#the mermaid and mrs. hancock

[ijustkindalikebooks]

Current listen.

[nefarious-hopes]

[witchyfashion]

FROM THE CREATORS OF THE HAUNTING SEASON COMES A DAZZLING COLLECTION OF NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN GHOSTLY TALES. 'Terrific - every bit as good as an MR James collection' ROSIE ANDREWS, author of THE LEVIATHAN Featuring new and original stories from: Bridget Collins, author of The Binding Imogen Hermes Gowar, author of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies Andrew Michael Hurley, author of The Loney Jess Kidd, author of Things in Jars Natasha Pulley, author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory Laura Purcell, author of The Silent Companions Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of Pandora Laura Shepherd-Robinson, author of The Square of Sevens Stuart Turton, author of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street The tradition of a haunted tale at Christmas has flourished across the centuries. These twelve stories - authored by some of today's most loved and lauded writers of historical and gothic fiction - are all centred around Christmas or Advent, boldly and playfully re-imagining a beloved tradition for a modern audience. Taking you from a haunted Tuscan villa to a remote Scottish island with a dark secret,, these vibrant haunted stories are your ultimate companion for frosty nights. So curl up, light a candle, and fall under the spell of winters past . . . 'I absolutely devoured The Winter Spirits. Every story is a gem' LAURA SHEPPERSON 'Another dazzling collection. Chilling, moving and incredibly satisfying' AMANDA MASON 'Eerily macabre, hauntingly propulsive' JOANNE BURN

buy here

[nordleuchten]

I was tagged (a very long time ago, I am so sorry) by @my-deer-friend in this tag game for books. Maybe we can revive this before Christmas

Last book I read: Rivers of London, Vol. 1 by Ben Aaronovitch

Book I recommend: That is very much dependent on the person I am recommending to. The last book I did recommend was either 1793 by Niklas Natt og Dag or The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock Imogen Hermes Gowar.

Book I couldn’t put down: 1793 by Niclas Natt og Dag -I still have not fully recovered from it.

A book on my TBR: Let us be honest here; too many. One example would be Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.

A book I’ve put down: I actually never really do this – I put them down, but I will never not finish a book, it is a fight from time to time but each book that I started will be finished.

A book on my wishlist: 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster.

A book you would give to a friend: I am trying very hard to get one of my friends to read 1793 at the moment – but statistically the books I have gifted the most often are Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, Unterm Rad by Hermann Hesse or Dead Poets Society by Nancy H. Kleinbaum.

A book of poetry/lyrics you own: I have the most beautiful version of Friedrich Schillers collected works. My pride and joy.

A non-fiction book you own: I got myself the new Löffler/Pertrides Biochemie und Pathobiochemie and as much as I love it, I am still a Nelson/Cox girlie.

Currently reading: Blood of Elves (part of the The Witcher series) by Andrzej Sapkowski

Planning on reading next: I am trying to focus the many books that I have already in the loop at the moment.

I am tagging @acrossthewavesoftime, @ouiouixmonami, @kaxen, @clove-pinks and @theancientvaleofsoulmaking

[motherofkittens94]

23 Books in 2023

I was tagged by @readingaway

i have a bunch of book i want to read this year im already behind a bit but im gonna do it here is some

hare house sally hinchcliffe

daughters of izdihar hadeer elsbai

Shield maiden sharon emmerichs

meet me in another life catriona silvey

station eleven emily st john mendel

The shards bret easten ellis

spare prince harry

unwell woman elinor cleghorn

testimony mark hardbourn

the three body problem cixin liu

the women could fly megan giddings

Agatha christie lucy worsley

midnights children salman rushdie

the Parisian isabella hammod

wild and true relation kim sherwood

house of ghosts w c ryan

the mermaid and mrs hancock

the confessions of frannie langton sara collins

babel r f kaung

ithaca claire north

the long way to a small angry planet becky chambers

the marriage portrait maggie o farrell

what can you see from here marianna leky

tagging @mrs-storm-andrews @saltwaterwoods @lyledebeast @duchess-of-tales @softironman

if you like to :)

[little-randomness]

I found the book The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock to be incredibly boring and, at times, needlessly graphic.

[stmaryslibraryios]

The Mermaid & Mr Hancock’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar

Our two most recent reads were ‘Tulip Fever’ by Deborah Moggach and ‘The Mermaid & Mr Hancock’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar when we were transported back to the 17th & 18th centuries respectively.

Imogen Gower’s book opens in Deptford in 1785 at the home of Mr Jonah Hancock, a mild-mannered merchant. He is visited by Captain Tysoe Jones who tells him that he has sold his ship to purchase a ‘mermaid’. Jonah is aghast but is persuaded that he could make his fortune by showing his ‘mermaid’ to the curious public.

The gamble pays off and Mr Hancock becomes a wealthy man. This catapults him into the orbit of Angelica Neal, the most well-known and desired courtesan in London. What follows is a mixture of myth and legend surrounding mermaids and the story of a woman who is determined to survive despite her reduced circumstances.

This was a lengthy book and there was general agreement that it could have been shorter as a number of characters were not fully developed and could easily have been the subject of another story. The descriptive writing is often exquisite – London from the eye of a crow flying overhead to Angelica’s boudoir; ‘’Her table is strewn with ribbons and earrings and tiny glass bottles…. On the floor the crushed triangles of curl-paper are dense with the Wesleyan homily, snipped as they are from pious tracts passed out daily to the whores of Dean Street’’. 

Like ‘Tulip Fever’ we thought that the book could easily be adapted into a film and wondered if this had been in the mind of the author from the beginning. Maybe it will one day.

Review by U3A

[athenianwit]

atticus needed to know how the other godlings fought, how their gifts worked, and what worked well together. that was why he usually watched them alone in the stands, taking notes. with more and more of the godlings he started out with either dying or leaving without a word and more taking their places, he felt like it was more important than ever to piece things together. he was their tactician afterall. 

"just some light reading," atticus flashed the cover of the book to calvin, it was the mermaid and mrs hancock. something he'd found while stumbling through the library just a few days ago and was one of the pieces of fiction he hadn't read yet. at this point, olympia stretched from her seat and approached calvin to sniff him. smelling milo, she started to get excited and wag her tails while waiting for pets. "you alright?" something seemed to be on his mind, though atticus wasn't sure. getting out of his seat, the son of athena approached calvin with the bag of baby carrots to offer him one. 

Calvin had steadily been spending more and more time at the training grounds recently. As much as it was his usual desire to observe how the other demigods fought together, try to figure out where he fit in to that flow of things, he also needed the distraction. Needed a way to stop himself letting his mind wander. Ignore how certain things crept their way in when he wasn't providing himself some form of distraction.

"Well, for one thing you are, but secondly I'm also curious what you're reading." It was easy to flash a smile up to the seats, even as he continued moving with well practiced movements. Still learning just where to hit, but he figured he made up for it with the speed of his strikes. The constant dance of sword strikes form himself and his copy, switching places, a mental game to keep targets guessing. "Wasn't hungry yet, figured I'd just... Make something later."

[nefarious-hopes]

[spindleprick]

She is such a conduit of rage, it is a wonder she does not catch alight.

The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, Imogen Hermes Gowar

[hailbabel]

The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, by Imogen Hermes Gowar

If anyone is looking for a Harlots-esque novel, this would be a good read. Set in London in the 1780's, it's set a bit later than the Harlots universe, but I can absolutely see Charlotte as Angelica Neal, and Mrs. Chapel would fit right in between Margaret Wells and Lydia Quigley. It also explores similar themes of classism, racism, and the limited opportunities for wealth and success available to women, in addition to obsession, loss, and the way the things we want sometimes slowly try to kill us.

Thank you to @julie-slamdrews for recommending it to me in the first place. It was a lovely read, and I think I need to include the phrase "screaming hell bitches" somewhere in my own writing.

[nerdragon]

Watch "Favorite reads of 2020 (Fiction) : 2020 Favorite books : THE BOOK DRAGON" on YouTube

Today's video is my favorite fiction reads of 2020 ❤❤❤

[sixofravens-reads]

Finished Gallant! Now I'm torn between starting Where the Drowned Girls Go or The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock. I'm excited for Drowned Girls but in true Seanan McGuire fashion I'm sure it will destroy me emotionally, so I'm thinking I'll take a detour into some fun historical fiction instead...

[imagardenrose]

New book 📖

[freckles-and-books]

Currently reading

[stmaryslibraryios]

Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach

Our two most recent reads were ‘Tulip Fever’ by Deborah Moggach and ‘The Mermaid & Mr Hancock’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar when we were transported back to the 17th & 18th centuries respectively.

In Amsterdam, fortunes were being made by speculating on the price of bulbs and it is in this febrile atmosphere that we meet Sophia who has married a much older, wealthy merchant. Cornelius is very much in love with his wife and commissions a portrait of her with the young artist Jan Van Loos. Very quickly Sophia and Jan begin a passionate affair which leads them both into dangerous territory.

The author uses clever devices to engage the reader. Throughout the book, she has included photos of contemporary paintings which evoke the atmosphere of 17th century homes – very sombre but with faces and costumes lit with subtle shafts of light. Studying them does give the reader the sense of a moment captured and frozen for eternity which is a recurring theme in the book.

Our group agreed that there was an inevitability about the outcome but not everyone had anticipated the actual ending.  Another comment was that some of the narrative was irrelevant to the main story but the drama was relieved by one moment of humour thanks to the unreliable and drunk Gerrit, Jan’s servant. There was agreement that the book may have been written with a view to being adapted for film. This did happen in 2018 but I felt, as I often do, that the book was far more interesting than the film.

review by U3A