A spellbinding story of curiosity, love and obsession from the phenomenal Sunday Times bestseller
Imogen Hermes Gowar studied Archaeology, Anthropology and Art History before going on to work in museums. She began to write fiction inspired by the artefacts she worked with, and in 2013 won the Malcolm Bradbury Memorial Scholarship to study for an MA in Creative Writing at UEA. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock was a finalist in the MsLexia First Novel Competition and shortlisted for the inaugural Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers' Award.
A cracking historical novel – with a twinge of the surreal – about
passion and obsession, dreams and reality... The story is by turns
intriguing, touching, funny, sad and heartwarming. It will make you
laugh and it may make you cry. Mostly, though, the cast of
endlessly engaging characters will keep you turning the pages until
you get to the wholly satisfying ending... The Mermaid and Mrs
Hancock is superb.
*The Times*
From the first page of this dazzling debut novel, you are pitched
into a sumptuously detailed adventure set in the bustle and swagger
of 18th century London… The result is a wonderfully written and
richly descriptive novel, its brilliantly drawn characters driven
by heady and dangerous desires.*****
*Sunday Express*
Roll up, roll up, a true wonder is on display: a mermaid magicked
out of words. The author of this debut set in Georgian London
gulled me, by the zest of her writing and sustained authorial
slight of hand, into forgetting for a second that they do not
exist... Imogen Hermes Gowar delights in the feminine fakery of
mermaids, but as a writer she is the real deal.
*Guardian*
A sumptuous historical novel... It was an absolute pleasure to lose
myself in this beautifully written Georgian adventure
Hotly anticipated... a bold, sumptuous doorstopper... Gowar has
created a dazzlingly original novel, full of heady pleasures and
shot through with the kind of irreverent humour you might expect to
find in Georgian London. She’s succeeded in creating a
fully-realised world that you want to get lost in. But what’s most
refreshing is that she gives all the best lines to women.
*Evening Standard*
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