Church of the Old Mermaids, by Kim Antieau - Book Review

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What a sweet, sweet read!  Kim Antireau's storytelling skills are like sweet music to this readers ear.

When Myla Alverez caught her husband in bed, her bed, with the neighbors wife she went into a downward spiral. Then she had a dream about a mermaid that gave her a feeling of hope and purpose. Stories about Mermaids began flowing out of her mouth as though she was some sort of medium to the mermaid spirit world. These stories were told to people who would come to the Church of the Old Mermaids, which was a table Myla sat up every Saturday in front of the Antigone bookstore on Fourth Avenue, in Tucson, Arizona.

Myla got solace from walking the dry wash by the Old Mermaid
Sanctuary where she lived since leaving her husband. (Or did her husband leave her by sleeping with the neighbor's wife?) She collected "stuff" from the wash to sell on Fourth Avenue. Some would call this "stuff" trash, but one man's trash is another's........

People would pick an item up off her table of wares and ask, "What's this?" Then out of Myla's mouth would come a fantastic tale about one of the thirteen mermaids occupying her mystical world of consoling redemption. Each story seemed to be just what that person needed to console their tortured heart at the time. And consoling people consoled Myla. It gave her purpose.

She created the Old Mermaid Sanctuary out of a need to help illegal immigrants. She took care of five houses for five different families who were very seldom there. She harbored the illegals on these properties even though she risked going to jail for doing so. They became her family, and vise versa. And, oh what a loving dynamic family they became! Then David Crow, the son of one of the property owners she was caretaker for, came back into her life, and this threw her into another tailspin for a time.  But, persistent and patient love wins out in the end.

Gotta say. I cried toward the end.  I will be reading all the Kim Antieau Old Mermaid novels, without a doubt.  On the back of this book I found Kim Antieau's blog, which is wonderful, too.

Kim Antieau Blog - as delightful as her books, and where you can find all her books and backstory.