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Apologies
for my cover and not the actual one. I thought I was
getting the one with the funny disclaimer on the cover and in irritation at it being the movie one, I made my own. The book’s cover is too brittle
for me to slip mine off, so you’ll just have to take my word for that
William Powell and Ann Blyth are under there.
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Title: Peabody’s Mermaid
Author: Guy and Constance Jones
Genre:
Fiction, Fantasy
About the book…
Arthur Peabody has been ill, so as
part of his recovery he and his wife Polly head to a Villa in the Caribbean for
a vacation. What they didn’t expect though, was the strain this vacation was to
put on their marriage when the biggest catch on a day Peabody spends fishing
turns out to be a mermaid.
This was first published in
Cosmopolitan Magazine in serialized form from October to November of 1945 and
then a few years later published in actual book form. In 1948 it was made into the movie Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid staring
William Powell as Peabody and Ann Blyth as the mermaid.
What I think…
First and foremost, when reading this it’s helpful to remember that it was
originally published in serial form.
This book is good, but for its very
short length it would have been stronger if it were written by one person.
While this probably wouldn’t have been as noticeable in its original form, you
do notice it if you read this in a couple of sittings.
That aside, it’s a fun
imaginative story. A little simplistic at times, but engaging and adding a
modern (in the 1940’s sense) twist the more traditional mermaids stories.The
situations Peabody finds himself in due to the mermaid and his wife’s lack of
belief that there is one lend a subtle comedy to some of the more serious
aspects explored in the book. One of my favorite parts, which is also in the
movie, being when Peabody goes to buy half a bathing suit for the mermaid to
the displeasure of the clerk.
For those who have seen the movie, the ending
is different, but as I find is often the case, I preferred the book ending.
To
sum it all up…
Another one of those books that will do just swimmingly for a day at the beach or when you just want something light! And as the cover I wanted said “If you cannot bring yourself to believe in the existence of a beautiful and irresistible mermaid, this book is not for you”. ♥
Another one of those books that will do just swimmingly for a day at the beach or when you just want something light! And as the cover I wanted said “If you cannot bring yourself to believe in the existence of a beautiful and irresistible mermaid, this book is not for you”. ♥
How delightfully fun sounding! I've never read this book nor seen the movie version, but totally want to now. I wonder if this book played a role in inspiring the creation of the classic Daryl Hannah + Tom Hanks movie Splash?
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend & start of August wishes, my sweet friend!
♥ Jessica
As a warning it's a fairly slow movie, but it is worth a watch. :) They're so different in story, I don't know that it would have served as an inspiration or not other than they both have a mermaid. I did, however, find out recently there was another mermaid movie released in 1948 called Miranda, which sounds like it has some similarities to Splash.
DeleteThat sounds pretty cute indeed. The last thing I saw with mermaids in it was either Once when they introduced Ariel, I wish they had kept her in Johanna Garcia was great as Ariel. Or POTC: 4 where they introduce siren mermaids. That was pretty riveting actually.
ReplyDeleteI wish they had kept her too, hopefully she'll be back. I really wanted to see POTC 4 because of the mermaids and my family watched it without me and then returned it before I got to see it.
Delete