Since pre-history, people have stood with their feet in the sand and told stories of what lurks beneath the shimmering surface of the sea. They have told hushed tales of river monsters against the sound of babbling brooks. There have long been stories steeped in water, from accounts of shipwreck survival to the legends of selkies, ghost ships, and mermaids. They speak of our fears and dreams surrounding this strange element, at once destructive and essential to all life on Earth, and a perpetual enigma. To coincide with The Water Issue, we have collated a list of watery tales to take you to the shore.
Treasury of Folklore: Seas and Rivers: Sirens, Selkies and Ghost Ships by DeeDee Chainey and Willow Winsham
Informative and accessible, this is a gorgeously illustrated introduction to water lore from the co-founders of #folklorethursday, a movement that has people around the world sharing the fascinating traditions of their people. From the titular sirens and selkies to the demi-god Maui and the lost cities below the waves, it tells the tales of fisherfolk and sailors that still flow through popular culture.
The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
Off the coast of a tiny Caribbean town, a beautiful woman named Aycayia is cursed to live as a mermaid. One day she feels drawn to a boat, entranced by a song sung by a man called David. The Mermaid of Black Conch is both a love story and a tale of man’s incessant impulse to think he owns all that lurks within the waves. In The Water Issue, Molly Aitken spoke with Monique Roffey about the magical and folkloric inspirations for The Mermaid of Black Conch. The novel has since received a Costa Book Award and been shortlisted for The Orwell Prize.
The Island Child by Molly Aitken
Here is a quiet tale about motherhood and grief, steeped in Irish folklore. Oona returns to her home island of Inis, the place where she spent her early years bound by the traditional confines placed on her gender. Told through dual timelines, Oona’s story is one that many mothers and daughters will see themselves reflected in. It has been described by author Rowan Hisayo Buchanan as “the sort of book you want to sink into a hot bath with and not emerge until it's finished.”
Saltwater by Jessica Andrews
This is a beautiful coming-of-age tale told through poetic fragments. Hailing from Sunderland, working-class Lucy goes to London and then to her grandfather’s house in Ireland. There, in the bitter nostalgia of her grandfather's cottage, she pieces together memories and meditates on the shifting definition of home. This unique and distinctive novel is bound to make many twenty-something working-class women feel seen. Despite the fragmented style, the prose draws you in and holds your attention.
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
We are transported to the Thames in this watery mystery. A girl’s corpse is pulled out of the river and taken to The Swan, a river-side tavern famed for its storytelling. There, in the midst of the river-dwelling locals, she awakens from assumed death with her life but not her voice. A fight ensues between families who are convinced that she is a long-lost daughter, a long-drowned sister and the illegitimate child of a stepson. The question of who she is, where she came from and her supposed resurrection dominates the minds of the locals. They are captivated by the mystery as they listen to the stories of a man called Quietly, a ghost ferryman who gave his life for his daughter. Imbued with watery folklore and hints of magic, this unique story from the bestselling author of The Thirteenth Tale is bound to leave anyone feeling spellbound.
Bluets by Maggie Nelson
In this slim book, Maggie Nelson examines her lifelong obsession with the colour blue. Somewhere between a lyric essay and prose poetry, Bluets is at once universal and personal. From the colour’s significance to depression, to blues music, to the paints of artists who loved blue, these blue-tinted vignettes quietly move towards the nucleus of the author’s own struggles with grief and heartbreak.
The Soul of an Octopus: The Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery
Sy Montgomery wrote The Soul of the Octopus following the viral success of her Orion Magazine article. In ‘Deep Intellect’, now the most-read Orion feature of all time, she chronicled her unlikely friendship with an octopus named Athena. The story left readers fascinated and reeling with grief. In this book, Montgomery dives deeper into the myriad underwater worlds that octopuses call home, chronicling man's newfound respect for these mysterious and alien-like creatures. Rich with information about octopuses and consciousness, it is the perfect read for those of us who loved Netflix’s My Octopus Teacher.
Leviathan, or the Whale by Philip Hoare
Phillip Hoare shares his fascination with whales and the novel Moby Dick. Following in the footsteps of Ishmael, he charts the whale’s trajectory, from that classic literary narrative and whaling to the silver screens and the much-loved Free Willy. He seeks, in the historical accounts, biographies, art, and lessons from biology, the heart of humankind’s obsession with whales, in a bid to understand why these creatures loom so large in the collective unconscious.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
D.H Lawrence described Moby Dick as “the greatest book of the sea ever written”. Perhaps the novel’s success is down to its clear understanding of a deep human fear, cultural and archetypal. Ahab’s quest for vindication over the elusive whale that took his leg is a story that echoes through the centuries. We see this fear of the sea and primordial chaos personified in contemporary novels like Jaws. Hopefully, with films like SeaSpiracy, we will start to see the sea and its inhabitants as less monstrous, and more in need of saving.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Written in 1797, this classic poem still resonates with countless readers today. In it, a sailor stops a man on his way to a wedding and tells him the story of a long-ago voyage. A voyage inspired by the fabled Captain Cook and Thomas James. Through trials of hunger and omens and the angry wrath of the gods of the sea, we explore the natural world in all its harsh glories. From the life-giving sea birds that give the characters their tainted sustenance, to the churning waves that surround them, we see ourselves reflected in the characters. Coleridge is said to have used everyday characters so that the reader could see their reflection, and in it explore their own reactions to the supernatural. This story of survival is told in verse so precise that every word is an echo of the scene it conjures, and it is the birthplace of that famous line: “water, water, everywhere, / but not a drop to drink.”
The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar
Against the backdrop of a magic-tinted 1780s London, merchant Jonah Hancock becomes the owner of a tiny, dead mermaid. This event leaves him grasping for fame and fortune, shining a light on the ever-prevalent impulse to see living things as commodities. It is a story of hardships and hard choices, and of the reversal of fortunes and the strives for the unattainable. The mermaid becomes a symbol for all things that can’t, and shouldn’t, be. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock is the winner of a myriad of awards and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2018.
Sea Monsters by Chloe Aridjis
In late-eighties Mexico, Luisa doesn’t go home from school. Instead, she gets on a bus with a boy she barely knows and journeys to the water’s edge. But one reads this quiet coming-of-age story more for atmosphere than plot. The character is something of a drifting signifier, wandering an Oaxaca beach “aimlessly, purposefully and in search of digressions.” There is a mythical, hallucinatory quality to this text, which invokes a particular layer of Oaxaca that no longer exists. The character asks, “What are beaches if not a conversation between the elements?”.
The Odyssey by Homer
Homer asked the muse for a story of a man of twists and turns, and the muse gave him The Odyssey. This epic poem follows Odysseus, the King of Ithica, on his quest home after the Trojan war. Through the course of this story, he faces countless trials, sailing between far-off islands against Poseidon’s sea storm. He encounters sea monsters and is detained on Calypso’s island for years. Ultimately, The Odyssey is a story about a man searching for his homeland and his family. The recent Emily Wilson translation is accessible and beautiful.
The Penguin Book of Mermaids by Cristina Bacchilega (editor), Marie Alohalani Brown (editor)
These tales chart the mermaid’s appearance in literature, folklore, and pop culture. We are all likely familiar with The Little Mermaid and the sirens that plagued Odysseus; then there are other stories that appear here in English for the first time. It is a collection that invites us to not only gaze at the water’s surface but to look beyond it and see women’s and water’s place in society and spirituality. The accompanying commentary offers a deeper insight into the tales and their roots. The co-editor of this book, Professor Marie Alohalani Brown, wrote an article in The Water Issue, On the Hawaiian Mo’o.
Homo Delphinus: The Dolphin Within Man by Jacques Mayol
Jacques Mayol was a record-breaking freediver. He gained international recognition after the fictionalised account of his life in the French film Le Grand Bleu. The real person behind the myth is just as interesting. In this strange essay-cum-photo book cum autobiography, Mayol lays out his personal philosophy and spiritual ideas about freediving and humankind’s relationship to the ocean. He speaks about awakening the “dormant dolphin” inside us and hints at who we might one day become.