An Irish storyteller revisits the little-known legend of the Mermaid
Saint in a haunting, beautifully illustrated tale of kindness, music,
and longing.
Long ago, on the eastern coast of Ireland, a monk from the Abbey of
Bangor was collecting driftwood along the wave-tossed shore when he
found a boy washed up amid a circle of seals. At first the boy, wrapped
in a shawl of woven seagrass, could barely move or speak. But when he
regained his strength, he recalled being brought ashore by a lady with
long golden hair who sang him to safety and gave him a silver ring. The
monks knew the legend of a mermaid who had wandered the coast for three
hundred years. Could it possibly have been her? Inspired by a story told
in medieval chronicles of Irish history about a wondrous happening in
the year 558, debut author Marianne McShane weaves a captivating tale,
while Jordi Solano captures the legend's spare but welcoming abbey on
the rocky shore -- a setting that makes you believe that if you listen
hard enough, you too can hear the mermaid's song.