I got many beautiful books for Christmas: Annie Proulx's Fine Just The Way It Is (sublime short fiction); The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook (will blog anon on The Hungry Vegan); Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea. And today, a package arrived from my poet-artist friend who lives on Martha's Vineyeard, Marcella. She sent me a book by Margot Datz, a friend of hers, called A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids.
This is a stunningly beautiful book. The premise is that women sometimes feel like mermaids out of water, because that is exactly what we are. The book urges women to value and embrace both their power and their playfulness through wise words and gorgeous illustrations of merfolk going about normal lives. It is whimsical, feminist, positive, wise and uplifting. A lovely, cheering present for any woman to be given. Thank you, Marcella!