The Mermaid in the Millpond - Lucy Strange - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Lucy Strange.

ILLUSTRATOR: Pam Smy

GENRE: Middle-grade historical fiction.

RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: I knew this would be a great book because I had heard of this author’s children’s fiction works. But I wasn’t prepared for it to be so fabulous! Mind you, the story is quite dark.

Story:

11 year old Bess has left the London workhouse to work in a rural cotton mill on the promise of good food and shelter. Unfortunately, she finds herself overworked and underfed. She is antagonistic with the other poor orphan labourers who share the same gloomy dorm with no hope of escape. Right outside her dorm window is a pond, but they’ve been warned against entering it as there is supposed to be a monstrous mermaid dwelling in it. The only good thing in Bess’s life is the new entrant Dot, who makes a way into Bess’s reluctant heart. With regular beatings, work struggles reaching intolerable levels and a scary mermaid outside, will Bess be able to escape her situation? And maybe help Dot too? And what about the mermaid – is she even real?

The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Beth.

The title and the cover already tell you that there's a mermaid in the millpond and this will probably conjure up the image of a light, fluffy, magical story about a mermaid. But the mermaid is more of a secondary character in the story and the focus is more on Bess and Dot. I’m just mentioning this so that children/guardians opt for this book with the right expectations. It is not like the Disney version of “The Little Mermaid”.

Unlike typical children’s fiction, this story is quite dark and depressing. When a child character declares "You have to be selfish to survive", one can only imagine what sort of horrors she had undergone until that point of her life. Bess, with all her façade of aggression and strength, is still a broken-hearted little girl and you can’t help but feel for her in this story. She is determined to deal with life without anyone’s support, but how far can one go alone? Is it a sign of weakness to accept help from those who genuinely offer it? These are just two of the many questions the book provokes you to ponder upon.

Though the year in which the story is set isn’t mentioned, it is clearly a historical one, set at least a century ago. And this is brought out very well in the atmosphere created by the author. The picture of the depressing life in the workhouse and the mill dormitory, the physical punishment regularly doled out to the orphans, the hard working conditions for the underage labourers – all of these would not be ideas modern children would be familiar with, nor comfortable with. But we all learn from the mistakes of the past, and all these dark ideas can be very thought-provoking and insightful about human behaviour. Both Bess and Dot go through so many hardships in this story but the way they come together and make a plan to somehow get out is beautifully written.

This is a pretty quick read as the book is in large font and is categorised as "hi-lo" -- high interest, low ability-- so the content is age-appropriate for the target reader but the text is edited to suit a lower reading age. This increases the appeal of the book as it will surely reach out to a wider audience with this kind of approachable writing.

There are striking BW illustrations throughout the book, and these greatly add to the appeal of the story.

The ending is not exactly tied in a neat bow but it is on a hopeful and happy note. I would have loved to know what happens next. But as the title suggests, the highlight is the mermaid, and that arc of the story is more or less completed in this book. Perhaps there will be a sequel telling us how life continues for brave little Bess and brave little Dot.

Overall, this is a beautiful story of hope and courage and determination and friendship. Though gloomy in its content, it shows how important it is to have hope and to never give up. As Dumbledore said, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” I really enjoyed my first book by Lucy Strange and look forward to reading her other children’s fiction works.

Suitable for readers aged 8+.

My thanks to Barrington Stoke and NetGalley for the ARC of “The Mermaid in the Millpond”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.