Mermaid's Pendant

When John Wilkerson, a twenty-six-year-old graduate student, escapes to the island of Culebra over spring break, he's ready to abandon his studies and his girlfriend Zoe for less technology, fewer responsibilities, and quiet contemplation of nature. What he doesn't expect is almost drowning in less than ten feet of water and a mysterious rescuer. John's efforts to figure out what he wants to do with his life and who he wants in it are hampered by Ana, Culebra's resident folk healer, a rival named Jesus, and a darkly seductive woman named Raimunda. Then there's the quirky, innocent, and very lovely young Tamarind who keeps showing up in the most surprising places. In this adult fairy tale inspired by THE LITTLE MERMAID, the prince must grow up to win the girl of his dreams, the mermaid has to choose between love and power, and both will be tested by the ugliness that distinguishes reality from fantasy.

Four years after putting off her tail to marry a human, former mermaid Tamarind Wilkerson finds her life anything but a fairy tale. Her husband, John, works long hours at a startup where his former girlfriend Zoë takes a job-and takes an interest in him. She's pregnant and lonely, stuck caring for a two year old in a world very different from life underwater. Her only real friend is an elderly woman named Lucy, who has her own family dramas and unhealed wounds to deal with. On the island of Culebra, where Tamarind's best friend Valerie still lives, lurks Ana, the witch who transformed her. Ana has plans for her young protégé, and she intends to bring her back any way she can. As Tamarind's ordinary human life suffocates her, she begins to wonder "Is this what I gave my tail up for?" And Ana's power begins to tempt her ….

Inspired by the beloved classic The Little Mermaid, THE MERMAID'S PENDANT is a modern fairy tale about growing up and discovering who you are-and what you believe in. At times lyrical, this novel is a fantastic journey filled with magic, myth, romance, and adventure. Four years after John Wilkerson claims the mermaid Tamarind for his wife, they have an idyllic marriage that depends on a talisman that she crafted on their island paradise. But Tamarind learns a painful truth: it takes more than legs to live on land and more than magic to sustain a bond. When the talisman breaks, she and John are forced to rely on themselves instead of magic. Three wise women play key roles in the young lovers' journey to mature love. Ana, Tamarind's aging mentor, casts spells and performs seductions to keep the lovers apart. Valerie, an expat jewelry maker cum fairy godmother, works her own magic to bring them together. Lucy, their widowed neighbor, grounds the couple in the realities of marriage, parenting, and family. THE MERMAID'S PENDANT is a story for anyone who has ever believed in the transforming power of love.