Mermaids in Paradise

February 2, 2015
Veteran narrator Campbell takes on lighter fare in narrating Millet’s latest, a novel rife with wryly comic situations and a cast of unusual characters­—who meet at a Caribbean resort and discover to their shock that there is a colony of mermaids (whom they are instructed to call “the Mers”) just off the coast. A murder, a theft, and some exploitative land-development schemes ensue. Campbell is best when voicing the first-person perspective of Deb, a shallow but caustically amusing honeymooner who is initially skeptical about the mermaids’ existence when they are first discovered by her husband, Chip, an adventurous optimist who possesses a more charitable brand of humor than his wife. The dialogue between Deb and Chip is briskly paced and funny, making eavesdropping on them a delight. Some of
the minor characters’ portrayals are less successful. Campbell does not offer a
convincing Australian accent for the group’s videographer, and the hippie-
hipster couple comes across as stereotyped. However, these small flaws don’t detract much from the enjoyable overall experience. A Norton hardcover.

Starred review from August 11, 2014
Absurdity and paranoia permeate the latest novel from Millet (Pulitzer Prize finalist for Love in Infant Monkeys). The book follows a newlywed couple on their honeymoon at a resort in the Caribbean. Deb and Chip embody the modern American dream: they float above life, buoyed by career success, good looks, and booze. A couple of days into their vacation, a marine biologist, Nancy, disrupts their getaway when she chances upon a group of mermaids in the resort’s coral reef. After dispelling initial doubts, Nancy insists that the small crew that found the “mer” (politically correct nomenclature is key) proceeds with caution. She fears that if the information is leaked, hoards of reporters will descend on the island, endangering the mermaids and their reef home. Panic ensues when Nancy dies the following day in a suspicious drowning incident, and soon after media teams and soldiers flood the island. The original snorkel crew (Deb, Chip, a Freudian scholar, a Japanese VJ, a jaded academic) brainstorms how to save the mythical creatures—namely with videos, social media, and celebrity connections. In an era of uncharted connectivity, Millet comically deflates clear-cut distinctions between truth, fiction, and moral high ground. With equal parts calculated wryness and pleading earnestness, she delivers a thrilling piece of fabulist fiction.