Carolyn Turgeon
Author of Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale
About the Author
Image credit: photo by Joi Brozek, at Dollywood
Series
Works by Carolyn Turgeon
The Mermaid Handbook: An Alluring Treasury of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects (The Enchanted Library) (2018) 103 copies, 2 reviews
The Unicorn Handbook: A Spellbinding Collection of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects (The Enchanted Library) (2020) 58 copies, 1 review
The Faerie Handbook: An Enchanting Compendium of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects (2017) 20 copies, 1 review
Faerie Magazine, #36 Autumn 2016: Vintage & Victoriana (2016) — Editor-in-chief — 6 copies, 1 review
Faerie Magazine, #42 Spring 2018: The J.R.R. Tolkien Issue (2018) — Editor-in-chief — 5 copies, 1 review
Faerie Magazine, #38 Spring 2017: The Warriors & Goddesses Issue (2017) — Editor-in-chief — 4 copies, 1 review
Enchanted Living, #47 Summer 2019: The Art Nouveau Issue (2019) — Editor-in-chief — 3 copies, 1 review
Enchanted Living, #54 Spring 2021: The Faerie Queen Issue (2021) — Editor-in-chief — 2 copies, 1 review
Faerie Magazine, #39 Summer 2017: A Midsummer Faerie Court (2017) — Editor-in-chief — 2 copies, 1 review
Enchanted Living, #52 Autumn 2020: The Natural Magic Issue (2020) — Editor-in-chief — 2 copies, 1 review
Faerie Magazine, #44 Autumn 2018: Outlander Issue — Editor-in-chief — 2 copies
Faerie Magazine Issue 43 Summer 2018 (The Mermaid Issue) (2018) — Editor-in-chief — 2 copies, 1 review
Enchanted Living #73 1 copy
La Llorona 1 copy
Faerie Magazine, #37 Winter 2016: The Naughty & Nice Issue (2016) — Editor-in-chief — 1 copy, 1 review
Enchanted Living, #51 Summer 2020: The Magical Beasts Issue (2020) — Editor-in-chief — 1 copy, 1 review
Enchanted Living, #50 Spring 2020: The Pre-Raphaelite Issue (2020) — Editor-in-chief — 1 copy, 1 review
Associated Works
The Faerie Handbook: An Enchanting Compendium of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects (The Enchanted Library) (2017) — Editor in chief, some editions — 101 copies, 2 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Pennsylvania State University (English and Italian Literature)
University of California, Los Angeles (MA - Comparative Literature) - Occupations
- editor
- Agent
- Elaine Markson
Gary Johnson - Short biography
- I’m Carolyn Turgeon, and I’m the author of novels. I’m also the editor-in-chief/part owner of Enchanted Living (formerly Faerie Magazine), a quarterly print publication.
I love travel and adventure and have attended mermaid camp at Weeki Wachee (where I swam in a tail with glamorous mermaids and a wild manatee), spent five days at a witch camp in Woodstock, and was scuba certified in Corn Island, Nicaragua, by a dive instructor from Spain, then dove with sharks in the Bahamas. I’ve visited Italy numerous times to research a new novel (and was in a PhD program at UCLA way back when, studying medieval Italian poetry) and this past spring visited a count’s private archives in the same Florence library where Hannibal Lecter worked in the Thomas Harris books. [adapted from the website] - Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- North Carolina, USA
Members
Reviews
There is a hazy quality to Rain Village that disguises the harsher aspects of Tessa’s world. Everything from her familial relationships to her time at the circus is impressionistic. Readers get the idea of what happens without having to deal with exacting details. It is very much a coping mechanism for Tessa that spills over into the rest of the novel, one that causes the novel to be more picturesque than it really should be given everything that happens to her over the course of her show more childhood. Still, the dream-like quality of the narrative works well given the larger-than-life personality of Mary and the fantastic aspects of the circus. There is poetry to the prose that beautifies the imagery and events, making this coming-of-age story even more special.
Tessa is an amazing girl. While the psychological damage done to her by the verbal and physical abuse heaped on her by her family is great indeed and an obvious aspect of her character, she does not understand what it means to give in to despair. She risks her body and her life not only to escape the pain of her childhood but also to prove to herself that she is more than her outward appearance. It is both admirable and painful to watch her tear herself to pieces, literally and figuratively, in order to heal.
The psychology behind Rain Village is intriguing. Not only does Tessa harbor scars from her past, Mary does as well. The mystery behind Mary’s scars is what fuels Tessa and yet prevents her from moving on with her life. In many ways, Mary’s presence in her life is just as damaging to Tessa’s psyche as her father’s physical and mother’s verbal abuse for the simple fact that Tessa cannot let Mary rest in peace. She cannot move forward with her life as a wife and star performer because she is still stuck in the past with Mary – the one person who is most responsible for her rescue. It is an unexpected twist in what appears to be a fairly straightforward story.
Rain Village at its heart is a very simple story about a girl who overcomes adversity through her own tenacity and the guidance of an amazing and eclectic woman. Underneath its surface though lies a morass of psychological and spiritual complications that drive Tessa’s determination and yet cause her growth to halt. It is fascinating take on the nature versus nurture debate of child-rearing, but most importantly, it is a beautiful story about the power of love. show less
Tessa is an amazing girl. While the psychological damage done to her by the verbal and physical abuse heaped on her by her family is great indeed and an obvious aspect of her character, she does not understand what it means to give in to despair. She risks her body and her life not only to escape the pain of her childhood but also to prove to herself that she is more than her outward appearance. It is both admirable and painful to watch her tear herself to pieces, literally and figuratively, in order to heal.
The psychology behind Rain Village is intriguing. Not only does Tessa harbor scars from her past, Mary does as well. The mystery behind Mary’s scars is what fuels Tessa and yet prevents her from moving on with her life. In many ways, Mary’s presence in her life is just as damaging to Tessa’s psyche as her father’s physical and mother’s verbal abuse for the simple fact that Tessa cannot let Mary rest in peace. She cannot move forward with her life as a wife and star performer because she is still stuck in the past with Mary – the one person who is most responsible for her rescue. It is an unexpected twist in what appears to be a fairly straightforward story.
Rain Village at its heart is a very simple story about a girl who overcomes adversity through her own tenacity and the guidance of an amazing and eclectic woman. Underneath its surface though lies a morass of psychological and spiritual complications that drive Tessa’s determination and yet cause her growth to halt. It is fascinating take on the nature versus nurture debate of child-rearing, but most importantly, it is a beautiful story about the power of love. show less
What a fantastic book. Lil thinks she is the fairy godmother who was supposed to send Cinderella to the ball. However, by the time she got to Cinderella, Cinderella was much more broken then Lil was able to handle. Lil took her place at the ball, and because of it she lost her life with the other fairies and was forced to live her days in the human world.
In the present, Lil is now an old lady working in a book shop. She thinks she has found the opportunity to set things right by setting up show more George, the book shop owner and Veronica, the hairdresser.
Everything Lil feels from Cinderella and the others around her is expressed so beautifully, to the point where I felt genuine anxiety for them. The ending was an interesting twist (I don't want to give it away) and I only wish they had elaborated just a little bit more on said twist. The story alternates from present day to the past and sometimes the changes seem slightly abrupt, but more often then not they are orchestrated well enough to appear seamless. I hope this author continues to produce beautiful works such as this one. show less
In the present, Lil is now an old lady working in a book shop. She thinks she has found the opportunity to set things right by setting up show more George, the book shop owner and Veronica, the hairdresser.
Everything Lil feels from Cinderella and the others around her is expressed so beautifully, to the point where I felt genuine anxiety for them. The ending was an interesting twist (I don't want to give it away) and I only wish they had elaborated just a little bit more on said twist. The story alternates from present day to the past and sometimes the changes seem slightly abrupt, but more often then not they are orchestrated well enough to appear seamless. I hope this author continues to produce beautiful works such as this one. show less
Not the light read I was expecting, this book walks a tightrope between fact and fantasy and it's difficult to determine what is which. Is Lil Cinderella's fairy godmother, banished from faerie for falling in love with Prince Charming or is she is senile old woman, confusing her sister's tragic death with a beloved story? There is no definitive answer so it is for the reader to decide - a unique and imaginitive story that will likely polarise the readership. Put your preconceptions aside and show more choose your own ending. show less
Lil is a older woman who works at a bookstore, lives simply and frugally (out of extreme necessity), and has a great love for one of the books in the bookstore: a valuable copy of Cinderella. Is this the sum of Lil or is she also who she claims to be, the exiled fairy godmother from the Cinderella story? As Lil goes about her day, with her tell-tale wings bound tightly to her back, she describes her life as a fairy godmother and the mistake that led her to be cast out from her life. She made show more the mistake of falling in love with the prince herself and went to the ball in place of Cinderella. Convincing herself that she will be re-admitted to the fairy realm if she rights her wrong, she determines to help unite her new friend Veronica and her kindly boss George, both unlucky in love and bearing melancholy scars.
Lil's rendition of the real Cinderella story starts off lightly but soon becomes more and more dark in feeling as she prepares to tell of her ultimate betrayal as a fairy godmother. Likewise, the story of her small existence in the human world starts to sound more menacing even as her plans for George and Veronica seem to be coming to fruition. The end to Lil's Cinderella story is unexpected, foreshadowing the end of the book. The ending completely changed my reading of the story. The impressive twist turns the lightness of the early story on its head and pulls the curtain off the life of quiet desperation that Lil has led for so long. This was a completely engrossing book, impossible to put down which I read in less than a day. But I am left ambivalent about it, although certainly still pondering it even weeks later so it clearly captured me in unusual ways. A real departure from my usual type of book, the glimpses of the magical world enchanted me but the loneliness of the human world counterbalanced the fantasy. So many questions remain in the end that I was left with a sense of unease, feeling decidely disturbed. Regardless of my own reaction, I don't think there's any doubt that this is a highly unusual and readable book, carefully crafted and taut with emotion. show less
Lil's rendition of the real Cinderella story starts off lightly but soon becomes more and more dark in feeling as she prepares to tell of her ultimate betrayal as a fairy godmother. Likewise, the story of her small existence in the human world starts to sound more menacing even as her plans for George and Veronica seem to be coming to fruition. The end to Lil's Cinderella story is unexpected, foreshadowing the end of the book. The ending completely changed my reading of the story. The impressive twist turns the lightness of the early story on its head and pulls the curtain off the life of quiet desperation that Lil has led for so long. This was a completely engrossing book, impossible to put down which I read in less than a day. But I am left ambivalent about it, although certainly still pondering it even weeks later so it clearly captured me in unusual ways. A real departure from my usual type of book, the glimpses of the magical world enchanted me but the loneliness of the human world counterbalanced the fantasy. So many questions remain in the end that I was left with a sense of unease, feeling decidely disturbed. Regardless of my own reaction, I don't think there's any doubt that this is a highly unusual and readable book, carefully crafted and taut with emotion. show less
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