

Well plotted and imaginative though it was, I liked the novel most for it's literary richness. The author draws upon and highlights her own work with so many Biblical analogies, references to Shakespeare, Christina Rossetti, Poe, Kingsley, Hans Christian Anderson etc. that it feels like a very intellectual read. An appreciation of 19th Century Art and Literature on the author's part is evident in every chapter, and I think it's this that makes her own writing seem ever more admirable and engaging.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elijah’s Mermaid by Essie Fox

Review by Amanda Donovan

Elijah’s Mermaid is a Gothic tale about an artist’s obsession, mermaids, water babies, madness and true love. It starts with the rescue of an unusual baby from the river Thames. Baby Pearl is taken to the local brothel to be cared for by Mrs Hibbert and the slimy Tip Thomas.

Essie Fox’s descriptive writing takes the reader into the heart of Victorian London. She shows the contrast between the upper classes and London’s darker, seedy side in detail. Chapters alternate between Lily and Pearl’s point of views. Pearl’s seedy upbringing in the brothel contrasts with Lily and Elijah’s happy childhood in the country. The author creates a wonderful, strong relationship between the twins and knits the two sides of the story together with skill.

The characters are well-rounded and original. I enjoyed the relationship between the twins and could feel Lily’s pain when Elijah left. This is down to the author’s skill with description.

When Elijah leaves home to pursue a photography career with the artist, Osborne Black, the pace quickens and the plot becomes darker and entwined with jealousy, fear, Gothic madness and lust.

There are many descriptive paragraphs which may put some readers off, but once it picks up pace and tension in the middle, it is hard to put down. I felt scared for Elijah and horrified for Pearl. This book is a must read for all Gothic fiction fans.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original review posted on my blog: http://stephinlondon.com/2013/05/24/b...

I really liked Elijah’s Mermaid… once it got going. I’ll be really honest here and say that the slow start (for me, anyhow) was really the only thing that got me down about Fox’s novel. Other than that, the atmosphere, tension and brutally real descriptions were spot on and made Elijah’s Mermaid a very creepy book.

From the obsessive Osborne Black to the not-quite-right Uncle Freddie to (who can forget) the appalling chapters which took place in a mental asylum, Elijah’s Mermaid was at turns terrifying and beautiful. Fox has a way of weaving the damp, cloying atmosphere of the book into every situation and character to the point where I almost expected the physical pages to be dripping.

Elijah’s Mermaid was well crafted and, you can tell from the start, well researched. There’s a bit towards the beginning about Pearl looking out her window on Cheyne Walk across the Wandsworth fields. I literally read that bit as I passed Cheyne Walk and crossed Battersea Bridge (also a feature in the novel) into Wandsworth on my way home from work. I giggled (on the inside) and couldn’t even begin to imagine the sprawling urban area that is Wandsworth as anything but!

All in all, Fox has written a good, solid novel that I would recommend to anyone into Victorian London, women’s mental health issues or anyone looking for a foray into the fantastical.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up in the thrift shop because I'm a sucker for a nautical theme. Really loved this story, cute but with an edge. Pearl is a orphan that grew up in a brothel. She meets with Lily and Elijah, also orphans, and she and Elijah fall in love. The book takes place in a Victorian-style setting.
The writing style is very poetic, but not distracting. It's historical fiction but in my opinion borders a bit on fantasy.

[Kirsten Fleetwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a load of overblown, hysterical, improbable, over-long tosh.
I suppose the author stayed true to her Gothic Victorian genre, otherwise I pretty much loathed this book and everyone in it. It could have done with some serious pruning, good god it didn't half go on. By the end I found myself wishing they'd all go throw themselves in the Thames. Not recommended.

[Sienna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to preface this by saying straightaway that Elijah's Mermaid is a fascinating, well-researched, compelling book, and I heartily recommend it to fans of historical fiction.

It has taken thirty-two years to realize that I find it really awful to read about sexual violence. I'm either thick or an excellent gauge of my own taste, because it simply hasn't featured much in my reading experience. This novel doesn't actually contain much sexual violence. But the threat of it hangs over so much of the book that I felt weighed down by that oppressive possibility.

Fox crafted rounded, interesting characters I couldn't help but care about, and then she backed up their (mis)treatment with some genuine medical misconceptions and horrors lurking in our past. Actually, ladies, let's face it — for better or worse, our behavior is oftentimes still attributed to uniquely female conditions, not such a far cry from nineteenth-century uterine hysteria or its early modern counterpart, suffocation of the mother. Virginity and promiscuity are still equally bad for our health (or reputations). This medical justification for the abuse of women terrified me with its plausibility; Pearl and Lily may be fictional, but real women suffered at the hands of physicians.

This is all to say that I didn't really enjoy reading Elijah's Mermaid. But it was so suspenseful, so convincing, so well-written, that I couldn't stop until its mysteries had been revealed. I'm glad I persisted. High points: the descriptions of art and the photographic process, pre-Raphaelite references, and the cameo of Wilton's music hall, which featured so prominently in Fox's first book. I'd love to see one of Elijah's photos of Pearl. Could it live up to the silvery version in my mind?

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 / 3 stars.

Ugh, I had such high hopes for this book. As someone who adores neo-Victorian writing - especially the ones that highlight the debauchery and underworld of Victorian society - I thought this book would be right up my street. The synopsis sounded incredible.

Sadly, however, I found it to be rather underwhelming.

I am really conflicted over this. On the one hand, I can appreciate the great depth of research, skill and thought that has gone into creating this novel. I am impressed by the sheer writing skill Essie Fox displays; she fully grasps the Victorian essence and style in her prose. I loved that the main drive of the narrative focused on the two female protagonists Lily and Pearl, their POVs dominating throughout. After all, the said purpose of neo-Victorian fiction is to showcase and share the voices of those who were previously silenced. This was fab.

But I found the plot and pace to be incredibly slow, especially in the beginning. It was around the 200 page mark that things even started getting interesting for me, but then my newly grasped interest waned quickly and I found myself skimming the last 100 pages. I was desperate to simply finish the book and move onto something else. I lost interest in the whole point of the story. It just dropped off the radar and left me feeling kind of 'meh' once I had finished it.

It was somewhat enjoyable but isn't one of the best NVF novels I've come across.

[Jaffareadstoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to newbooksmag for an advance copy to read and review.

In Elijah’s mermaid, Essie Fox, has with Dickensian precision revealed a passionate story of obsessive love, and sordid betrayal. Beautifully descriptive, the highly regarded worlds of Victorian art and literature, meet the dark and repellent world of the demimondaine, in a story that abounds with duplicity, and scandalous intrigue.

Pearl has been brought up in the notorious brothel, The House of Mermaids, where she has been cosseted and pampered as a child of the house; however, as she nears her fourteenth birthday, she is aware that her innocence will be soon be sold to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, in a secluded country house, the twins Lily and Elijah, who were rescued as children from the Foundling Hospital, live in isolated splendour with their grandfather, the reclusive author Augustus Lamb. In an unexpected incident in London, Lily and Elijah, cross paths with Pearl, and the fickle finger of fate combines, to bind these characters together.
The dark and socially corrupt world of Victorian London is brought vividly to life, the narrative never falters, and the rich assortment of characters that flutter in and out of the story, add a fascinating glimpse into the shadowy world of the Victorian underclass.

Overall, I found much to enjoy in Elijah’s Mermaid

[Beth (bibliobeth) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the debut novel - The Somnambulist by this author so I was intrigued to see what her latest offering would be like. The descriptive prose was beautiful and the author has such an eye for detail, especially in character that I could visualize the foul Tip Thomas, the mysterious veiled Mrs Hibbert and the troubled Osborne Black. My only gripe with this novel is that the ending felt slightly forced, in that it could have been rounded up earlier.

Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.wordpress.com

[Maryam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The titular mermaid here is not as literal as I'd have liked, but I still ended up really enjoying this book. It is for lovers of Victorian literature - there are nods to Dickens and the Brontes and direct references to Victorian fairytales by Hans Christian Anderson. The writing is pretty but very wordy, and I do think this book would have benefitted from sharper editing.

What I really appreciated about this book is how it takes an artist-muse relationship and strips it of all the romanticization that similar dynamics have inspired in other works of literature. The artist here is an abusive, arrogant man who doesn't see his muse - ''his mermaid'' - as a person with needs, desires, likes, dislikes. It's a stifling, toxic relationship. The story presents a case against romanticization of things that are just not pretty, and I LOVE that theme in general - how we romanticize the truth to make it more palatable, our realities more livable. ''But the truth always was more prosaic than that.''
It's been a while since I've hated a character like I hated the artist character in this book - I would have liked to see him suffer a bit more.

The story has a bit of everything: obsession; romance; tragedy; secrets; betrayal; complicated, intertwining family histories. It's a slow burn that culminates in a surprisingly action-packed climax.
If you are a fan of Victorian fiction, and don't mind a book that takes its time getting to the good bits, you should check this out.

[Liz Estrada · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a disappointment. Besides the Victorian Gothic genre, which I generally like, there wasn't much else to save this novel.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first part of the book begins in 1850, with a delightfully Victorian-esque chapter title, and proceeds to tell the reader of the stranger who rescued a baby after her mother had drowned herself in the River Thames. The narrative voice used is that of this baby, Pearl – ‘the bastard child saved by the river by Tip that night when my mother drowned herself for shame’ – who was brought up in a brothel by the rather whimsical name of The House of Mermaids. This was a ‘most prestigious Chelsea abode’, where the owner of the house, Mrs Hibbert, indulged the ‘every whim of those men wishing to use the brothel’s services’. Pearl’s narrative voice is intriguing from the outset, and feels rich in both detail and atmosphere.

The second chapter of the novel then focuses upon twins, Lily and Elijah, who are adopted from Coram’s Foundling Hospital in 1855 by their paternal grandfather, an author named Augustus Lamb. They are taken to live in Herefordshire and are bathed with Augustus’ fanciful tales of make-believe. Lily adores her brother but feels she is shadowed by his ever-present beauty.

The chapters which focus upon the twins are told from Lily’s own retrospective narrative voice, and from hereon in Lily and Pearl’s narrative voices alternate for the remainder of the novel. A sharp contrast exists between these narrative perspectives – Lily’s is full of childish wonder and Pearl’s is often vulgar – and the juxtaposition of both voices is startling at times. Lily occasionally addresses the reader with questions in order to draw the audience into her story, but this technique does not work well enough to build up much empathy on her behalf.

The idea of the mermaid is intrinsically linked to the novel from the outset, when Mrs Hibbert tells Pearl ‘you were sent to us by the mermaids’. Lily and Elijah, who spend their days ‘searching for Treasures and Magic Things’, are inspired by Charles Kingsley’s The Water-Babies, and develop a ‘mermaid obsession’ at a young age. Whilst the stories of Pearl and the twins are unconnected at first, they soon encounter one another through a mutual acquaintance in the guise of a revered painter named Osborne Black. The way in which the stories are entwined works well, although it does take rather a while to reach the point of their meeting.

Fox’s descriptions are wonderfully written and feel rather original in their scope: ‘the winter air is a cool damp gauze’ and ‘the slip-slopping song of the Thames’ are among the strongest. The novel is stylistically strong for the most part, particularly with regard to the authentic sounding Victorian voice which Fox manages to capture so well in her letters. Fox does encompass many rife Victorian social problems in Elijah’s Mermaid, ranging from debauchery, orphans, the workhouse and the fear of institutions to madness, myths and freakshows.

Several of the phrases used, however, do jolt the novel from its Victorian setting, as they would not have been used during the period – when Lily ‘butted in’ to a conversation, for example. Despite Fox’s wonderful writing, the sentence structure often seems a little long and overcomplicated, and the reader does end up feeling drenched with far too many retainable details. Elijah’s Mermaid does seem a little too drawn out at times and the pace slows rather quickly, particularly when conversations between various characters ensue. Another downside to the novel is that we as readers do not really see Elijah’s point of view – instead, we see what Lily, and later Pearl, think of him. As a result it is easy to feel distanced from the characters, and to not be particularly sympathetic towards any of them.

The appendices feature a list of the real historical figures and settings which influenced the book, as well as information pertaining to the themes of the novel. Fox has also included a list of Victorian slang words – a useful tool, but one which would perhaps have worked better if it had been placed before the story began, rather than tucked away at its end.

Whilst the novel is an interesting amalgamation of Gothic and Victoriana, the twist which Fox has used does not come as a complete surprise. Elijah’s Mermaid is interesting enough, particularly with regard to the many Victorian themes which have been woven throughout, but there are elements of it – the lack of empathy with or feeling towards any of the characters, the few modern phrases and the lack of consistency with regard to the story’s pace, for example – which do not quite work as well as they could have done.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far too many twists and turns in the last few pages. The mermaid theme was well and truly done to death - less is more!

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Will they find me again - those ghosts? Will they follow and watch when I walk on the water? Look! I am doing it now. You might think me mad to say such things but my thoughts are so clear as the beads of light that gleam on the stone of the obelisk, that sparkle like gems in bare branches of trees, so bright that I have to lift my hands to protect my eyes from the glare of the sun - the white jewel that has turned the whole wide world into this dreamland of ice and stone." Pearl

Elijah's Mermaid is broken up into four parts, with three young protagonists: Pearl, Elijah, and Lily taking turns telling their story. The setting is Victorian London. Essie Fox again, in this her second novel, proliferates each page with such realistic Victorian dialogue and an enchanting writing style the reader feels as if they are walking along Cheyne Walk in Chelsea when Pearl is found in The Thames and later on with The Lamb's at their residence, Kingsland House, Kingsland, Herefordshire, England around 1855.

Not only does Essie Fox know the Victorian era, she knows her Pre-Raphaelites as well; her passion leaps off every page. Some names are obvious i.e. Gabriel, Millais, and Rossetti mentioned but physical and descriptive hints could be found if you are familiar with such notables of The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (Brethren) Indeed! It could just be me reading too much into it but grandfather of Lily and Elijah's Augustus Lamb was reminiscent of grandfather to his granddaughter and grandson Sir Edward Burne-Jones! Even The Lamb's loving glimpses of conversations between Lily and Augustus reminded me so much of Three Houses by Angela Thirkell!

Water is the primary element holding the basis of the story together for good reason which is later explained as the story of Pearl intertwines with Lily and Elijah once the story gets darker and more Gothic. Mermaid is in the title for specific reasons as Essie Fox first introduces the reader to a young woman found drowned in The Thames; then baby Pearl is discovered in 1850 and I just loved how she later describes herself, 'the bastard child saved by the river by Tip that night when my mother drowned herself for shame’ – who was brought up in a brothel by the rather whimsical name of The House of Mermaids. This was a ‘most prestigious Chelsea abode’, where the owner of the house, Mrs Hibbert, indulged the ‘every whim of those men wishing to use the brothel’s services.'

There are brothels, beautiful gardens and freak shows that appear as the story gets darker; more characters are there to 'guide' Lily and Elijah i.e. the absolutely horrible and hated Osbourne Black, the ever present Mrs. Hibbert and Uncle Frederick Hall etc. They are needed as numerous red herrings, twists, turns abound in this luscious Victorian Gothic tale. Pay attention and keep your wits about you for not everything is as it appears!

In closing, if you dear reader find yourself at a loss or just confused with these characters and their motives, fear not, for Essie Fox writes a helpful 'summation' of sorts at the end entitled, 'The Real Historical Characters Who Have Influenced Those In Elijah's Mermaid' along with a vocabulary list of Victorian Slang.

In fairness, I did not find much lacking in Elijah's Mermaid. I feel I must say something so any readers who are not used to reading Victorian era slang and 19th century dialogue might be put off or find themselves growing impatient. There are also numerous characters, London locations and places mentioned so again it might be off-putting. However, I revel in this sort of Victorian cultural and Gothic tale. I rarely find such a beautifully written one, as well.

I highly recommend Elijah's Mermaid by Essie Fox. This her second novel is even more entertaining and engaging than her first effort The Somnambulist, though, I loved it as well!

Elijah's Mermaid by Essie Fox is out now available in the United Kingdom. This was my purchase and not a free copy.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elijah’s Mermaid by Essie Fox is a thrilling tale of love and betrayal which sweeps the reader through 19th century England, from London’s murky brothels to the contrasting upper-class society.

The novel follows Lily and Elijah, orphaned twins who are taken to live with their grandfather on a prosperous estate, and Pearl, and orphan who grows up in a brothel being groomed for life as a prostitute. A chance meeting of all three in a freak show tent leads to their very different lives becoming entwined.

Without giving too much away about the book for those who might go on to read it, the story is told from two perspectives – Lily and Pearl’s – and follows the twists and turns in their lives as they grow up. I do feel it’s a shame that there isn’t another part told from Elijah’s perspective, but the mixed-media style, with its inclusion of newspaper cuttings and diary entries, gives alternative accounts of events and offers the reader a small insight into various other character’s experiences, including Elijah’s.

I was a little disappointed that all the females in the novel seemed very much to be victims of the ‘stronger’, domineering males – put perhaps this simply reflects the situation most women were in at the time, particularly when considering the way women were treated as the weaker, unstable sex.

One of the things I loved about reading this novel is the bizarre, often unsettling images Fox includes – from the misshapen physical manifestations of syphilis, shrivelled mermaids and the awful treatment of women medically in mental institutions.

Although at times I felt the story lost its focus at points, Fox writes with suspense, painting a picture of what Victorian London’s gloomy underbelly was like for all walks of life without being excessively descriptive, resulting in a dark and unsettling social commentary that surely cannot fail to capture the imagination!


Read more reviews on a wide range of books, mainly fiction, on my blog: http://snazzybooks.wordpress.com/

[Bess]

Did not finish.

Either write in the accurate fat-appreciation of the time period, or don't at all. Especially don't mix your own fat-phobic views of fat women with the entirely different views of the time.

don't call a woman Rubenesque then describe her "giant hams of arms", ffs my dudes.

[Kate Forsyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elijah’s Mermaid is best described as a dark Gothic Victorian melodrama about the lives of two sets of orphans. One is the beautiful and wistful Pearl, found as a baby after her mother drowned in the Thames, and raised in a brothel with the rather whimsical name of The House of Mermaids. The other two are the twins Elijah and Lily, also abandoned, but lucky enough to be adopted by their grandfather, an author named Augustus Lamb.
The voices of Pearl and Lily alternate. At first Pearl’s voice is full of street slang and lewd words, but as she grows up many of these are discarded. For the first third of the book, the only points of contact are the children’s fascination with mermaids and water-babies (Pearl has webbed feet), but then they meet by chance at a freak show in which a fake mermaid is exhibited. After that, their lives slowly entwine.
Although the pace is leisurely, the story itself is intense and full of drama and mystery. The Victorian atmosphere is genuinely creepy. I could feel the chill swirl of the fog, and hear the clatter of the horses’ hooves on the cobblestones, and see Lily struggling to run in her corset and bustle. The story’s action takes place in freak shows, brothels, midnight alleys, underground grottos, and a madhouse, and so the dark underbelly of Victorian society is well and truly turned to the light. Yet this is a novel about love and redemption, as well as obsession and murder, and the love between the twins, and between Elijah and Pearl, is beautifully done.

[Marguerite Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victorian Gothic, an intricate story with a rich cast of characters and lots of plot twists, threaded through with some real and quite disturbing history.

This book is all of those things, and I'm struggling to articulate why it still didn't quite work for me. It's well-written, the ambiance is beautifully evoked, it's complex - but ultimately it left me a bit cold. As with her previous book, The Somnambulist, I struggled to empathise with the main characters. I never got to know or understand Elijah, and felt that the relationship between him and his twin Lily, which had such potential, was left largely unexplored. Lily herself, though a key character, was too transparent, her behaviour often contradictory - her experience, for example, of trawling Covent Garden in the middle of the night, felt oddly unemotional, and her voice, overall, felt quite distant. Similarly with Pearl, though this might have been intentional - I never really engaged with her, I never felt for as I should have, considering all that she had to endure. I wonder, as I often do when I've struggled to empathise, if I'm missing the point of the book. It is a great story, as I've said, it's beautifully told - am I wanting something from it that it doesn't pretend to provide? But surely engaging with the characters is the point of any story?

I will definitely read more of Ms Fox's work, because the stories she weaves are the kind of stories I love to read, but I do hope that the next one is more emotionally satisfying (and a bit shorter).

[Becca ♡ PrettyLittleMemoirs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elijah’s Mermaid by Essie Fox
Published by: Orion
Available: May 2013 in Paperback/Hardback/eBook £12.99

Elijah’s Mermaid was set in mid 19th Century London, England, where the setting is detailed as Victorian Gothic and bewitching; which I instantly noticed as the storyline progressed quickly. The story fixed on Pearl—an orphan raised in a brothel, and also focused on Lily and Elijah—twins, who live in the country with their grandfather, Augustus Lamb; a writer of fairytales. From the very start I knew there was a darkness dwelling in each character, though although not all the obsessive, powerful darkness came to the surface, I could tell it was there and got stronger as the book developed. There were glimmers of a grand love for Elijah and Pearl, two characters who didn’t only have an instant connection but underlying roots that would draw them closer. Elijah’s Mermaid told of a story-world I easily fell into and as I read more, it was obvious that I wasn’t putting the book down until I had finished. Overall, it was fascinating, with gripping characters and twists and turns that kept me wanting to read more and more. A true five star read.

You can also read this review at prettylittlememoirs.blogspot.com

Many thanks to lovereading.co.uk for the copy of this book!

xo Becca

[༺Kiki༻ · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you liked this book, you might also enjoy:

✱ The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
✱ The Museum of Extraordinary Things
✱ The Painted Girls
✱ Possession
✱ Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
✱ In the Company of the Courtesan

[Kate Mayfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fusion of two or more toes, syndactyly, commonly known as webbed feet,
is the condition in which the aptly named Pearl enters the dark world author
Essie Fox has created in her second Victorian novel, Elijah's Mermaid.

Characters both sympathetic and loathsome fill the pages, and if you're
looking to read a book with a memorable villain, this is your intriguing
winter read by the fire.

As the danger and drama accelerates, the author convincingly leads the
reader through the turns and spins of each character's fate. Obsession
consumes more than one of Elijah's Mermaid's colourful cast as the story is
played out in a snake pit of wrong assumptions.

Fans of Victorian London's underworld, artists, and the beautiful creature
that is the Thames and its surroundings, will be more than amply satisfied.
Florid prose is juxtaposed with the treacherous world Essie Fox has painted
with vivid scenes and settings until the very end of this unusual and
entertaining story.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book off not really knowing what to expect, but the story got better as it went along and i got immersed in the story of Elijah and Pearl. i liked the way each chapter was a different characters point of view and story line and it really captured the victorian era (one of my favourite era's). i also liked the historical facts and notes about where Essie Fox got her ideas from, i liked that it was a nice touch. this is the second book by Fox i have read and will read the other one as i like her style of writing.