內容簡介
內容簡介 「有趣又充滿魅力，這本小說無疑是這位年輕作者寫作事業的開端」－－Vogue雜誌一九七五年九月的某個傍晚，商人喬納‧漢考克聽見一陣急促的敲門聲，敲門的是他雇用的其中一位船長，這位船長告訴漢考克他把船賣了，替漢考克買了一隻美人魚。隔天附近所有人都在討論這隻美人魚，漢考克不僅用這隻美人魚來展示收錢，還因此認識了當地知名的交際花安潔莉卡‧尼爾。兩人各自有其野心、慾望，隨著關係慢慢發展，兩人即將會發現無價的寶物需要用至高的代價來交換，小心你所許的願望，因為它可能會成真。這本出道作受到讀者好評，許多書評表示本書特別之處在於主角們個性鮮明，故事情節架構成功，你也許不喜歡主角們，但絕對會好奇接下來他們會發生甚麼事情；故事發生在英國喬治亞時期，滿滿的古典英國元素，讓喜愛這類小說的讀者們愛不釋手。作者有考古學、人類學、藝術史的學術背景，寫作靈感來自他工作的博物館裡的藝術品，這本出道作入圍英國知名女性寫作雜誌MsLexia的MsLexia First Novel Competition、第一屆Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers’ Award決選。Shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction“Wonderful… completely transporting.” —Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Circe and The Song of AchillesIn 1780s London, a prosperous merchant finds his quiet life upended when he unexpectedly receives a most unusual creature—and meets a most extraordinary woman—in this much-lauded, atmospheric debut that examines our capacity for wonder, obsession, and desire with all the magnetism, originality, and literary magic of The Essex Serpent.One September evening in 1785, Jonah Hancock hears an urgent knocking on his front door near the docks of London. The captain of one of Jonah’s trading vessels is waiting eagerly on the front step, bearing shocking news. On a voyage to the Far East, he sold the Jonah’s ship for something rare and far more precious: a mermaid. Jonah is stunned—the object the captain presents him is brown and wizened, as small as an infant, with vicious teeth and claws, and a torso that ends in the tail of a fish. It is also dead.As gossip spreads through the docks, coffee shops, parlors and brothels, all of London is curious to see this marvel in Jonah Hancock’s possession. Thrust from his ordinary existence, somber Jonah finds himself moving from the city’s seedy underbelly to the finest drawing rooms of high society. At an opulent party, he makes the acquaintance of the coquettish Angelica Neal, the most desirable woman he has ever laid eyes on—and a shrewd courtesan of great accomplishment. This meeting sparks a perilous liaison that steers both their lives onto a dangerous new course as they come to realize that priceless things often come at the greatest cost.Imogen Hermes Gowar, Britain’s most-heralded new literary talent, makes her debut with this spellbinding novel of a merchant, a mermaid, and a madam—an unforgettable confection that explores obsession, wonder, and the deepest desires of the heart with bawdy wit, intrigue, and a touch of magic.
