My Life as a Mermaid is an award winning short story collection by writer Jen Grow. It consists of a dozen stories which show people struggling with themselves and the world around them. The opening story is the title story “My Life as a Mermaid”. It is one of the most touching of the short stories in the entire collection.
It’s a story about a sister who is looking for a purpose in life while her other sister is off in Honduras helping hurricane victims. The biggest challenge she has is taking care of her kids and deciding what to buy at the grocery store. She makes her family eat with their hands for dinner one night to let them know what the families in Honduras must be going through.
She also gives money to organizations to help others and to relieve her of guilt and realize how lucky she is even though she is not that well off. She mentions that she feels like she’s living in an empty aquarium. The image of swimming and water are a common theme in this collection.
Another great story called “Still at War” deals with PTSD that a wife has to deal with on her own terms rather than what the army classifies it as. It’s a silent killer in her world.
“What Girls Leave Behind” is a sad story about a mother who loses two daughters due to her alcoholism. It’s not pretty when you see she compares her loss with what another mother did to her child. It’s a case of spiraling down the hole with no way out.
By now with this review you’re probably asking: Are there any happy stories? The answer is not really. This should not dissuade you from not picking up this book.
These stories remind me of an early Joyce Carol Oates, who to me is the queen of the American short story. Love her or hate her she knows how to write a gripping short story.
Anyway, I don’t know what to expect from Ms. Grow when it comes to long form but if these stories are any sign of what’s to come I would say that it would be great for the readers of America to dip their toes in these waters and bask in the talent that Ms. Grow has shown in My Life as a Mermaid.
