The Mermaids Singing

This stunning first novel explores three generations of contemporary Irish-American mothers and daughters, vividly depicting truths universal to all families.Teenage Grainne travels to an island off the coast of Ireland, accompaning her grandmother, Cliona, a woman she thought was dead. Uprooted from her Boston home, Grainne arrives at Inis Muruach, "The Land of the Mermaids", hoping to meet the father she has never known, while she deals with the memories of her mother's recent death from cancer. Contemplating her difficult granddaughter, Cliona recalls her own period spent in America and her turbulent relationship with her wild daughter, Grace. Woven within these stories is the impassioned voice of Grace, a sensual and persuasive force of nature. As the lies and secrets painfully fall away, the past, present and future come together through a series of illuminating revelations, and grandmother, mother and child become bound through a larger circle of love.