The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock is a masterful debut novel from Imogen Hermes Gowar, set in a richly textured London in the 1700s

Book Review by Galen O'Hanlon | 25 Jan 2018
Book title: The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock
Author: Imogen Hermes Gowar

Imogen Hermes Gowar’s 18th century London is a richly textured place, full of industry, sex and the rustle of silk. Here, our protagonist Mr Jonah Hancock receives news of his ship, which his Captain has sold for a genuine specimen of a mermaid. This is no fantasy: Captain Cook has only recently established the existence of the kangaroo, so a mermaid really is not so far-fetched. Still, Mr Hancock is a businessman, and he sets out to recoup his loss by displaying such a marvel to all of London. This enterprise draws him into the dangerous, foreign world of high society – and the particularly bewitching courtesan at its heart. It’s an absorbing tale of curiosity and obsession.

Gowar’s prose is marvellous. Her sentences are bright with detail and fizzing with ingenuity. Take but one example where Mr Hancock arrives at a party that he is entirely unprepared for – ‘there is a splash of walnut ketchup on the calf of his stocking’ – and Mrs Chappell is there to greet him – ‘a vast toad in white muslin, her stubby arms outstretched and her legs churning up her skirts as she paddles across the gleaming floor’. There’s a beautiful balance of rhythm and intrigue, and an eye for what brings a book alive. We feel the trappings of whalebone, the warmth of powdered skin, and the descriptions of 18th century food are sumptuous. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock is a masterful debut. [Galen O'Hanlon]

Harvill Secker, 25 Jan, £12.99 https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1113246/the-mermaid-and-mrs-hancock/