Mermaids in Paradise
A Novel
20 November 2015
Territory Rights — Worldwide including Canada, but excluding the British Commonwealth.
Description
"Hilariously funny…Lydia Millet’s novels raise the bar for boldness." —Rene Steinke, New York Times Book Review
In this “comic masterpiece” (Salon), honeymooners Deb and Chip—our opinionated, skeptical narrator and her cheerful jock husband—befriend a marine biologist who discovers mermaids in a coral reef. As a resort chain swoops in to exploit the shy creatures, the newlyweds unite with other adventurous vacationers to stop the company from turning the reef into a theme park. Mermaids in Paradise is Lydia Millet’s most fun book yet, tempering the sharp satire of her early career with the empathy and subtlety of her more recent novels and short stories.
Reviews
"A writer without limits, always surprising, always hilarious." — Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! and Orange World and Other Stories
"Mermaids in Paradise makes brilliant comedy out of a honeymoon trip that veers from the absurd to the sublime and back again. Lydia Millet is a stone-cold genius." — Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation and Weather
"[A] deft satire." — Melissa Maerz, Entertainment Weekly
"Lydia Millet is the American writer with the funniest, wisest grasp on how we fool ourselves." — Charles Finch, Chicago Tribune
"A romp with sharp teeth…a slapstick variation on Millet’s abiding theme: the relationship between human beings and the natural world." — Laura Miller, Salon
"Millet, with her keen sense of the absurd, brings the book to a surprising conclusion, and makes a point about corporate greed and the destruction of the environment without being heavy-handed." — Moira Hodgson, Wall Street Journal
"Suspenseful, philosophical, and tropical—the funniest you’ll ever read on ecotourism and the wisest you’ll ever read on mermaids." — Natalie Beach, O Magazine
"A hilarious genre-bender that strikes some serious chords." — Jane Ciabattari, BBC
"[A] laser-focused satire…The novel has the shape and pace of a thriller… An admirable example of a funny novel with a serious message that works swimmingly. Dive in." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"With equal parts calculated wryness and pleading earnestness, [Millet] delivers a thrilling piece of fabulist fiction." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Standalone Ebook
9780393245639
COMING SOON